I have a 10 month old cockapoo (cocker/poodle mix, very adorable) named Cody who has generally been a good dog/pleasure to have. He is my first dog and i have a few questions...
1) cody will growl/nip occasionally is he does not like what you are trying to do, or if you get in his face. He has growled at my husband on occasion, when my husband has, for instance, tried to move him out of a spot where he is lying. He has never done this with me. More disturbing, he "bit" my 9 year old son on the cheek last night. He had had a tough day (visit to the groomer, i'm sure stressful for him) and he was relaxing under a stool in the kitchen. My 9 year old (despite repeatedly being told not to disturb cody when he is resting) got down on the floor and proceeded to try to pet him repeatedly. Cody snarled/snapped at him finally and and gave him quite a scratch/welt on the cheek. It did not bleed but it looked unpleasant. I have seen him do this b4- i take him to baseball and soccer games all of the time (with 3 boys ages 6,9,12 it is constant) and he is usually fine with all of the kids petting him. However, last saturday a little girl got too much in his face and he snarled at her. I am very upset/worried. People who are more experienced than i tell me that he is a good dog, i need to control the kids (mine and others) more tightly around him, and should get him more training and he will be fine. Opinions?

2) Cody has also (within the last month) started barking loudly whenever anyone new comes into my house. He is LOUD and vigorous in his barking, but does it all while backing away from the person. It definitely looks like fear. I just ignore it and tell him to quite down. in a few minutes (generally under 5) he will come around, sniff the person, and become quite friendly, ie: licking, lying under their chair, etc. its almost like he needs to see that they are not going to do anything bad. i don't know where this is coming from- he has been with us since 8 weeks of age and has certainly never been abused/ hit, or anything else that might make him fearful...i don't know why this is happening and would like to try to nip this in the bud. any advice?
sorry i went on for so long!...

Originally posted by rose nadel:
People who are more experienced than i tell me that he is a good dog, i need to control the kids (mine and others) more tightly around him, and should get him more training and he will be fine. Opinions? I agree with this. Keep kids out of his face.

i don't know where this is coming from- he has been with us since 8 weeks of age and has certainly never been abused/ hit, or anything else that might make him fearful... It could be that he has always been fearful in this situation, but that as a puppy, his way of coping with it was to behave submissively. Now he is growing up and his way of coping with fear is changing to a threat display.

I have never met a Cockapoo that didn't behave exactly as you have described. Of course, I've only met a few, but every single one has displayed the exact same behaviors.

I would suggest that for now, put him away in another room before letting your visitor into your home. Once the visitor has been there for five minutes or so, bring the dog out for an introduction. In the meantime, start working on his obedience so that you can train him that when someone comes to the door, he is expected to go to his bed and stay until given permission to come and greet.

I would suggest that for now, put him away in another room before letting your visitor into your home. Once the visitor has been there for five minutes or so, bring the dog out for an introduction i will definitely do this- we have a crate in the kitchen which was used extensively during housebreaking. i only use it occasionally now, ie: during vaccuuming which also sets off the barking. i will try placing him there whenever anyone new is coming in.

It sounds like somewhat of a rank issue with your kids and your husband and also probably weak nerves i guess we need to step up on the training- we'd been off to a good start and it fell apart after i blew my knee out in december- now that i'm walking again i can resume more consistent training.

it's called WEAK NERVES You need to get a prong collar and train this dog As i mentioned, i am very inexperienced...are there any specific videos sold on this web site that you would recommend to educate/train myself on above?

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to help.

Rose

One more question- you mentioned possibility of dog biting visitors- at this point he is NOT growling, only barking and backing away...do you consider that (barking) to be the same type of response as growling? i didn't seem that he was prepping to bite, more that he was afraid and definitely kept his distance while barking.

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One more question- you mentioned possiblitly of dog biting visitors- at this point he is NOT growling, only barking and backing away...do you consider that (barking) to be the same type of response as growling? I didn't seem that he was prepping to bite, more that he was afraid and definitely kept his distance while barking.

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It definitely looks like fear

Whether he is barking or growling, and doing it out of fear, then you have to be careful. He has bitten your boy, growled at your husband, snarled at a little girl........the warning signs are there.

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Are there any specific videos sold on this web site that you would recommend to educate/train myself on above?

I would get the "Basic Dog Obedience" video, there is a lot of info in there. I hope this helps.

Rose,

My 13 yr odl golden/collie used to do this too, and I have had her since she was 6wks old.

First thing to think about is that Cody "warned" your son to get away by growling and showing his teeth. Same as us saying leave me alone or not right now. When your son didn't get the hint, Cody snapped (literally). He was told and warned by your dog, and he chose to ignore it. Same thing happened with my son when he was little and I explained it the same way. We all have our limits and bad days, so do our dogs.

As for the barking at strangers...my husband used to yell at our dog to stop barking when she heard the doorbell ring or a strangers voice. I told him that that's what our dog is there for - for protection and to warn us when a stranger is near. She's just doing her job!

Now, we introduce her to the visitors and tell her that's it's okay and she did a good job. She may cautiously bark at them the next time but usually remembers them and greets them with a waggy tail. She has gotten much better through the years, still does her job of protecting us, and she and the kids now respect each other's limits. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />