12 Week old staffy growls

Hi,
I have a 12 week old female Staffy pup. She is very sweet but does growl at times. I don't know if it's a dominance thing or if she gets scared. It happened at times when my kids 7 and 11 would pick her up out of my lap into theirs. Today I was correcting her by telling her to go onto her mat and she growled and may have even tried to snap at me. Happened very fast. My husband however was walking her the other day and a lady came out of her home with an umbrella and shopping bags and apparently she started to growl at her. I have another dog different breed and she does not growl at him. What is the best way to address this situation? I am crate training her which is going well. Is it ok to put her in time out there?
Any assistance will be appreciated.
Cheers
Kris
.

Roxy1

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It won't, 100% certain, be dominance. I don't believe in the dominance theory anyway, and there is also no way a 12 week old puppy would be dominant any more than a 6 month old human baby would be.

It sounds to me like she's worried/unhappy with things and to be honest it also sounds like it might at least in part be how you're handling things. I would ditch ideas of correcting and giving time out, and instead look at positive ways of working with her. This will not only make things clearer to her, it will also give her more confidence because you will be focussing on what she can do instead of what not to do, and it should also bring in an element of fun.

Re the kids, instead of letting them pick her up, teach the children to call her for a treat. That avoids the possibility of her being uncomfortable at being picked up, especially if they are lifting her without supporting her properly, and makes being with them nice.

As a start, have a look through some of these videos https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

That should give you the idea of what I mean by positive interaction and training.

Given, though, that you do have the beginnings of an issue with defensiveness and you don't want that to escalate, I would look for a good behaviour trainer who can come to your house and see how you are all working together. Puppy training classes are great too, but I'd say in this case a home visit would be worth its weight in gold because it's about all of you as a family, not just one person and the puppy.

Hi, and welcome from me and Bella, my 14 week old baby girl. I would follow the advice that Liz gave. That's basically what I've been doing with Bella since I got her and the only times she growls is when she playing with my other dogs

LizP wrote:It won't, 100% certain, be dominance. I don't believe in the dominance theory anyway, and there is also no way a 12 week old puppy would be dominant any more than a 6 month old human baby would be.

It sounds to me like she's worried/unhappy with things and to be honest it also sounds like it might at least in part be how you're handling things. I would ditch ideas of correcting and giving time out, and instead look at positive ways of working with her. This will not only make things clearer to her, it will also give her more confidence because you will be focussing on what she can do instead of what not to do, and it should also bring in an element of fun.

Re the kids, instead of letting them pick her up, teach the children to call her for a treat. That avoids the possibility of her being uncomfortable at being picked up, especially if they are lifting her without supporting her properly, and makes being with them nice.

As a start, have a look through some of these videos https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

That should give you the idea of what I mean by positive interaction and training.

Given, though, that you do have the beginnings of an issue with defensiveness and you don't want that to escalate, I would look for a good behaviour trainer who can come to your house and see how you are all working together. Puppy training classes are great too, but I'd say in this case a home visit would be worth its weight in gold because it's about all of you as a family, not just one person and the puppy.

Excellent advice

Cant add to above excellent advice any training/commands though should be 10 min sessions and make any association with the kids positive.

Thank you all for the gear advice. We have been watching videos and have taken the advice on board. I think we where trying to hard. Much happier relaxed puppy today. Thank you all.

You're welcome! It can be tricky finding the right balance sometimes, can't it?