By Kay Bradnum
My Puppy Is Growling When Picked Up
It can be a bit of a shock the first time your dog says “No, please don’t do that”. It’s all too easy to see it as defiance or ‘attitude’ or something that needs ‘nipping in the bud’. Let’s take a closer look.
Firstly, we must remember to be grateful for that growl. It means your dog / pup is confident enough and knows they can trust you will listen when they tell you they are uncomfortable. It’s great communication, especially as you may well have missed earlier signs (see guide 12 for more on this).
The first consideration, always, is to check if pain is the issue. A quick vet check is always worth-while, but you can also probably get some feedback quickly by gentle touches on stomach and chest and under the tail where you have most likely put your hands to scoop pup up. Don’t try to do much, leave that to the professional but it may give you a quick heads-up to pass to the vet and where not to touch in the meantime. If your dog has had a previous stomach pain or tender area which is now healed, it could be the memory of that pain so they’re anticipating that it will hurt. Respect that just the same – we know if something hurt us once we’re wary the next time and dogs are no different.
Next, take a look at your handling technique. Are you being careful and gentle? Are you giving the dog some notice of what’s going to happen? It’s all too easy to just scoop up the dog onto the table for example ready to groom, or move away from the sofa/bed. You could use a cue word to let them know they’re about to be lifted, and then make sure you’re supporting both chest and rear comfortably.
Think about whether you really need to lift the dog at all. If you were cosied up in your favourite chair, or resting on a comfy bed how would you feel if you were picked up and unceremoniously dumped somewhere else? I bet you’d growl too! If you need your dog to be somewhere else, make it worth their while to go willingly for you. Throw a small treat on the floor from the bed or chair, or invite them for a few seconds of tug. If a chair is more comfortable for you to groom from, encourage your dog to jump on of their own accord – a little step to make it easier would be simple to organise.
If pup really isn’t happy about being picked up, while he’s learning to accept it, he might be much happier to step into a cushioned box for you to lift that instead. It’s a simple thing but again, will build his trust in you that you respect his preferences. There are few things where we can give dogs a genuine choice in their lives, so let’s give them what we can.
Once you’re sure there’s no pain involved, and you know you’ve done what you can to minimise the need for lifting, this from our guides teaches how to accept a lift when necessary. https://fbdtas.com/guide-12-dog-speak/conditioning-to-being-picked-up