# Puppy growls when picked up



## Speedy2662 (May 27, 2012)

Hi! Recently Zack started growling when I pick him up, and after a second he is calming himself. I tried to give him a treat after he stops growling, but that doesn't show too much of effect. What can I do? PS. I am going to puppy training classes on Wednesday and there are behaviour specialists there, so I'll ask them too for help, but for now I would love some help from everyone here. Thanks


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

Why are you picking him up?


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## Speedy2662 (May 27, 2012)

Sometimes I need to pick him up, there are situations that I need to pick him up


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

Such as? 
He is likely growling because he's having fun, and being picked up interrupts that fun.


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## Speedy2662 (May 27, 2012)

Do you never pick up your puppies?  
Well, there are situations like when my mum washed the floor and I come from outside and he has dirty paws, to get him in the bathtub to wash his paws, etc. Most of the times he isn't really playing, as I usually pick him up for a few seconds.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I stopped picking Koda up around twelve weeks, aside from when she got hurt or sick. I'm sure someone else can give you an answer better than mine, if you aren't interrupting what he's doing.
He may also be becoming more independent, which would make being picked up unpleasant.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

The dog growling is a clear communication on his part that he doesn't like what you're doing. Stop picking him up. He will grow to be 50 pounds and is not a toy breed you can carry around with you.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

If you have to pick him up, just hold him until he stops. His reward is simply being put down and only comes after he's calm. He shouldn't be put down when growling or trying to get away. 

I am not typically of a fan of doing things just because I can but sometimes it is necessary to be able to handle a dog in ways they don't like. I do occasionally pick up Holly for no reason but it's because she had major issues being handled at all as a pup and fortunately, she's tiny.


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## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

i am not understanding why the puppy should not be picked up. can some one explain.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Adam, there is no reason to pick up your puppy. NONE! If you need to bring him to another part of the house and he has dirty paws, this is the perfect time to teach him some patience, and that getting paws cleaned is fun. Have a towel at the door and have him stand and take each paw in your hand and clean it off with a towel. 

Be sure to praise / reward him when you're done. 

I started doing that with Kyleigh when she was really young, and now when she comes in, she just stops on the mat and waits. 

Since he knows how to shake a paw - you're halfway there!!!


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

There's no reason not to pick the puppy up. If he was growling because he didn't like being leashed would the OP be told not to do that too? No. The OP should be able to handle his pup who is just barely 4 months old.


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## MissMetric (Dec 5, 2012)

I think it's a little ridiculous to say there is no reason whatsoever to pick a puppy up. Vet table, introducing him to various heights, placing a puppy in a high car, steep stairs...

Just show him that being lifted isn't a bad thing. Treat for calmness, don't respond to his growling but be careful to not drop him if he gets nippy. Remember...he is a baby and those heights might be scary to him. Introduce him to being off the ground in other ways and gently set him down. Your puppy must get used to being handled in various ways.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

gsdraven said:


> There's no reason not to pick the puppy up. If he was growling because he didn't like being leashed would the OP be told not to do that too? No. The OP should be able to handle his pup who is just barely 4 months old.


Agree. I pick up my puppies all the time and I'm not a cuddly puppy person, and I don't do it just because I can or to prove a point but sometimes if I want to actually GET from point A to point B in the same week, lol. I also make sure I can safely lift up my adults. I lifted Nikon onto a table for canine massage therapy not long ago and I will say the people watching were impressed how easily he let me do it. My dogs are handled all their lives.


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## Thorny (Nov 4, 2012)

Clearly these dogs can be carried. I lift mine into and out of the truck right now as its too high for him to do on his own. When hiking I can remember many boulder strewn trails where I've had to lift my other dog up or down to prevent them from getting hurt. Some places dogs just can't go on their own. 

In this particular situation where you carried him across the kitchen, any chance your mom was yelling at you to keep that bleeping dog off her clean floor? My pup is the same age as yours and is already protective of me in those kinds of situations, so maybe he was growling at the event, rather than being carried?

Also, how do you carry him? If he does not feel secure it might cause him to get upset, or if you tweak one of his legs out of shape he might be hurting.

I carry Gunnar similar to this and he seems good with it and its easy to scoop him up and set him down











I've also carried my old lab like in the picture below, which she was fine with and she felt secure, but setting her down from this position was hard and it would put my face too close to puppy teeth for right now:


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

How are you picking him up? Is it possible you are hurting him? I think somewhere on this forum there is a discussion about the best ways to lift your dog.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i think you should be able to pick your pup up without
him growling. make sure he's completely supported
when you pick him up. make picking your pup up
a part of his training.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Adam, I agree that you should be able to pick Zack up without him growling. Zack is a border collie, right? I don't know much about BC temperament. I know they are highly intelligent, have lots of energy and need lots of exercise.

I have a new puppy too. He is a hound mix. He growls a lot. He growls when he plays with other dogs and when he plays with us. I don't have a problem when he "play" growls. But, like Zack, he also growls when he doesn't like something. He never growls at my husband or me. He growls at my kids - who are young adults. My puppy does not like to be picked up, made to go in his crate, or stop doing something he wants to do. He will sometimes growl if my kids try to "make" him. 

msvette gave me this link to mind games....
Mind Games (version 1.0) by M. Shirley Chong

I have been using mind games and it is really helping. I am seeing much better behavior from the puppy. We also try to desensitize him to the things he doesn't like. He is by no means a nasty, or aggressive dog. He has a wonderful temperament. I just find the "I don't want to do something growling" inappropriate.

I believe the reason he growls at the kids vs me, is because they do not approach him with confidence. They were also not incorporating the rules. Now that they are listening and we are all on the same page.....HUGE improvement.

Zack should be handled every day. Look in his mouth, ears, lift his paws. Touch him all over. Like doggiedad said, "make picking him up part of his training routine."

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Speedy2662 (May 27, 2012)

Thanks for anyone that helped out explaining - there are lots of occasions where I have to pick him up. For example to get to the car, vet table, and more. To those who asked, no, my mum did not tell me to keep that bleeping dog out of her clean kitchen. She loves Zack equally as I do 
I am picking him up like this:







and it doesn't seem to hurt him, he just doesn't like it. What I think is that my parents lift him up to put him in the crate, and now he thinks that when I pick him up he will go to the crate. At least that's what I think happened. (PS. Now we put a treat in his crate to get him to go in there, so that's fine  )


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Adam, You are very smart. I'm sure Zack does think he is going into the crate. We also treat my pup to get him to go in. I have also instructed my kids to leash and lead him where they want him to go, rather than being "pushy." Puppy doesn't like to be man-handled. LOL!


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I like Kyleigh's advice for dirty paws, versus lifting him.
I guess i can't get the image of Zack being full grown and still waiting to be lifted when his paws are dirty out of my head. Lmao!

Adam, maybe also support his rear a bit when lifting.


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## RowdyDogs (Nov 12, 2012)

I would do a couple of things. First, I might be sure I was giving him a little more hind-end support than that picture seems to indicate. Holding him more securely may make him more comfortable.

Also, be sure you're not just suddenly grabbing him and scooping him into the air. Pick him up gently and slowly, so he isn't surprised.

It does sound like he's mostly just expecting bad things to happen when you pick him up though, so what I'd do is just pick him up several times a day, give him a treat once he's stopped growling, and put him down. Try to avoid picking him up for unpleasant things during the first couple of weeks you do this (but if you have to do so, it's not a big deal, just might slow things down). It's just counter-conditioning really. You're teaching him that 99% of the time, being picked up is a good thing.

I also agree that this is one of those things that you should train your dog to accept. I'm surprised some people never pick up their dogs. I have dogs who don't care for it and so (now that I've trained them to tolerate it) I only do it when absolutely necessary, but there are times in most dogs' lives when it will be useful or even critically important to be able to carry them. I'm thinking of when one of my dogs was hit by a car and still very alert but unable to walk due to two injured legs--not sure what I would have done if he wouldn't let me carry him.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Kymmey, You know Zach is a border collie puppy, right? He is only going to be a medium sized dog. During puppyhood, I have to be able to pick my puppy up. When he spots that cat poop in the yard, I swoop and snatch. Puppy will eat it in a heart beat. I don't even pick him up nicely like Adam does Zach. Natty Boh is slung over my arm. I also have to pick him up to get him down off the trash can, before he climbs onto the counter. Or - pick him up to put him in the bathtub. (Puppies are sooo much fun. LOL!

Granted Natty Boh is a hound mix puppy and not very big. I wasn't often lugging around my full grown GSD, but I could if I had to. That is the important thing. I don't like growling, because the dog doesn't like something.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I'm aware. But carrying a forty to fifty lb dog around is still a funny idea. I would know, i do it at work all the time.


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## RowdyDogs (Nov 12, 2012)

Stevenzachsmom said:


> I don't like growling, because the dog doesn't like something.


It doesn't actually bother me for the most part, because it's just a means of communication. I take a growl in a situation like this as a sign that I either need to figure out what's making the pup uncomfortable and fix that (for example, if he's physically uncomfortable due to the way he's being carried), or desensitize the dog to the procedure if he just doesn't like it. I'd rather a dog let me know clearly when they don't like something, rather than bottling it up until they get pushed over threshold. But as I bring up a lot, I have a dog who was always corrected for growling and so now in the 7 years I've owned him I've never heard him growl...instead he goes right to snapping at and biting people (or did, until I addressed the root causes of it), so I'm probably a little sensitive to that.

Now, there are some exceptions. When my GSD was younger and got something he wasn't supposed to have and I told him to drop it, he used to growl at me if it's something he really really wants and I'll growl right back at him, which results in him dropping whatever it is and running off. LOL But that's still just communication--him saying "Don't take this away, it's mine!" and me saying, "Um, sorry pal, I'm the boss here and I say drop it."

Just another way to look at it.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Rowdy, my puppy doesn't growl at me, or my husband. He growls at my kids. I think you and I are actually on the same page. I agree not to correct the growl, so the dog goes right to the bite. I want to desensitize my dog to what is being done, so he doesn't feel the need to growl. I am working with the kids to incorporate those procedures. If he is allowed to growl at the kids, he may feel the need to growl at the vet, vet tech, or petsitter. To me a growl is a warning of a possible bite. I want to alleviate the reason for the growl, thus eliminating the potential for a bite.


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## Jd414 (Aug 21, 2012)

huntergreen said:


> i am not understanding why the puppy should not be picked up. can some one explain.


Me either the dog should not be growling plain n simple


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## RowdyDogs (Nov 12, 2012)

Stevenzachsmom said:


> Rowdy, my puppy doesn't growl at me, or my husband. He growls at my kids. I think you and I are actually on the same page. I agree not to correct the growl, so the dog goes right to the bite. I want to desensitize my dog to what is being done, so he doesn't feel the need to growl. I am working with the kids to incorporate those procedures. If he is allowed to growl at the kids, he may feel the need to growl at the vet, vet tech, or petsitter. To me a growl is a warning of a possible bite. I want to alleviate the reason for the growl, thus eliminating the potential for a bite.


Yep, that's exactly what I meant. Sorry, I misinterpreted your previous post.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Don't be sorry. I saw exactly what you were saying. Just wanted to clarify.

Thanks!


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