# Snarling/snapping when picking up puppy



## LucyandMom (Jul 4, 2013)

My 15 week old female has started snarling,snapping, growling and biting at us whenever we pick her up now. The trainer has recommended never picking her up, and just using treats to lure her where we need her to go; what are everyone's thoughts on this? Should I just lure with treats (basically bribing) to get her off things, or should I persist through the (quite vicious) biting, and pick her up when I need to, to show her that I'm in charge? I'm a first-time dog owner, and don't want to start any behaviours that will only get worse over time.
Thanks for any input!


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Has she ever been scared by being picked up, or hurt during it by accident? If you touch her all over, are there any tender places? 

She might just have a sore spot right now and doesn't want to be touched. If so, perhaps a vet visit is in order. 

But at her age, I think it's odd she doesn't want to be picked up. I'm not sure I agree with the trainer to ignore the issue and work around it. Would make more sense to me to gently work the pup through it. I hope others will chime in and give you more ideas.


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

My two thoughts are this :
A.) Refrain from picking her up when you need her to get off of things or move -- you will not be picking up your adult dog so better to start coming up with new methods while they are still young. Picking her up or not will have absolutely no influence on whether or not she thinks you are in charge as long as your new method is fair, consistent, and respectful. I personally taught a "move" command for moving around or off furniture. Begin teaching this command in a lower-value area though, such as while she is laying on the floor vs while she is laying on the couch. To train this, I just put a treat in the area where I wanted my dog to move to, marked the moment of movement, and rewarded, then I put it on cue, and then I phased the treat when he was obeying at least 90% of the time. There are all kinds of different ways you can teach this though. "Go to your bed", "off", simply a "come", and asking for an alternative behavior such as "touch" or "shake" (something they can't do while remaining where they are) are all options. 

B.) Desensitize her to being touched. If she is snarling and snapping and rather viciously biting at you, it's clear she is feeling defensive and unsure of being handled. This is not a good road to go down and why it's not a great idea to rely on touching your dog as a means of showing them your authority. If she is to be handled, it needs to be an AWESOME thing. She gets praise, she gets treats, she gets play time, whatever she finds most valuable. Start small, just a simple pet on the chest and give her whatever she finds most valuable, and then work up to more and more handling as she communicates to you that she is comfortable. Relaxed face, leaning into your hands, loose and wiggley body, and re-initiating contact when you take it away are all signs of being comfortable... yawning, lip licking, quickly licking your hand and then looking away, turning her head or body away, and shaking her body off when you remove contact are all more subtle ways that she may tell you she is uncomfortable. 

With a 15 week old puppy, you want to focus just as much on building trust as you do on building authority, especially if you have a dog that is fear reactive. It's a lot like little kids!


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## LucyandMom (Jul 4, 2013)

Thanks Outwest and Mirinde for your replies; she isn't injured as far as I can tell, and she normally loves cuddling, petting, rubbing, so it's not our touch she is afraid of...I think it's more her asserting herself in situations that WE want her out of (ie. she wouldn't get in the car last night, even with treat bribing, so we had to pick her up, or if she is on furniture, etc.). I am using the 'come' command with treat rewards to get her to move, so we may just stick with this. I just wanted to make sure that this wasn't an early sign of a much bigger problem.
Thanks again.


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## Mirinde (Jun 8, 2011)

I don't think it's necessarily automatically a warning sign. I think your little girl is communicating to you that she has her own opinions, though! And it's certainly a good idea to help her navigate those appropriately to avoid any future issues. 

A Say Please protocol is really helpful for dogs who run a little on the argumentative side  It's a gentler modification of Nothing In Life Is Free and I feel it's more appropriate for learning puppies. Say Please « Ahimsa Dog Blog Puppies naturally want to test boundaries. Some are louder about it than others. Very few dogs are inherently _aggressive_ at 15 weeks old though, though they sure can act awfully un-charming. It's how you push through these periods of cantankerousness that will help shape her. 

Also, if my dog were to start blowing me off frequently (as in your case with the car incident), that would indicate to me personally that I need to work on upping my value to my dog and make myself more attractive to listen to. Especially if food stops being a motivator. When we personally fall into this pattern, I really start increasing things like games of tug (works drop, leave it, and impulse control), hide and go seek (works on recall and desire to seek you out), what I call "happy downs" which is where I run around the house like a looney, my dog follows me, when he gets to me, I ask him to lay down, and then we rough house for a minute (works a prompt and consistent down/stay, and a desire to follow your lead), pull out a well loved but rarely seen toy (this is just for kicks!), and all sorts of fun stuff like that. I pick this up whenever Iorek starts to seem a little "meh" about following my directions and it always improves things. This may be totally irrelevant for you, it's just something that has helped me build relationships with dogs who tend to be independent or "stubborn" or bossy.

Edited to add : It's also okay to seek a different trainer if you do not feel that the one you have is meeting your needs or answering your questions fully. Help from a good, positive trainer who can actually view your interactions with your dog is invaluable. You don't have to waste time or money on a trainer who isn't helping you dig into the details of what may be going on.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

You've received good advice, I would say that you might keep a 2 foot drag leash on her and use that to encourage her to comply when she will not be lured with food. If my pup was doing this, I would be looking up the protocol "Nothing In Life is Free" and work on implementing a version of this in your every day life. Have you considered maybe she should not have the privilege of being up on furniture if she continues not to react well to being removed?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think puppies get snarky about being picked up and carried.... when the owner has abused their "pick up and carry" privileges. If you are always picking up and hugging and squeezing and smooching and so forth.... your arms are a prison; you dog is not a stuffed animal. 

You can still pick up your puppy - but keep it very brief and put her down the instant she wriggles. And/or only pick her up when she wants to be picked up. 

With Bertie at the same age, he would definitely telegraph to me when he wanted me to carry him. Otherwise, I was absolutely happy letting him use his little legs. He was heavy...


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## LucyandMom (Jul 4, 2013)

Thanks again Mirinde and Nolefan; I'll definitely start implementing some of these suggestions into our routine to help make me more important to her, and I have looked up NILIF and we try to use this philosophy as much as possible...ie. she has to 'work' for every privilege (meals, treats, walks, etc). And I personally don't allow her on the furniture, but unfortunately my husband and children aren't as vigilant as I am, and this is when she usually ends up there, and I have to remove her. (As in the picture in my avatar!)
I think you are right though about her just being 'opinionated!' The trainer calls her saucy!


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## LucyandMom (Jul 4, 2013)

Megora, you could be right - I used to pick her up a lot, and maybe she's just had enough of it...I was always so worried about her joints, I never wanted her to do any stairs or jumps. Thanks!


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I guess it really depends on the puppy.. Molly never EVER tried wiggling out of my arms. She'd actually calm down whenever I picked her up. I'd know.. I carried her up and down 5 flights of stairs until she was 6 months old.  I was paranoid about joint issues too. I still occasionally pick her up for 30 second time outs.. She is still just as calm as she was as a puppy. 


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

This is not going to be a popular opinion, but I feel it needs to be said.
That is not normal nor acceptable behavior from a puppy that age. Please find a trainer who has a lot of experience dealing in issues like that, preferably a behaviorist, and work her through it now rather than later.


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## Katduf (Mar 10, 2013)

Keep a leash on her and when you want to get her off from somewhere encourage her by using the leash. As soon as she's down give praise. 


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## CKurtz (Nov 7, 2021)

LucyandMom said:


> Megora, you could be right - I used to pick her up a lot, and maybe she's just had enough of it...I was always so worried about her joints, I never wanted her to do any stairs or jumps. Thanks!


Hello, I know this is an old thread but thought I’d see if I’d get lucky in seeing how this particular 
puppy ended up (@LucyandMom). My 12 week old puppy is the same way, and I’m pretty worried (have a trainer lined up).


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

CKurtz said:


> Hello, I know this is an old thread but thought I’d see if I’d get lucky in seeing how this particular
> puppy ended up (@LucyandMom). My 12 week old puppy is the same way, and I’m pretty worried (have a trainer lined up).


Welcome!

The Original poster has not been back on the Forum since 2014, you may want to start a thread of your own.


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## CKurtz (Nov 7, 2021)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Welcome!
> 
> The Original poster has not been back on the Forum since 2014, you may want to start a thread of your own.


Ah, guess I could have checked her last active date! Thank you!


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