# 12 wk old puppy / growling and snipping



## LydiaScharf (Mar 23, 2009)

Our 12 week old puppy, Vina, is precious; however, a couple of times after picking her up and snuggling she has growled and tried to snip at my face. I am not familiar with dogs so any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks.


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

HI- I am so sorry you are having these problems!
Where did you get your puppy from? A breeder? A petstore?
How old was she when you got her?


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## LydiaScharf (Mar 23, 2009)

She is 12 weeks old and I got her from a breeder. The first time was on the way home from the breeder's house. The second time was bringing her in from outside. She is so sweet, I was surprised.


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## LydiaScharf (Mar 23, 2009)

She is 12 weeks old and I got her from a breeder. The first time was on the way home from the breeder's house. The second time was bringing her in from outside. She is so sweet, I was surprised.


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## Petaluna (May 9, 2008)

I don't have my Hav yet (getting her in about a month), but I did have a yorkie for 15 years and got her at 10 weeks. The puppy stuff is a distant memory, but if this is your first dog and you're not real familiar with dog language yet, I wonder if it could be more of a rough play growling/biting and not true aggression. Like she still needs to learn the boundaries on what kind of play is acceptable. I'm going on the assumption she came from a good responsible breeder who took the time to work on socializing her to humans.

I'm thinking the advice you might get, since positive training is what's supported here, is something along the lines of your making a sharp sound like "ah ah" when she growls and nips, or "yelping" to let her know she has hurt you, then putting her down and stopping attention, turning your back, ignoring her, etc., while rewarding her when she is giving you the behavior you want. I'm sure you'll get more and better advice on bite inhibition training, etc.

Second thought is - maybe she is telling you she's had enough cuddling for that session? Depending on how much she's being handled - I know I cuddled the living daylights out of my first puppy, and I probably over-did it. They need a break from handling and can get overstimulated. 

Good luck! At this age she is still very moldable, and you should be able to get good results with consistent training. I have been reading this is an important time for their development that way and the work you do now with her will really pay off later in all the years she'll be with you.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I agree with Diane very much. Geezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......I remember the little nips when Dexter was young. A constant "No Bite".....I got so tired of saying it, we just did something else to occupy Dexter like play with Dexter is show him how to play with the toys and we ran Dexter to tire him out. Once he was sleeping, we let him sleep.


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