# 6 month puppy barks and growls



## sprasad03 (Nov 29, 2009)

So here is the situation, my puppy is the most friendly and social dog ever. He still nips and bites sometimes b/c of teething but it has gone down a lot. He still does it when he is overexcited though. 
Anyways I am not sure what exactly causes it. I will be sitting in a chair and he will look at me and I will look at him and start petting him (remember this is random when he barks and growls at me) then all of a sudden he will jump back bark and growl, if I stand up, he runs away then barks growl, if i move toward him he barks and growls and runs and barks and growls and runs, if i do nothing, he keeps inching closer then finally nips but not a a hard nip its soft but aggressive. Once i catch him, he does nothing, no more barking or growling he just lies there. So i get confused what is his goal? 
Another time he does this for one instance, he was in my room, and he wanted out but was whining, so I stood in front of the door and didnt say anything. I wanted him to stop whining. He then looked at me and did the bark and growl thing again exactly the same way. If I caught him he becomes the nice dog again. So i am really confused whats his goal of getting aggressive or mad or even dominant. Can someone help?


FYI, he does follow commands and knows many tricks so he is a smart obedient dog but I wish he was like this all the time. When he becomes excited he doesnt listen and sometimes he ignores it and walks away which is frustrating.


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## rappwizard (May 27, 2009)

I know that others will chime in, but my first thought is that your pup is reacting to your intimidating body language; in the canine world, a face to face, eye to eye stare can be perceived as threatening. What I like to do, and what others do as well, is teach a "watch me" command so that my golden is not intimidated to look me eye to eye--the watch me command gives my golden the heads up that something good, or some other command, or event is going to follow. Some people use a treat, some a toy, some just a finger to their face. But you might want to play little games that incorporate "watch me."

When he's over excited, make sure you have a handy wubba, or sturdy toy, or chewie or nylabone, or something acceptable for him to nibble on instead of you. Nipping on you is not acceptable--even when he's excited. And give to him after you say "enough" tell him "take it" and praise--if he's excited, a nice "good dog" should do it.

When I find my golden is looking at me, I really don't look back without some type of communication, like "what a pretty girl!" or I call her to me "puppy come!" and play little command games--when you have their attention, and they are watching you like that, use it--don't stare back. He sees you looking back, IMHO, and appears to be a bit afraid--and you have an excellent opportunity to use his focus on you with different games and such. Instead, I wouldn't approach him when you see him looking at you--you're the owner--call him and have him come to you so you can have a little brief (1, 2 minute tops) training session together. Use that focus. Many owners would give a bag of kibble to have such focus.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Are you sure he's growling? My Maggie used to "talk" and visitors often took it for growling. She'd also bark and growl/"talk" when she was trying to tell us something, like "guys, you forgot my evening treat" or "how about throwing this ball". Or just, "hey, look at me"! Being that this is a new behavior, maybe you are misreading his actions.


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## Benlora (Sep 25, 2009)

My Logie talks a lot. I used to think it was growling but soon realised he was simply talking to us.

Eileen


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