[TealAPB]

I'm not a puppy person... I don't like puppies, and I don't have a lot of experience with puppies. So now I have this foster puppy Savannah, and since I know I'm not qualified to make a professional assesment on her temperament or anything, she is only available to someone with a ton of bully experience or if a rescue wanted to take her into their program... but since she's with me now, I have a few questions for those of you who know puppies better than I do.

Savannah has been showing some behaviour, at 2-3 months old, that I just don't feel is right. When playing, if you roll her onto her back, she'll get stiff, and if you try to scratch under her chin, she'll get extremely defensive... she'll try to push your hand away with her paws, growl, and defend herself with her mouth. If you're playing with her and grab at her muzzle gently, she'll get defensive again. Is this normal for a puppy of her age? She just seems too eager to defend herself, to growl and use her mouth.

PLEASE don't respond with how unqualified I am to be fostering her, or that I am putting the breed/people/my family at risk. I know this breed like the back of my hand... I just don't know PUPPIES. I don't know if this is normal PUPPY play, or if it's a sign of something bad. I know if my ADULT Bully showed these behaviours, I would have to seriously reconsider that dog's future... is it the same for a puppy?

 

[LegendsMami]

Gemyni was the same way( I took her in)! She gets really weird about grabbing her by her collar under her chin. She has no problems with letting Legend know she doesnt want to be bothered at all. Sometimes can't tell if she's playing w/ him or if she's attacking him! :shock: (He puts up w/ alot from dogs before he gets pi$$ed off). Maybe if you tell her no to the behavior and show her that your not going to hurt her she will stop w/ the defensiveness.

 

[pit_bull_lover]

Well, I don't consider myself an expert, but I have raised 3 puppies.

The thing about rolling her onto her back and she gets stiff is perfectly fine.....she may just feel vulnerable on her back, I wouldn't worry about that.

But scratching under the chin and grabbing her muzzle (by 'muzzle' I am assuming you mean snout/nose) if she is getting defensive about that....from my experience....I would not consider that normal for a puppy. What had she gone through before you fostered her? Maybe she does not like to be touched on her chin and snout in result of a past experience she may of had.

....thats all I got, hope it helped a bit.

 

[Jenn]

Sounds to me like a perfectly normal, fiesty puppy.. At her age she definitely needs to start learning some manners as well though. Not saying your not trying to teach her, just that it sounds normal, and she needs to learn what's acceptable, and whats not.

 

[Brian P.]

really sounds like normal puppy play to me, but i am no expert either.

 

[Kasco]

Sounds like you may just have a dominant little girl there. She may need a firmer hand while training her. My boy when he was a pup used to get really angry if anyone tried to comeover the top of him, a dominant gesture. Sounds like what your pup is displaying. Controlling a dogs muzzle is dominating them. Start now to show her who the boss is in the house, meaning you and you family, kids too. Best of luck, she sounds like a nice girl.

 

[Cookies Mom]

Sounds like you may just have a dominant little girl there. She may need a firmer hand while training her. My boy when he was a pup used to get really angry if anyone tried to comeover the top of him, a dominant gesture. Sounds like what your pup is displaying. Controlling a dogs muzzle is dominating them. Start now to show her who the boss is in the house, meaning you and you family, kids too. Best of luck, she sounds like a nice girl.

I agree

 

[jr8fan]

our dog is the same way, but it seems to be a long process!!!!

we will lay her on her side when she misbehaves and place our thumb and pointer finger on her neck and hold her down. she then tries to be the boss (she is 4 1/2 months old and thinks she bboc big bull ol campus) and reacts the same way when u grab her mouth and cradle herto show her who is the boss!!!

we will release her in either way when she calms down.

we think its mainly due to the mother/puppy/liter socialization as we got her when she was 5 weeks old in september!


just have patience!!!!!!

 

[Kasco]

our dog is the same way, but it seems to be a long process!!!!

It can be a life time process, trust me! :roll: :lol:

 

[Tia]

i would try training the puppy a bit more and see if anything changes, puppy is still to young to determine pts or anything. I think give her a chance and learn more about her . I am still confused if you don't like puppies why did you offer to foster a puppy? glad to see someone has her, but with issues for Ab they need a stern hand and knowledgeable trainer, if you are saying that is not you hopefully you will go to someone who is, best of luck . Ab pups do take time to mature as well

 

[TealAPB]

Thanks everyone!! I got basically the same responses from two different boards, so I'm confident that she is just a pushy little snot! :lol: She will definitely be learning her place in the pack from now on, and will begin obedience training today! I was going to wait a little bit for her to settle in, but it looks like she's had enough of that! I don't know anything of her background, she was a stray, so I'm working in the complete unknown.

I am still confused if you don't like puppies why did you offer to foster a puppy?

It wasn't so much an offer as it was I was stopped at a red light and this little thing was running around the intersection in a part of town known for dog fighting and chained Pit Bulls... it was spur of the moment for sure. I definitely wouldn't volunteer to foster one!

 

[Tia]

good to hear you trying to clean up the neighborhood!

 

[paulnzeus]

I think you may have answered a bit of your own question. You said you found her in an area that is known for fighting?. She was more then likely born into an aggressive lifestyle. Sounds like you are on the right track, best of luck.

 

[SisMorphine]

Sounds like you may just have a dominant little girl there. She may need a firmer hand while training her. My boy when he was a pup used to get really angry if anyone tried to comeover the top of him, a dominant gesture. Sounds like what your pup is displaying. Controlling a dogs muzzle is dominating them. Start now to show her who the boss is in the house, meaning you and you family, kids too. Best of luck, she sounds like a nice girl.

I agree. But the big thing is, this puppy isn't one you're keeping. So is she going to be too dominant to adopt out? My Mike is uber dominant (and just a total a-hole in general) and frankly I don't think that he was safe to be adopting out to the general public. A dog who really is super dominant is going to need lifelong management of that, which can be difficult to find in a rescue situation. So if she really is a dominant puppy and it isn't just a socialization thing I think you need to do long hard thinking on whether or not she's safe to adopt out. It isn't only dogs with a screw loose, or who have been abused, who aren't safe to adopt out, it's also dogs who top the ends of the dominance and fear scales.

But if you're not keeping her and you may be adopting her out yourself without the help of a rescue, definitely get her evaluated, because if it's just a socialization and environmentalization thing it's far easier to work on than a dominance thing. I'll cross my fingers that's all it is.