Growling puppy

[mattman1471]

We have had our Pembroke puppy for about 3 weeks now. She's 3 months old and has been a real sweet pup til recently. She first started to growl at my 9 year old daughter when my girl began to gently pet her while she slept. Then she began doing it to my older daughter and now the puppy has carried that behavior to when someone tries to pick her up. She did it to me tonite and a scolded her for acting so badly and she became submissive. Can anyone help me with this problem before it gets outta hand? Am I overacting? It's not a good thing for such a young puppy to be growling at her loving family members......Help!

[Michael Romanos]

This might help or it might not. I have had Corgis who growl. And that is all they do. Nothing sinister, nothing aggressive, no prelude to an attack. I had a show champion Pem who when being inspected by a judge either on a table or at ground level, would always offer a very low, short growl. And that was it. Nothing more.
My current Pem, Taylor occasionally growls at other dogs and I have learnt to accept it as mostly a non threatening gesture by him. Only today he growled at another Corgi (a two year old very active fellow) when the Corgi wanted to play fight - and Taylor obliged with relish on several separate occasions. It was a 'lets have some fun' growl though indisinguishable from a serious warning growl. Puppies will also growl for similar reasons. Taylor and all my other Corgis always growled when having wrestling contests with me, when having tugs of war etc. Growling can be a warning or it can be a noise outlet for excitement.

[Louwants]

Duncan has a grumbly growl when things aren't going his way. Never been aggressive. Just like a grumpy old man, muttering under his breath. He also has a growl when he is getting petted.

[Michael Romanos]

Taylor also growls at me sometimes at agiliy when he considers that I have made a mistake, gone the wrong way or telling him to do the wrong thing.

[glencorgi]

As others have pointed out, some corgis are just very vocal and verbal. A now four month old puppy I raised grrrrr'd and arrrrrgh'd and carried on any time I had her in my lap or was carrying her around, both of which she loved. She'd snuggle her head under my chin and give all kinds of kisses while carrying on in this way. Cabie was/is just very vocal and it was her way of telling me about her day and commenting about things. Nothing warning or viscious in it.

I've also had adults the would do low mumbley/rumbley growls when scratching their backs, tummies or ears - almost the equivalent of "a little to the left, no to the right, ahhhh - you got the spot!" Again, nothing warning or aggressive in the growls. Think of it like a cat or kitten purring.

Now, if she is showing teeth and attempting warning snaps at you or the girls, then a figurative knot needs to be yanked in her little bum - that isn't acceptable and needs to be stopped now. A good book to check out is Mother Knows Best, How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Carol Lea Benjamin. She could be testing to see what she can get away with and there are some things you can do to get her back on track.

Let us know which of the growlings you are seeing and then we can make appropriate suggestions.

Debbie

[MattC]

My puppy is just discovering his voice at just over a year. He growls occasionly but it is never in an aggressive way. The breeder had warned us that Corgi's like to speak and we should be careful not allow him to bark to often.