Cranky Puppy? There's more to it

Plum is a bit grouchy when it comes to other dogs. And honestly, I can't really blame her. Her story is pretty familiar - a recipe including  a few dogs, a clueless human, and likely a dash of laziness thrown in.

Plum is pretty young. I'd say 8 or 9 weeks old. She's also very tiny. So when she snarled and lunged at a hyper dog as we were getting her walked after the transport, it was a big red flag to me. This was not typical behavior for a dog her age. I learned more of her story and now her behavior totally makes sense.

She was surrendered to the shelter by a person who had brought a very young puppy home to a house with 2 very active 1 1/2 year old male Rat Terriers. She then put this tiny, 3 pound pup down with the other dogs and Plum was left to fend for herself. Talk about overwhelming and frightening!

She quickly learned that growling worked to get them to back off a bit and before long she was growling and lunging when they got in her space.

What did her person do about this? She took Plum to the shelter because she was supposedly not a nice puppy.

Before we judge her though, think about a recent trip to an off leash park with your dog, or a BBQ where dogs and people were invited. If a dog started growling, who got blamed for being the "bad dog" or the "aggressive dog" or the "alpha dog". The reality is that people really aren't careful when introducing dogs or letting them interact. THey just assume that the dogs will all be fine together and do their own thing. And even if the people are watching, very few humans really understand a dog's body language and what it is trying to tell you. What are their ears doing? Are they spending a lot of time hiding under low benches? Is there a long string of dogs playing "chase"? (psst: chase ceases to be a game when more than 2 dogs are involved - at least for the dog at the front of the line) Is anyone getting rolled? Are any single dogs getting "mobbed" by several other dogs in their space? If no one is paying attention or intervening, then growling and snarling or worse are the only options left to a frightened dog.

If the same situation was with a group of young children, no one is going to lie a 3 month old infant on the floor with some 4 year olds and say "you guys play nice!" and leave the room. That's what happened to Plum. Likewise, at the family BBQ if one kid is repeatedly getting shoved by a circle of kids, someone is going to step in and break things up. Well, just like kids don't always "just work things out" dogs don't always "just work things out" and it's our job as their guardians - of dogs or kids - to make sure no one is being bullied.

So I'll step down off my soapbox a bit and talk about how things can be turned around with Plum. There's really good news to this story! Plum is very young and because of that we have time to form some positive associations with other dogs so she can grow up thinking that other dogs aren't so bad. I don't think she'll ever be a dog who loves rolling around a playing with other dogs but she doesn't have to be afraid when they are around.

Yesterday and today I've been bringing a treat bag loaded with fish/venison jerky cut into tiny pieces. Plum LOVES this stuff, as do the other dogs. Then I put Chima and Sal in a "down" and set Plum down with them (remember, she is 3 pounds and they are 24 and 16 pounds). Then I start doling out the jerky. Plum skitters around the dogs, completely focused on the awesomeness that is jerky. Chima and Sal get little pieces too since hanging out with a puppy isn't their idea of a great time and I make sure that Plum isn't walking over the girls or climbing on them so they feel comfortable too. Then we're done and puppy gets separated and hangs out in the kitchen with Tilly who is fine with keeping her distance and at 13 years old, the last thing on her mind is wrestling.

There are just two simple parts to fixing Plum's problem - 1) manage her environment so that there's no chance she's going to have unpleasant experiences with the larger dogs and 2) when she is with the larger dogs, use high value treats to start building a positive association with time spent around dogs.  It is a simple, elegant solution that is not an easy solution. Because it requires lots of repetition and careful management.

Any training takes work but I can guarantee that a little extra work put in now with this 8 week old puppy is going to reap huge amounts of benefit for her future. Think of all the times in her life she will be around other dogs! With up front work she can have things turned around so almost  all those times will be positive experiences.