My 11 week old puppy growls

[CuddlesandHugs]

Hi everyone, I just joined the group. I have a question about my 11 week old Shorkie..When I or anyone else is holding him and he wants down he growls, shows his teeth and bites hard..that is how he lets you know he wants down...he also does it when I am grooming him. what can I do about this to break him of it? thank you in advance for any advise...

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi CuddlesandHugs,

I am afraid your Shorkie has learned a wrong way to communicate with /manupilate you and other human friends.

What have you been doing when he growls/shows his teeth, etc.? I assume you and the others would have been letting him down thinking he wants to be down.

This actually is teaching him to growl/show his teeth/bite to get what he wants. Barking is the same thing. When a dog barks to get your attention, don't give it and ignore him instead. When he stops barking, give him a lot of attention and praise/give treats to him.

However, you would not want to keep holding him as he is biting you so what I would suggest is like this:

Pick him up randomly. Hold him for a while and let him down before he asks (growls). Repeat this many time randomly.

In the mean time, when he starts growling (or see a sign of him wanting down) tell him to be nice by looking into his eyes. If he stops growling, let him down and praise/give him treats.

The idea to be get across to him is that he can not get what he wants by behaving bad.

By the way, how is obedience level in general?

Good luck

[CuddlesandHugs]

thank you so much for your reply...the growling and showing his teeth are the only thing that he is doing bad...what I have been doing when he does it is I say NO in a firm voice and put him in his kennel.. I will do what you suggest and see what happens...that sounds like it would work better...otherwise he is a sweetheart and is doing great potty training him...He sleeps in his kennel at night...I put him to bed when I go and make sure he goes potty before...he sleeps from about 11 pm to about 6 am...I thought that was really good...I don't give him anything to drink after 10 pm..thank you so much...