# Help, Puppy Personality Changes



## mandzipop (Apr 18, 2019)

My 5 month old puppy was an absolute perfect little sweetie. Good as gold, gentle and loving. However, over the past week, she has turned into a little monster. Growling at mum and she actually growled at a 3 month old puppy today. That was really odd as she is very sociable with other dogs. Her tail was wagging, but it completely shocked me.


With mum she was resource guarding. She can't get away with it with me as I have no fear of putting my hand in her mouth, I've had to do it while walking her as she will try and eat everything in sight. Mum isn't used to this and was at first scared, however when I pointed out Willow had lost quite a few teeth and there wasn't much she could do, it did allay her fears.


Willow has become disobedient. Trying to get her to come in from the garden is impossible. Not even chicken will work. This is a problem as we have a shared yard and if you need to close the back door for a reason and can't get her in, you are in trouble. Earlier mum wanted to go to the loo but Willow would not come inside. Eventually I arrived and she came in for me, although reluctantly.


I took her to puppy classes, however mum didn't want to go because she didn't want a dog in the first place. But she was eventually won over. Now Willow is doing everything in her power to reverse that sentiment.


So what has changed? In the last 2 weeks, we started to give her more freedom, because we want to de-crate her after she has recovered from being spayed. However she appears to be taking liberties. The major hurdle was mealtimes as she was always trying to take our food. Also we have had the rest of the garden fenced off so she has a larger space to run around in. 



But what I suspect could be the problem is my nephew. He is 5 and wasn't coming to our house more than once a week, however he has recently decided he wants to come every night for tea and spend all weekend with us. Willow loves kids, except my nephew is terrified of dogs and he shouts at her to leave him alone. Willow wants to play and he wants her to go away. Mum then reinforces Willow to leave my nephew alone. I think Willow is feeling a little rejected by mum, thus playing up. We can't stop my nephew from coming round because he'll only do this for a couple of months and then his other grandparents will be the best thing ever.


The only thing Willow does wrong with me is she mouths my hand sometimes, but that is because she is teething and she doesn't do it very hard. That and she doesn't seem quite so keen for morning walks anymore. She looks at me in terror when I put her harness on. However once she's out there, she loves it.


I'm at my wits end as mum has threatened to get rid of her if this disobedient behaviour continues. :cry2: Help.


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## Mmansf (May 31, 2019)

Hello, I have a 4 month old cockapoo so we are in a similar situation as you.

A few weekends ago we had my 2 year old nephew staying with us. He took a dislike to our puppy and kept trying to shut him out of rooms and even tried kicking him a few times. Our poor dog found all of this very stressful and I'm sure yours does too. We only had our nephew for one weekend but if your puppy is going through it daily I'm not surprised she's playing up. We have a playpen with the crate in that we use when we go out and when we need him out of the way. We gave him some time out in there occasionally while our nephew was over.do you have a room you could separate off for the dog to go in while your nephew is round?

We have noticed our dog can be a little more fearful of things than when he was younger. Funnily enough morning walks aren't his favorite either. We just take our time and let him stop and look around a bit until he's feeling brave enough to carry on.

The resource guarding could be a sign that she is feeling stressed. If that is the case you shouldn't be taking things from her but trying a swap or distraction otherwise it will get worse.

I've noticed a few more barks and growls from our puppy as he finds his voice but not guarding.
We go as a whole family to puppy training classes so that we are all on one page. The kids also take part and practice at home. I think training is really important and needs to be applied consistently by everyone otherwise puppies can get confused and start to misbehave.

If your nephew and dog don't get on then they need to be kept apart. More consistent training will help with her 'naughty' behavior by giving more structure and showing how you want her to behave not just how not to behave.

It is really stressful having a young puppy but they grow up fast. I hope things improve for you soon


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## mandzipop (Apr 18, 2019)

My nephew hasn't been around for a few days and shock horror, my little darling puppy has returned. No resource guarding, on the contrary, she has decided she wants to share everything with us (maybe not doggie chocolate or chicken), but everything else is for us to try if we want.


Interesting bonding experiment happening this weekend. I'm going away, so mum is going to take Willow to my brother's house every day, meaning she'll be with my nephew. However she'll also be with my brother's dog, who she gets on with. It is so that if me and mum go away on holiday, we can leave her with them. He's a shitpoo and 2 months older than her, hopefully he can show her how to deal with my nephew.


If she left my nephew alone, he wouldn't shout at her. But she's a puppy and all she wants to do is play. Fingers crossed the experiment works.


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## Mmansf (May 31, 2019)

I'm really pleased to hear that. Hope the weekend works out well. Sorry but I can't stop sniggering at shitpoo - childish I know.
X


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