# Anyone else's puppy make that "snarly" face?



## julliams (Oct 27, 2010)

Zali is so well behaved but when she get's into one of those hyper moods, when she plays she gets that "snarly" face where the nose crinkles and the lips are pulled back. It looks wild and it bothers me because I don't really know what it means.

Two days ago my brother brought his two seriously crazy Jack Russells over( 18 months female and 7 months male) . They were barking like crazy and their play was a little rough in my opinion with the male chasing our pup around looking like he was trying to bite her. At one stage later in the evening, the two JR's started fighting with one another and I saw that "snarly" face in them as they were biting one another but of course, never enough to actually cause damage. They left and we heaved a sigh of relief. I had invited my brother and his wife over but I had NO IDEA they were bringing the dogs until they showed up in our living room!!!!

The next day we brought our pup over to meet my mothers 18 month old cocker spaniel. The dogs got on great, didn't interact all that much but tolerated each other beautifully. 

Then yesterday we went back for Christmas and in the afternoon our pup got into one of her hyper moods. She started barking at the Cocker spaniel as if to want to play and went on to start nipping at her ears and on the backs of her legs. It looked like she was grabbing tufts of hair and pulling them out which looked very painful for the Cocker whose tail was wagging but I could see she would have liked to get away. My husband and I were very uncomfortable with it and wanted to stop her (and did a couple of times) but my parents said it was fine and they were just playing.

I saw Zali using that snarly face and I really didn't like it. Today she is in one of those moods again and when I went to pat her back, her snarly play face came out again as she turned around to see who I was. I stopped and walked away and she came over to lay at my feet for a belly rub.

Is it normal? Should it be stopped immediately? 

I start puppy preschool in 4 days so I'll be able to ask about it then but it seems like it's coming out more now and I don't want it to become a habit.


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## Jazz & Jules (Feb 25, 2007)

I wouldn't worry too much as long as you control her nipping and biting. My Jazz has that snarly face when she gets excited and now we see it as her smile!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

For multiple dog interactions, separate the dogs if you are unsure about play. If you think it may be okay, release the dog being picked on and if s/eh wants to go back, that tells you the dog wanted to still interact. 

Dogs make snarly faces in play, it's very normal dog behavior. I think it's adorable. If you don't like it, call her over and re-direct her to another activity.


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## julliams (Oct 27, 2010)

Thank you RedDogs - that is very helpful.


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## Jr29 (Nov 8, 2010)

What about the snarly face to people?? Mine gives it to me and others when he is in his playful mode and it usually follows with nipping. I'm trying to redirect the nipping but it ain't going great. It kind of worries me that he snarls at me and others on the one hand, but on the other he seems to be playing not really trying to be vicious. Still, id like it to stop! Btw my pup is just 12 weeks.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

Our puppy does the same thing. She will play "bitey face" with our Lab. When the play and the puppy teeth get too wild the lab lets her know. I do not let her do it to us. When she gets wild (usually when she is over tired) if she starts to bite at my face or hands I tell her no bite! Redirect her to a toy or chewy, we always keep then within reach. If she does not stop ( she is a Shitzu rat terrier mix and is small) I pick her up, supporting her securely by holding on around her chest underneath her arms her rear feet are hanging. I tell her no bite! When she stops trying to bite me and relaxes I put her down in my lap and tell her good girl and pet her. If she does not stop I pick her up again and repeat. I know this sounds awkward and uncomfortable for Cricket, but I assure you it is not. It has worked very well and she knows no bite and no. If she is just too wild we put her in time out in her crate.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Yup they make that face almost every time they play/wrestle... I swear, they do love each other 











Mine have never made that face in a mean way or in any way where they were being threatening... it's always during playtime.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

This sounds very familiar and I think it's simply a sign that our Golden puppies are...well...dogs, after all. 

When Sunny (now 6 months old) nips at me, I usually wrap my hand around her upper or lower jaw and just gently hold her past the time when she thinks it's fun, saying "no bite." She's getting the idea that biting can have undesirable consequences. I don't know if experts like this approach, but it seems to be effective and it doesn't hurt her. I also call her away from the other dogs when she is in a hyper biting mode with them and they seem tired of it. What works then is usually giving her something that it's appropriate for her to bite or otherwise redirecting her energy.

Good luck and happy holidays!


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## Tailer'sFolks (Feb 27, 2007)

Does you pupper look like his? Tailer, yeas old...Ollie 6 months...


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## Golden23 (Sep 7, 2010)

Last Sunday at the puppy social, Keva and Mango (another golden puppy, turns out that they happen to be cousins) wrestled for an hour straight and there were plenty of snarly faces. It was quite funny, it was like watching a silent movie, because there was no sound just snarly faces.

Mango's parents and I agreed that it must be a golden thing because all of our other goldens did the snarly face too.


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## MILLIESMOM (Aug 13, 2006)

Pearl 62 lbs & Cricket 2 1/2 lbs


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## julliams (Oct 27, 2010)

Yes - that's the face MILLIESMOM. I guess I'll just have to relax about it and let her be as long as the other dog is happy. When it comes to us I think I'll use the hand on the muzzle or redirect to a chewtoy because I have done that and she responds to that.


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## luv2smile (May 27, 2010)

Yes, Yes, Yes...Cajun does the nose wrinkle and snarl thing. It really startled me at first because my cuddly puppy looked pretty mean making that face and barking. He does it when he's in hyper play mode and tries to bark to get my attention. He does it occasionaly playing with other dogs too, but mostly just at me when he's excited.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

I love that face on my Luke. It's usually when he is playing with his much older brother, Nicky. It makes me feel like he should be auditioned for one of the Twilight movies. ha,ha ;-)


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## RaeRae1706 (Nov 4, 2010)

Sunny makes the same face  He does it in play with Luna, and never aggressively.


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## wenryder (Oct 21, 2010)

I agree with the others, it is common. We call them the "sharkies" but it's never intentionally nasty. Our Obie is teething pretty hard right now, so the sharkies are more and more frequent, but always playful. If he starts biting towards a hand or arm (sleeves especially) we usually redirect his attention to a soft toy, and most of the time it works very well.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

We get that face around here, too!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

My senior dog Finn still does this when he is very joyful and it is usually accompanied by a few prance-steps. My puppy Copley also does it, usually with a silly woof/yip noise that is a sound effect only for that face. It is so comical, but if they actually nipped, it wouldnt be,lol.


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## JDandBigAm (Aug 25, 2008)

How about this snarly face...Jonah has never bitten me but we do play rough and tumble occasionally.


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## Ruby'smom (Feb 4, 2008)

Ruby loves to play bitey face 
I play rough with her sometimes and she curls her face up like the photos here 
she used to nip when she was a little puppy but we refused to play if she was too rough and she soon got the message
she loves me to put my hands in her mouth and as I trust her 110 % I love doing it
I guess when we get another dog she will prefer to play bitey face with them but I do think its very cute
its weird that a dog that looks so soft and cuddly could hide those big nasty nashers in their "little" mouths


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## Ryoma (Nov 14, 2010)

it could be worse like the now famous Titan 
Mighty Titan The Most Scary Lovely Dog | Jorymon Techblog


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

My, what big white teeth you have, Jonah!


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## Ryoma (Nov 14, 2010)

Rösti and Malkah doing "the snarley"


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## julliams (Oct 27, 2010)

Ryoma said:


> it could be worse like the now famous Titan
> Mighty Titan The Most Scary Lovely Dog | Jorymon Techblog



That's so funny!


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## RaeRae1706 (Nov 4, 2010)

I couldn't find this post so I started my own, but here it is, so here is Sunny's snarly face!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Like this?









Or this?


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)




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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

Oh, they get the snarly faces when they play or are super excited. Don't worry too much. I know sometimes play time with other dogs look scary, but they don't (usually) hurt each other. You should relax and try to learn to "read" them to know when it's completely ok and when it's too rough. I use the following rule, more or less: if they are both wagging tails and playing bitey face but there's no barking or deep growling or whines, I allow it. When one dog looks scared, hides its tail between the legs or whines or barks loudly or growls, I stop it immediately. But I've seen Cooper and one of his bestest friends, Blondy the Cocker, play bitey face with those snarling expressions for nearly an hour and they were having the best of times and never hurt each other at all.

If she does it to you, it's another story. Cooper used to do it a lot when he was playing or when he wanted something I didn't want to give him. At first it was hilarious, but then I started to stop and redirect because it felt inappropriate and I thought if I gave in, it would be followed by nipping. So, just redirect. But it doesn't mean she wants to hurt you or she is aggressive! It's just that playing is too intense for her at the time 

Here are some pictures of Cooper and his friends snarling at each other:


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## Maya's_Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I agree with RedDogs... I find the snarly face adorable (especially because I know she doesn't mean any harm). I don't have any recent pics of Maya's snarly face.... She will do it with me and my hands when we are playing.... but if I put my hand right near her mouth... she shies away, so I know that she has NO intention of being malicious and biting! These are a couple young ones of Miss Snarly... the first one she looks vicious, but the second you can see the love between the pups!!


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## cisobe (Feb 22, 2010)

Tobey does it as well... He and his little shetlie brother play wrestle all the time (although they do get a little to excited, and I have to stop it). Tobey never used to bark, but after we brought Bailey (his sheltie brother) home, Tobey has started to bark quite a bit (probably because his little brother always barks at him). Both of them do the snarly face to each other, and there is a lot of nipping at each other. I was afraid at first, so I used to break them up, but they both kept going after each other... Tobey would be hanging out, and Bailey would sneak up, and jump on him, or the other way around, Bailey would be hanging out, and Tobey would just walk over and knock him over, and they would start wrestling.

It looks vicous at time, but pull out a cookie, and they both stop and stare... it's quite funny.

Tobey does do his snarly face with me when we wrestle a bit, or when he throws a little tantrum when it's time to go bed (he'll flop on his back, and make it difficult to get him up and walk him to his crate).


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I finally found a picture of Finny doing his snarly face. He only does it when he is completely overjoyed and playful:


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Like this?


Or like this:


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## sunflowerkd (Oct 26, 2010)

ok I feel better.. Teddy does a modified snarly face (5 months). I do correct him .. but sometimes it is just that and nothing else...it is at my husband or I b/c there are no other dogs in house. What does bother me is that he sometimes jumps towards me when he does it... He stop mid air before he gets to me but I correct him immediately. I don't always have a toy to offer him but I am concerned that it will lead to other bad behaviors..I am wrong..?


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