# My 5 month old puppy is suddenly growling at strangers....help!



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Puppies go through fear phases, this may be one for her. 

Have people toss her treats, but don't try to interact with her as they go near her. Have them stay turned sideways away from her, no eye contact, but toss treats towards her. If she will approach them voluntarily, have them drop treats closer to them and if she gets closer, then drop treats even closer to them. Then just hold the treat on their palm and offer it to her to see if she will take it from their hand. It all has to be her voluntarily approaching them. 

Hopefully it is just a phase, and if you have people show her they are not scary she will work through it.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

I think she's at that age where dogs often go through a fear period. I think you've gotten some good advice about how to desensitize her--and fortunately, there are likely a lot of people at work who can help with that since she gets to come with you! Also, dogs sometimes can pick up bad habits at daycare--depending on how well supervised play is. Piper started getting growly while playing after I took her to a new place. They posted some videos of the dogs playing, and didn't do as much separation based on play styles,and it was a little more intense than I expected. So she does daycare/boards at my vet, where I know they put her with dogs that don't play as rough (actually, they love putting her with the little puppies, because she's so great with them).


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

In addition to the solutions above, I'd get pro help right now. Even if she does outgrow it, this is not something I would want to mess with. She is very young so at this age it would be easy to work through.

I would probably change things up and, if possible, avoid those scenarios where she can do it right now.

For example, maybe she stays home instead of going to work. Or her crate is put in an area where no one walks by. Is her crate covered?

At home, people only come over if they are ready to help train and follow the protocol outlined by mylissyk.

No more hanging out by the fence of your home, for now. Or, if you do-- it is for training only, making positive associations.

Crate growling can be barrier frustration or guarding. Might be guarding for the fence/home, too. But I am not a pro, so you'd have to get in-person help to assess.

Any chance someone might be being unkind to her at daycare? Just something to think about.


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