# Bad habits



## Alinos (May 19, 2014)

Zorro in the last few days has started growling whenever he's upset or doesn't like what's happening. For example if I take his fav toy away or pick him up This is a totally new thing. He's also turning to almost bite me if he's upset. What could be going on? He's 20 months old, so not a puppy thing either. 
He seems to be okay health wise. Eating his usual amount and as frisky and playful as he normally is. 
There have no changes to his schedule or his environment. I am at my wits end to understand what has brought this on. 


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

A major change in behaviour would always make me consider pain or a health problem and dogs are very stoical and can hide signs of pain very well, so picking up could be hurting him if he has a sore leg or tummy and might be making him more grouchy about his toys being taken off him.

If not pain it could be he feels his lesser comments that he is not happy with what you are doing have been ignored and his is upping his communication slightly by growling to tell you he is not happy. Does he like being picked up or need to be picked up? I never pick Chance up as she does not like it, although Molly gets picked up more and is happy to be so - even she has growled on occasion though when he tummy has been sore and I did not realise. Likewise with taking toys off him - maybe he wants to keep them and is not sure why you are doing that?


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## Alinos (May 19, 2014)

Thanks 2handgal. He's not unwell from all that I can gather. He's plays just as hard and eats normal. The best way to describe his is that he's gotten short tempered. 
He doesn't like being cuddled. But earlier would let me carry him around. Now I get a growl. He doesn't really resource guard but shows his irritation if things are not going his way. 
He has a habit of carrying a soft toy in his mouth all the time including when he's sleeping. The toy will be sopping wet with his drool and being dragged in the mud. If I try taking it away, that's when the growling starts. 
I don't know what I should be doing to correct his behavior or mine. 
Should I take him to the vet just as a precaution? 


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

It is difficult to say without seeing really. If this is genuinely a change in his behaviour then a vet check is worth it - if you can get a decent vet who will check things like joints well and know what they are doing (I know from experience all vets may be trained but not all vets are equal ) 

It does sound a bit like he has never liked you doing these things though and has just upped his warning a little as you have not listened to his more subtle telling you he does not like your behaviour. For the toy not sure why you are taking it off him if he wants to carry it around so much? Have you taught him to give toys up when you ask? Are you exchanging for something else or rewarding for letting you have it or just taking it off him? I expect with both of mine to be able to take anything of them (no problem with Chance, sometimes a bit more thought needed with Molly if it is something she really wants to keep) but I am pleased they allow me and will generally reward them for doing so, maybe with a treat, maybe a biscuit, another toy, a game or just praise - this build me a nice big bank of trust so when I do need them to release something they don't want to they have a good history of trusting me and that I am pleased with them even if I have no rewards with me.

Picking up is more complex, there may be an occasional need to pick up a dog but dogs who do not like being cuddled generally don't like it and mostly don't pick dogs up much at all - I do pick Molly up a lot more than I have ever picked previous dogs up - but generally to keep her out of trouble in some way  and she loves to be held (although even that is very much on her terms and she expects to be put down when she asks)


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Ralph can be like this if anyone attempts to touch anything belonging to my sons dad!!
Especially with my son.... 
He can grumble if he has to be removed from "human" places, ie beds or couch.
I put him outside when he does this.
Although recently I have been doing some fairly successful training with him "resource" guarding eg a coat of OH on the bannister. (It shouldn't be there in the first place!!)
And rewarding with lots of praise, strokes and treats when he doesn't react (I can see he's dying to!) it seems to improve, but unfortunately he does see billy as below him - I have to reinstate this be removing from bed, couch, placing outside etc....
I hope I'm doing it right?
Like zorro - this has only developed over the last 12 months. Getting worse - hence the interventions,
Ps billy is under strict instructions not to touch, antagonise or go near him unless fully supervised - this can be difficult to police on a frantic Monday morning getting ready for school, work etc.


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Alinos said:


> Thanks 2handgal. He's not unwell from all that I can gather. He's plays just as hard and eats normal. The best way to describe his is that he's gotten short tempered.
> He doesn't like being cuddled. But earlier would let me carry him around. Now I get a growl. He doesn't really resource guard but shows his irritation if things are not going his way.
> He has a habit of carrying a soft toy in his mouth all the time including when he's sleeping. The toy will be sopping wet with his drool and being dragged in the mud. If I try taking it away, that's when the growling starts.
> I don't know what I should be doing to correct his behavior or mine.
> ...


The toy does sound like his comfort and that is what he's guarding.
My two have had exactly the same over Christmas,
Pigs ears have caused mayhem!! Ralph scoffed his. Ruby likes to nurse hers..... She goes positively feral if Ralph dares look at her and her pigs ear!! I have to put it out of reach & place her in the crate with it (which has been out due to christmas visitors - so she can enjoy it in a safe environment!!)


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Tons of praise when he does not react is excellent but I would advise against putting him outside when he does as a punishment. 

Molly arrived with pretty major resource guarding issues and I am fairly sure would have bitten if pushed, although it looks like she is being aggressive, look closer and all of her guarding had fear at its root, whether that is fear of loss of me (her biggest concern sometimes with other dogs) or fear of loss of whatever toy or other treasure she is currently guarding. If I wade in and take things from her I increase her anxiety and ultimately make more guarding likely as she is far more likely to guard when she is worried about things. When she is guarding something her whole body is rigid with tension you can see (and feel if you are close enough) if I can deal with it calmly and call her away from whatever she is guarding you can see the tension leave her and she will be less likely to guard again as she has stayed relaxed. 

Hope that makes some sort of sense, it is not about winning or losing and more about keeping things calm and rewarding the right behaviour without increasing the dogs tension when they get it wrong.

You are very right to make sure Billy is kept away from intervening but maybe rethink the putting outside and look at ways of removing that do not provoke grumbling.


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Thanks 2nd, I never remove items without mega trade ups, or sitting and doing ten minutes of training,
He has actually bitten myself and billy .... Albeit more of a warning than an actual bite which cuts skin - more of a contact skin with teeth - no jaw closing, and a lot of noise! It can scare billy - hence my training. Other times they are the very best of friends. Love hate relationship.
I think it's improving - but I do remove him from the 'family' unit when this happens - are you advising totally against this?? What is a good positive alternative?? 
It has been a fairly recent development.....?? 
Ruby will growl & resource guard with Ralph - but NEVER with us humans - softer than soft in a very soft day!!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Trading is great and training is great too - I usually do some training with Molly if she gets stress and guards and wait until she has calmed down then retrieve whatever it was she was guarded. 

I understand the reasoning behind wanting to do something once he has guarded but in all honesty anything which increases stress in Molly increases the chance of her guarding so excluding her would increase her stress levels and increase the chance of her guarding so be counter productive.

She guards more from other dogs than me these days although she did get very silly in Christmas Day with a new toy when I gave them both several which usually works well - but this time she decided one was the 'best toy ever' so new toys have gone away to be introduced at a later date when all is calmer.

I have also decided to do a bit more self control training with both dogs next year and hopefully a bit more self control will help her control her stress levels.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Rufus gets grumbly too with HO sometimes and though he never does anything I always feel like if given the chance he'd prefer that she be lower on the totem pole than him. What works for us is her being his access point to things he really values (walks, his ball, car rides) so he is respectful of her power. However this has always been the case between them. If it had started suddenly I would be more inclined to suspect that he was feeling poorly and take him to a vet.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Tinman said:


> He has actually bitten myself and billy .... *Albeit more of a warning than an actual bite which cuts skin - more of a contact skin with teeth - no jaw closing, and a lot of noise!* It can scare billy - hence my training. Other times they are the very best of friends. Love hate relationship.


It seems to me that this is the perfect example of a dog upping his warning that he is not happy... as 2nd has already said dogs will use a whole range of body language working up through growl before they get into the open mouth correction (which is often what adult dogs do to puppies - or Ralph to Billy) before they get to full on biting, which would in their eyes be a last resort.

Sometimes you need to look at what has gone on before Ralph has 'bitten'. Someone posted a link by I think Dr Sophia Yin re dogs and kids and the need for mutual politeness and respect.... I still have to remind my big kids (up to 22) to be respectful towards the dogs - no grabbing or teasing or random picking up etc... On the whole I think that dogs who live in family households with children of any age 1-99 are remarkably tolerant of all sorts of behaviour inflicted on them. I can remember my FiL standing up with his shoe on top of my GSD's ear she lay there and cried with her head pinned to the carpet by his size 10 leather shod foot and he just said 'why is she making that noise?' In my opinion that would have been a justified bite 
If there is an incident my advice would be to calmly walk away and avoid all eye contact and allow the dog a few moments to calm down and regroup, before adding to the stress that he is feeling. Check that Billy is ok - give Billy a treat (sugar free lollipop ), but remind him to not bug Ralph and remind him that if Ralph is being grumpy and growly, he is really asking Billy to leave him alone. Once Billy is sorted . Call Ralph and reward him for coming, if he has Billy's precious star wars toy distract him, put the chewed toy somewhere out of sight of both Billy and Ralph (to avoid any further stress) and give him something he will enjoy more.
If these incidents are becoming more common I would reintroduce a baby gate and keep Ralph in the kitchen away from Billy the Kid, better to separate now and give both time away from each other, than have an incident where Ralph does actually bite.
I do think that cockapoos and other curly coated dogs suffer from not having a visible ruff (hackles) that they can raise when they are upset - and when their coats are long and fluffy they can obscure their body language and if their hair is over their eyes it can be difficult to see that look too...


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I will say reading about resource guarding here made me do a lot of putting my hand inside their mouths as puppies. Not to mention that probably the one thing we still train is drop it and leave it. With two puppies putting all sorts of things in their mouths, there was no time to try trading up especially if they have something bad in their mouth. I also talk to them a lot. Kind of distract/confuse them. And if they get even a touch growly, a quick Ah! as if shocked and then a drop it command. I touch their muzzles, mouth, teeth, inside their mouths a lot. I don't know if this is what you're supposed to do but found it works for us. 


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