Advice needed about this puppy.

Stan is a little timid but at the same time he growls a fair bit.

He growls at Joe every now and again when Joe goes near him, gets a stern telling off and acts all submissive but also seems a little unsure of us. He will follow whoever told him off around until he is stroked, then hes happy again.

He was a bit food aggressive around all of us, but is now fine with people and all the dogs are crated when they eat so they dont get near each other at dinnertime.

Our own food, we can all eat our dinner in the same room without fear of any dogs trying to grab our plates, though often we crate Stan as Joe likes to sit on the floor with his dinner on the rug and thats way to tempting for Stanley lol

He is also chewy bone possessive, again, this was with everyone but is now only directed towards Maggie. Mimi wont have any of that and tells him so whereas Maggie just looks at him and plods off. He has utmost respect for Mimi. He just walked upto Maggie and took her chewy out of her mouth. She sniffed it but didnt attempt to take it and he dropped it and jumped on her, growling and bearing teeth. She just walked away and I grabbed him and told him off.

A few other minor issues, all in regards to growling and showing teeth towards Joe or Maggie, seemingly for no reason at times.

At the same time, Stan and Maggie are great friends the rest of the time, they lie together and play together all the time unless we are not there to supervise (he is crated then) and he is mostly fine with Joe too.

He came from a house with two older dogs who were attacking him and his old owners thought he was in danger from them (he has a few scars already where they had bitten him) at 12 weeks old so has only been with us for 2 weeks.

He has only just started to go out on his lead the last couple of days so isnt that well socialised outside the house and needs exercise building up still. He does love training sessions in the house and is very clever.

One other point, Maggie is now eight months old and has been slightly out of character the last couple of days. Nothing major, just a bit quieter than usual. I'm wondering if shes ready for a season and that could have any bearing?

Do you think this is just a settling in period and we should just carry on as we are or should we be doing anything specific to help ease things before they escalate into anything bigger in the future?

We pretty much watch them all closely and tell them that growling is not acceptable. The girls are fine, no probs with them at all.

Please ask if I have left anything of importance out. We have three large breed dogs so I really have to do whatever I can to have three well behaved dogs who get on as a pack.

Main thing is that you are aware of it and trying to sort it, not like some stupid people who have the attitude, 'aww, he is only a pup and will grow out of it' :san54:

I think if he doesn't get the message about growling soon, I would use the 'own' thing by CM, and 'claim' making him back off, you know what I mean? see if he learns that growling only makes him have to give up all space and ownership, hmmm not putting it well am I, soz. But your prob well on the way to fixing it by the sound of your post :san15:

You are putting it well, this is how we have stopped him growling at us but Joe and Maggie are not "complying" lol (I know I cant expect them too really!!!)

I was just wondering what other people do to manage this sort of thing, I know many people have had more than one dog and I dont believe everyone has had pups just settle straight in without a problem :2445:

Cheers Sange :love:

Although Bryn and Hazel were 'easy' pups, Misty was a pain in the arse, being blunt!

She was more than food aggressive, she was food savage honestly, she would rush to Hazel's food bowl, like a pshyco, never seen a pup like her, horrid, and Hazel would do little about it, if they had treats, she would drop hers as soon as she saw Hazel have one, and try and get at Hazel's, she was like this at 8 weeks!!! :2431:


It took awhile to sort it, but I would block her from getting to Hazel, and push myself forward making Misty walk backwards, using a few voice cues as well, I still have to keep an eye on her with treats, as she will still gulp hers and go sniffing around the other 2, but has no nastiness now, and as far as food is concerned she will leave them but only if I am there.

She had a go at Gazi when she was 8wks as well, she went to chew something (sofa??) and he told her 'no' and she growled at him, (will let you use your imagination how he reacted) but she never did it again, saying all this, though, Paula, we didn't have a child to worry about and to make her respect, just the submissive bitch as you have with Stan, best of luck hun :love:

first thing i would say hun if you have told him off and he follows you DONT turn and stroke him to make him happy again as thats not whats happerning hes playing you so to speak. if you tell him off then he has to deal with it and i wouldnt let him follow me and dictate what i do which he has in that instance *minor but he doesnt see it like that* also a fearful dog will growl so its not out of charactor so to speak.

maggie is a laid back breed and him growling and teeth baring may be doen in a more playful manner towards her too so be sure its not wen you correct *altho im sure you do know this hun* rostam is very vocal as are a lot of gaurding breeds but you are right to nip it in the bud wen pup or ke or anyone does this to my weaker dogs i go over take the chew and give it back and claim that dogs space for them and dont allow bulling in my house

with regards to jo get him more involed in stans care ie the feeding training grooming to establish a bond and the fact jo is higher up all supervised of course hun. if stan goes to growl again correct and claim jo

hope this helps im on my way out but will be on tonight too much drama today so will give you more info tonight hun xx let me know if this helps or if you have tried it x

Oh thanks girls, this is a relief to read.

Sandra, thats made me feel better that you had a similar thing (which does sound worse too than Stan) and now have it under control. Its all about getting the balance right I think along with the ground rules.

Farah, I'm glad you agree with what we are thinking, we do what you say and he is loads better than he was, mostly. He just happened to jump at Maggie last night for the first time and wanted to ask what people thought.

We get Joe involved as much as he allows, hes a grumpy little man though, have to catch him in the right mood or he doesnt want to bother lol.

I do think its a mixture of being attacked alot as a small pup and also being a bit timid rather than just "aggressiveness" but I dont want to make it worse. Hopefully he will feel better when he feels more settled in too and knows the rules. Plus he can have more exercise now too, hes quite a bit livelier than the others.

Oh yeah, only Mimi ever makes a noise when she plays, the other two dont so we know when he means it.

Will keep you updated and be asking for more advice I'm sure :2445:


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hope you get it sorted soon hun, sounds like you pretty much have it in hand anyway!...

Hope you get it sorted soon Hun, sounds like you are doing a brilliant job anyway! :love:

glad you understand my post lmao

keep us updated and shout if you need any advice hun xx

Yep, sure did Fazza, its better to put lots of detail anyway incase someone else has the same problem and reads it

Thanks ladies, I've never known a pup like him :2445: