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7 week old puppy growling and snapping.

22K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  Cracker 
You've gotten some good advice and information so far. I just want to say a few clarifying things:

Do NOT correct the growl. Many puppies growl, when playing with each other etc. AND even if it is NOT a play growl..the growl is part of the warning sequence and is an important communication from a dog. The sequence is usually growl, air snap and then bite. If you remove the growl from the sequence you can create a dog that goes straight for a bite. Respect the growl, figure out WHY the dog is growling and then work on removing the dog's apprehension about whatever it is growling about through desensitization and training.

Definitely check out the post "the bite stops here" that was posted earlier.

Your puppy is just that, a puppy, with developmental stages that she missed by being taken early from her littermates. It is now important for you to make up for that. Never allow the children to be around the pup unsupervised and remember to protect both the pup and the kids as they are all vulnerable.

Puppies bite, chew, jump, bark, growl, pee, poo, sleep a LOT, zoom around like maniacs a LOT and need guidance and patience to teach them how to live well in our human environment. They don't come prepackaged and pretrained so the first year is a LOT of work.
 
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