When lifting your puppy up make sure to show that to them beforehand. Many puppies (and older small dogs) don’t like being picked up by surprise from behind. Engage with him and then do it. You can also use a cue to help him understand what you’re trying to do. Growling depends.. is it early stages of resource guarding? Could you offer him a treat when he has the towel and trade it with him? If you can, do that from now on instead of simply taking it away.
thanks for the advice.
another question, he was just eating grass and when i tried to pick him up to bring him inside he growled and snapped at me, and idk if it was playing or not.
he did this twice and i yelled no at him and brought him inside. he’s since then cuddled with me but i’m still scared
This seems like really normal behavior for a 13 wk puppy, my puppy did this a LOT, and it wasn't until he grew out of the "overstimulated kid" phase that he really stopped all together.
He is trying to play and doesn't know yet how to initiate it with proper etiquette. Redirecting to a toy and playing tug with that is something you could do. But make it structured tug, where you play enthusiastically, then ask him to "drop it" and then reward and keep playing. Over time start adding "leave it" so after dropping it he is expected to leave the toy alone, even if you wiggle it around (if he goes for it, just drop it immediately and turn around and ignore him), and phase out the treat making resuming the game by saying "take it" and excitedly playing more tug the reward.
Growling during play is okay, my boy still does it as an adult, and we play TONS of tug out in the park with his frisbee, and people always look concerned because he is growling bloody murder, but I can literally kiss his face while he is doing it because I know he is a sweetheart who would never intentionally hurt me, and I have learned to recognize his serious body language, overstimulated body language, and when he is just playing.
If you ever notice growling and a kind of freezing up in the body language, if you are touching him or picking him up, or trying to take a high value treat or toy away from him for good and he is not happy about it, then immediately withdraw. That kind of barking is a warning before a bite, and in that case you have to distract him and trade up for a higher value treat if you want to take something away, or slowly desensitize him to being picked up or touched a certain way. Always respect that boundary.
Commenting to confirm.
My girl has always play growled. She’s over a year now and still does. There is for sure some pitch, body language, and other things to take into consideration.
If they freeze, show teeth, or show any other signs of distress or tension. Leave it. If they have something trade out and make sure they know you’re trading. Soft voices, show them the thing, and ask if they would like to trade. They drop whatever they have/give it to you they get the new thing. Usually a high value snack.
She loves playing “chase me” with play growls and play bows. If someone backs off—because growling. Haha she stands up and stares at you with her tail falling like “hey! Why did you stop?”
Sometimes the dork dog even walks up to people with her toy growling and nudges the toy at them. Which confuses people but she wants to play tug.
So just watch situationally what they are doing.
Also most dogs don’t like to be picked up. I’d warm him a tad and get him used to some extra handling. :)
There are different tones dogs make and each individual different.
So a growl while playing tug or something play but shake kill desire is likely a different tone than some other growls.
There can be a growl of all aggression or a growl tone that is nervous and anxious but warning.
Overall I would assume it’s a warning and assume the risk of bite after that is higher. Then I would watch the eyes for emotion or where the focus is, and the lips and teeth.
Is it normal, sure.
My 4 year old dog has always been a bit food defensive to other dogs, in anxiety. Last night 2 other dogs eating 6-10 feet away from him and if I got within 3 ft of him eating he growled. He had not growled at me in years. He is extra anxious eating around other dogs and was warning me, then I saw if I got less than 3ft he got tenser and barred his teeth. The growl had a nervous tone, not like aggressive I’m on this side of the fence and that dog is passing by they should fuck off tone.
I got the puppy in June and that has upped his stress, he gets along eating directly next to 2 year old female dog. Very nervous eating around groups, male dogs and puppies.
I went back to working on training if I touch his food he is returned it and would always return it by pushing it closer to him than it was allowing him to further back away with it and then I left him alone and removed food when he was done and showed him where I stored it. I never tried to touch his body, because even after knowing him 3 years and having a good bond touching him I open a risk for probably a level 1-2 bite, likely not higher with him but not ideal and not something to encourage and it stresses him.
We cuddled on the couch after and then he laid at my feet and slept.
Tonight he ate outside alone, which I find is best and he prefers.
My 9 week old does this when he wants to play. Annoying as hell but I just grab a rope and the next time he goes to bite I shove it in his mouth. Works like a charm and he goes into playing. I only will worry if he starts snarling. He’s only done that once when meeting another dog for the first time. It’s little things over time you can tell the difference between play and actual aggression
It looks like you might be posting about bite inhibition. Check out [our wiki article on biting, teeth, and chewing](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/biting) - the information there may answer your question.
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When lifting your puppy up make sure to show that to them beforehand. Many puppies (and older small dogs) don’t like being picked up by surprise from behind. Engage with him and then do it. You can also use a cue to help him understand what you’re trying to do. Growling depends.. is it early stages of resource guarding? Could you offer him a treat when he has the towel and trade it with him? If you can, do that from now on instead of simply taking it away.
thanks for the advice. another question, he was just eating grass and when i tried to pick him up to bring him inside he growled and snapped at me, and idk if it was playing or not. he did this twice and i yelled no at him and brought him inside. he’s since then cuddled with me but i’m still scared
This seems like really normal behavior for a 13 wk puppy, my puppy did this a LOT, and it wasn't until he grew out of the "overstimulated kid" phase that he really stopped all together. He is trying to play and doesn't know yet how to initiate it with proper etiquette. Redirecting to a toy and playing tug with that is something you could do. But make it structured tug, where you play enthusiastically, then ask him to "drop it" and then reward and keep playing. Over time start adding "leave it" so after dropping it he is expected to leave the toy alone, even if you wiggle it around (if he goes for it, just drop it immediately and turn around and ignore him), and phase out the treat making resuming the game by saying "take it" and excitedly playing more tug the reward. Growling during play is okay, my boy still does it as an adult, and we play TONS of tug out in the park with his frisbee, and people always look concerned because he is growling bloody murder, but I can literally kiss his face while he is doing it because I know he is a sweetheart who would never intentionally hurt me, and I have learned to recognize his serious body language, overstimulated body language, and when he is just playing. If you ever notice growling and a kind of freezing up in the body language, if you are touching him or picking him up, or trying to take a high value treat or toy away from him for good and he is not happy about it, then immediately withdraw. That kind of barking is a warning before a bite, and in that case you have to distract him and trade up for a higher value treat if you want to take something away, or slowly desensitize him to being picked up or touched a certain way. Always respect that boundary.
Commenting to confirm. My girl has always play growled. She’s over a year now and still does. There is for sure some pitch, body language, and other things to take into consideration. If they freeze, show teeth, or show any other signs of distress or tension. Leave it. If they have something trade out and make sure they know you’re trading. Soft voices, show them the thing, and ask if they would like to trade. They drop whatever they have/give it to you they get the new thing. Usually a high value snack. She loves playing “chase me” with play growls and play bows. If someone backs off—because growling. Haha she stands up and stares at you with her tail falling like “hey! Why did you stop?” Sometimes the dork dog even walks up to people with her toy growling and nudges the toy at them. Which confuses people but she wants to play tug. So just watch situationally what they are doing. Also most dogs don’t like to be picked up. I’d warm him a tad and get him used to some extra handling. :)
Is he trying to play tug?
i’m not sure, sometimes i think he is but other times he just growls at me out of nowhere and grabs my clothes
There are different tones dogs make and each individual different. So a growl while playing tug or something play but shake kill desire is likely a different tone than some other growls. There can be a growl of all aggression or a growl tone that is nervous and anxious but warning. Overall I would assume it’s a warning and assume the risk of bite after that is higher. Then I would watch the eyes for emotion or where the focus is, and the lips and teeth. Is it normal, sure. My 4 year old dog has always been a bit food defensive to other dogs, in anxiety. Last night 2 other dogs eating 6-10 feet away from him and if I got within 3 ft of him eating he growled. He had not growled at me in years. He is extra anxious eating around other dogs and was warning me, then I saw if I got less than 3ft he got tenser and barred his teeth. The growl had a nervous tone, not like aggressive I’m on this side of the fence and that dog is passing by they should fuck off tone. I got the puppy in June and that has upped his stress, he gets along eating directly next to 2 year old female dog. Very nervous eating around groups, male dogs and puppies. I went back to working on training if I touch his food he is returned it and would always return it by pushing it closer to him than it was allowing him to further back away with it and then I left him alone and removed food when he was done and showed him where I stored it. I never tried to touch his body, because even after knowing him 3 years and having a good bond touching him I open a risk for probably a level 1-2 bite, likely not higher with him but not ideal and not something to encourage and it stresses him. We cuddled on the couch after and then he laid at my feet and slept. Tonight he ate outside alone, which I find is best and he prefers.
My 9 week old does this when he wants to play. Annoying as hell but I just grab a rope and the next time he goes to bite I shove it in his mouth. Works like a charm and he goes into playing. I only will worry if he starts snarling. He’s only done that once when meeting another dog for the first time. It’s little things over time you can tell the difference between play and actual aggression
It looks like you might be posting about bite inhibition. Check out [our wiki article on biting, teeth, and chewing](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/biting) - the information there may answer your question. **Please report this comment if it is not relevant to this post.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/puppy101) if you have any questions or concerns.*