Hi everyone!
My boyfriend and I have a 13.5-week-old male puppy named Goose, whom we've had for about a month. For the most part, he's lovely--quite mellow for a puppy, is well-socialized/handled and lets you do anything to him (even clean the inside of his ears and clip his nails!) 95% of the time, and is a very quick learner (except when it comes to recall and leash training, which is more to do with resistance than intelligence... :|)
However, he does get into "moods" -- sometimes because he's riled up, or he's doing something he doesn't want us to interrupt, or intensely playing with other dogs -- where he'll start snarling and biting us. Usually it's because we're trying to pick him up when he's in this mood (he's 100% cool with being picked up at all other times; in fact he won't even wake up if he's napping), but it is a little bit disheartening to see him snarling and snapping at us. This isn't playful biting/nipping (which he also does, a lot) -- this is true aggressive behavior that makes me scared to touch him or pick him up.
Many puppies display this type of behavior--especially certain breeds and/or some rescue pups. So my question really is: as a GR, is this indicative of his future/true temperament at all? Or is it normal even for completely good-natured dogs to show an aggressive side as a puppy? We went with a golden mainly because their temperaments are typically so easy-going, so I'm wondering if this is normal for a GR puppy. It's alright if it's not; I just want to know if Goose is perhaps sometimes more sensitive than usual GRs so I can anticipate that in the future.
*End neurotic new puppy owner rant*
Would love to hear your thoughts and about your personal experiences! Thanks so much
P.S. Picture of Goose attached -- he's the cutie on the right, obviously. He loves his vizsla friend!
My boyfriend and I have a 13.5-week-old male puppy named Goose, whom we've had for about a month. For the most part, he's lovely--quite mellow for a puppy, is well-socialized/handled and lets you do anything to him (even clean the inside of his ears and clip his nails!) 95% of the time, and is a very quick learner (except when it comes to recall and leash training, which is more to do with resistance than intelligence... :|)
However, he does get into "moods" -- sometimes because he's riled up, or he's doing something he doesn't want us to interrupt, or intensely playing with other dogs -- where he'll start snarling and biting us. Usually it's because we're trying to pick him up when he's in this mood (he's 100% cool with being picked up at all other times; in fact he won't even wake up if he's napping), but it is a little bit disheartening to see him snarling and snapping at us. This isn't playful biting/nipping (which he also does, a lot) -- this is true aggressive behavior that makes me scared to touch him or pick him up.
Many puppies display this type of behavior--especially certain breeds and/or some rescue pups. So my question really is: as a GR, is this indicative of his future/true temperament at all? Or is it normal even for completely good-natured dogs to show an aggressive side as a puppy? We went with a golden mainly because their temperaments are typically so easy-going, so I'm wondering if this is normal for a GR puppy. It's alright if it's not; I just want to know if Goose is perhaps sometimes more sensitive than usual GRs so I can anticipate that in the future.
*End neurotic new puppy owner rant*
Would love to hear your thoughts and about your personal experiences! Thanks so much
P.S. Picture of Goose attached -- he's the cutie on the right, obviously. He loves his vizsla friend!