Puppy sounds

abbodo

Hi, I posted a question a couple of weeks ago about my new Shiba puppy's dislike of other dogs, now I have a question about how he expresses his displeasure with me. He has growled at me twice, once when I was putting his collar on and just now when I attempted to take his harness off. I have read a number of statements about Shiba's vocalizations and I'm not sure how to take this growling. He definitely wasn't trying to play, although he does have growly playful moods. Is he just being noisy? Is he really growling at me? I'm using positive-reinforcement techniques and I don't correct him. We've been to a behaviorist for the dog issues and we're trying to desensitize him with lots and lots of treats and positive encounters. I'd really like to think that I still have a lot to learn about the unique language of my dog, but he's freaking me out.

JessicaRabbit

Without witnessing the behavior I personally am not comfortable attempting to interpret it. It is certainly something I would take up with your behaviorist. My Shikoku is very growly. But there is a distinct difference between her growl-talking and her "hey back up" growl. I would give your behaviorist a call and have them do an in-home consult. Until then I would definitely make putting on the collar a fun thing with lots of praise and treats. But from the sounds of things you probably are already doing that.

Best of luck.

tsukitsune

I agree with Jessica... its impossible to make the call without seeing it, and I'd feel safer were it my own dog to get a professional assessment on it.

I agree with Jessica on making the collar-time super fun and rewarding, make a game out of it maybe?

abbodo

I think my question is more a vague query than a request for analysis. I thought I knew about Shibas, I've been acquainted with three, I did research, met my breeder's dogs, but my puppy's behavior is blindsiding me and I don't know whether it is a lack of understanding of the breed or my lack of experience working through behavioral issues that freak me out. Has anyone else felt this way, or had to deal with such issues from the start?

brandon_w

There were a lot of behavior issues that were unexpected when I adopted Nemo. Some of them were due to his history with his previous owners, and some of them were just Shiba traits. When taking the harness off try treating your dog as you do it. Sit, treat, put harness over head (or however it goes on) treat, clip buckles, treat. Reverse it for taking the harness off.

Also your dog is a puppy (by puppy I mean 8, 10, 12 weeks old?) and it already has issues with other dogs? If that is the case I would really seek out a behaviorist, and puppy socialization classes so you can start working on that problem immediately.

abbodo

He's 11 weeks. He's three weeks into a puppy class and we've got a behaviorist. I am working diligently on his issues and use positive reinforcement for everything. He's also from a breeder who has been referenced in this forum as having dogs with great temperaments.

tsukitsune

Have you talked with the breeder about it, too? He/she might be able to provide any insight, maybe comparative to other pups that age s/he raised, some from the same litter, maybe the parents..

abbodo

She's surprised, both by the dog aggression and his growling at me. His parents were why we wanted this puppy - I really wanted to take his father home! I'm not sure about his littermates, but I am meeting up with her to talk in a few days.

tjbart17

It sounds like you have a wonderful support system in place to deal with these issues. Remember, he's a baby. Beginning work now can resolve the behavioral issues. I guess I would add is just to be sure that you are not reading too much into it.

Like JessicaRabbit and her Shikoku, I had a Rott who was very vocal. He would grunt and huff and puff. People would always say he had an attitude, but he didn't. It was just his way of talking to me, and he would do it while we watched tv together with no one else around. It's like he would lay his head in my lap and tell me about his day with these low grunts and sighs.

Now if your pup has snipped at you or shown teeth, I would be concerned.

lepercann

I agree. My Shiba gets growly sometimes when we play and he has other weird sounds as well. Perhaps the growling could be not an aggression thing.

abbodo

The puppy class trainer told me tonight that I'm probably overthinking the growling - I might have startled him, he might be vocalizing irritation, he might have been initiating play, but it's likely not aggression and it's an easily managed behavior. The dog issues though...I don't feel like he's getting any better, and I really can't imagine how bad it's going to be when he's one or two!

Heidi

Well, Tojo's a brat punk and he growls all the time. He acts like a grumpy old man. Just as I typed this he growled for no apparent reason. He's just laying on the floor beside me... lol... what a punk.

At any rate, I agree with your trainer. In fact, almost every time I've seen a dog growl at a person, it was an expression of annoyance rather than a threat. I would say that it's the natural human tendency to overreact to a dog's growl, even if it's just the doggie equivalent of, "hey, cut that out!" I mean, if someone told you to step off, you wouldn't assume that they meant you bodily harm. Plus, he's a puppy. He's still learning how to communicate.

That's really too bad about him with other dogs... and quite puzzling at such a young age. He wasn't taken from his littermates too early or anything, was he? Do you know much about how he was with his littermates?

JessicaRabbit

Don't give up on your dog in regards to his relationship with other dogs. I have a new puppy (my foster failure Ruby) who we are training right now to insure that she is at the very least tolerant of other dogs. She loves Miko. I want to insure that if/when we add to our pack it is as painless as possible. And hopefully help her to love meeting new dogs.

We are doing this by taking high value treats with us on walks, and every time she lays eyes on another dog, we give her teensy tastes of treats and lots of praise. Essentially this teaches her that when she is in the presence of dogs (we are doing this with new people too just to make sure she gets excited about experiencing new things) wonderful delicious things happen. Your dog may not end up being a dog park dog, but you can certainly train him to be well behaved in the presence of of other dogs.

Every challenge our dogs present us is another opportunity to strengthen our relationships with them by helping them move past whatever issue and to help them evolve into an even more happy well adjusted dog.

tsukitsune

"Every challenge our dogs present us is another opportunity to strengthen our relationships with them by helping them move past whatever issue and to help them evolve into an even more happy well adjusted dog."

Wow, that was beautifully said.

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I'm glad your breeder is on board to assess the situation. Let us know what s/he says!

abbodo

You guys are awesome, I really appreciate the support. I don't see any dog parks in this little guy's future, but many of my friends have dogs and it would be really nice if he could befriend a few of them. Or at least ignore them calmly. As has been pointed out, he's still a baby, and I'm already working on it, so there is hope. Or so I keep reassuring myself.

He wasn't weaned early and he had two sisters...I'm not sure how they played but I will find out. There was an older male who seemed pushy, and my only thought is that he may have stressed Ben and set him up for this.