Is my puppy mean or just a puppy?
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I have 3 sheepdogs, the two youngers ones I've had since they were 8 weeks old. They both growl a lot when playing, especially playing tug. It's happy growling! They both still growl when playing with me at 3 years and 1 year old. I tend to growl back unconsciously. It is not a sign of aggression at all. Sheepdog puppies are notorious nippers, our 3 year old was really bad at it from 2-4 months and had pretty much grown out of it by 5 months old. There are various methods to try and get them out of that phase sooner, like always have a chew toy nearby, everytime they nip, distract them with an appropriate nipping target. Another one is to turn your back on them and ignore them if they nip. Another one still is to try a high pitch "yelp" when they nip, that would be another puppy's response and teaches them to back off. With our 3 year old, we (or at least me) weren't consistent at doing these things, and she pretty much grew out of it. For our youngest, the 1 year old, we had the best method, we also got her mother at the same time, and having the momma around prevented all nipping because a) she was the main nipping target and b) she did not tolerate it and taught her faster and better than any human could have!  To reinforce again, this is all 100% normal OES puppy behaviour, and you have every reason to expect your OES puppy to grow into the sweetest, gentlest dog. |
| My oes is 3years old and he still growls when he plays tuggy, that is the only time but if you didn't know what it was all about it would sound serious. |
| Monty also growls when playing tug and so does his mum. He play bit as a puppy. When he did it I would hold his muzzle and say NO. I also made a yelping noise if it hurt. He grew out of it as well. |
| Lily still growls sometimes when I play with her. Some dogs are just more vocal than others. I can growl at Lily and she'll growl/sheepie talk right back and then play bow. Even from the same litter, Jack is much quieter than Lily. Lily has an issue of giving her opinion. Lily is growling the whole time in the video when shes playing tug o war with her brother. |
| Thanks for the feedback! I guess I forgot how crazy puppies can be! She does tend to burry her face in my neck while growing so I guess if she was mean, she wouldn't be a cuddler! |
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