Does your boxer puppy growl at you?
- Thread starter Joshua
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Matt & Mana
Boxer Pal
I would do what you can do discourage this behavior, but I think that this is something that a lot of young ones do. Eventually she will probably grow out of it. There was a time when anytime you touched my puppy he would do his very best to bite you. But he grew out of it. I think that at that age they don't completely realize that biting hurts..
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Owner of 1yro, 85lb, male
fawn boxer named Oscar.
www.Sublime-Dog.com
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Owner of 1yro, 85lb, male
fawn boxer named Oscar.
www.Sublime-Dog.com
Tulsa-Dan
Your Friendly Moderator
Biting is definitely a problem and should be dealt with immediately.
Maggie still growls and barks at me when we play. Sometimes when we play with toys, but mostly when we play tug. If she wants me to play, she gets in that front paws down, ass-up play position, looks up at me and growls and barks!! That I don't mind and haven't discouraged her in any way. It is just her way of saying she wants to play.
Interestingly, a lot of boxers in the park where she plays growl and bark when they play too. I've been told by many this is a boxer trait. But it seems to put Maggie off and she stops playing when the other dog becomes "vocal." And she never gets vocal (unless there's a dominance struggle going on - and that's a different growl and a different matter) when she plays with other dogs, only with me.
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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn, docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html
Maggie still growls and barks at me when we play. Sometimes when we play with toys, but mostly when we play tug. If she wants me to play, she gets in that front paws down, ass-up play position, looks up at me and growls and barks!! That I don't mind and haven't discouraged her in any way. It is just her way of saying she wants to play.
Interestingly, a lot of boxers in the park where she plays growl and bark when they play too. I've been told by many this is a boxer trait. But it seems to put Maggie off and she stops playing when the other dog becomes "vocal." And she never gets vocal (unless there's a dominance struggle going on - and that's a different growl and a different matter) when she plays with other dogs, only with me.
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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn, docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html
Boxer Family
Boxer Booster
My Emma is 10 1/2 weeks old. She does the same thing w/ growling and biting. It's a struggle and they want to usually find out who is the "alpha" of the pack. You have to show hime YOU are in control. When Emma get's aggressive with me or my children I put her on her back and tell her, "NO". I leave her in this position until she calms down and then I let her up and say, "good girl". As for the biting issue.....if she bites me or my children I put my thumb in her mouth and press down firmly and say, "NO BITING". She's getting better but I have to do this quite a few times during the day. It's much easier to train your puppy now then to wait until they are 60 lbs. not to bite. Play or Not.
Mary
Emma 10 1/2 week old
flashy, fawn, getting ears done Wed.
Mary
Emma 10 1/2 week old
flashy, fawn, getting ears done Wed.
Bxrlvr in KC
Boxer Booster
Clyde didn't become vocal until he was an older puppy, maybe 9 months old. He's very whiny and barky now (too much so). He will growl a lot when Joel plays rough with him, and sometimes he'll growl at me, too. Usually when it's with me, it's an invitation to play. He'll walk up with his Kong in his mouth growling like, "Let's play...NOW!!!" It doesn't bother us, so we haven't tried to stop it.
As far as the biting, we nipped this in the bud very easily. The technique we used was to "talk puppy". Whenever one of the kids would bite, we would YELP like a puppy would if they were to get hurt, very quick and high-pitched. You'll feel silly at first, and it will take some practice to get it right, but when you do, Dakota will jump back and look at you with those brown baby Boxer eyes, as if to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." It will take a few times, but she'll get the idea.
Also, make sure you never play with her with your hands. Don't do things like play-box, etc. Always play with a toy. Otherwise, she will view your hands as the toys!
As far as the ears go, I don't want to start a debate, but please consider not doing this. There is really no need and they're soo very cute with floppy ears. Just my humble opinion.
Good luck with everything and keep us posted.
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Michelle
Mom to:
Clyde - Flashy fawn male, natural ears, 3/28/98
Cricket - Beautiful rescued black mutt, 1/98
http://community.webshots.com/user/shelle18
[This message has been edited by Bxrlvr in KC (edited 12-03-2000).]
As far as the biting, we nipped this in the bud very easily. The technique we used was to "talk puppy". Whenever one of the kids would bite, we would YELP like a puppy would if they were to get hurt, very quick and high-pitched. You'll feel silly at first, and it will take some practice to get it right, but when you do, Dakota will jump back and look at you with those brown baby Boxer eyes, as if to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." It will take a few times, but she'll get the idea.
Also, make sure you never play with her with your hands. Don't do things like play-box, etc. Always play with a toy. Otherwise, she will view your hands as the toys!
As far as the ears go, I don't want to start a debate, but please consider not doing this. There is really no need and they're soo very cute with floppy ears. Just my humble opinion.
Good luck with everything and keep us posted.
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Michelle
Mom to:
Clyde - Flashy fawn male, natural ears, 3/28/98
Cricket - Beautiful rescued black mutt, 1/98
http://community.webshots.com/user/shelle18
[This message has been edited by Bxrlvr in KC (edited 12-03-2000).]
Joshua-
I don't have much to say about the biting...
a lot of good tips have already been given.
I just wanted to say that cropped ears are lovely when done right and yucky when not...
I didn't crop my boy's ears because we were not showing him and frankly, he looks so cute with floppy ears. Plus, I am a wimp and posting his ears would make me cringe.
I think that floppy ears are so cute, if you plan to crop just make sure your vet is experienced and doesn't give your baby pitbull ears.
My 2 cents.
Leezah & Angus
I don't have much to say about the biting...
a lot of good tips have already been given.
I just wanted to say that cropped ears are lovely when done right and yucky when not...
I didn't crop my boy's ears because we were not showing him and frankly, he looks so cute with floppy ears. Plus, I am a wimp and posting his ears would make me cringe.
I think that floppy ears are so cute, if you plan to crop just make sure your vet is experienced and doesn't give your baby pitbull ears.
My 2 cents.
Leezah & Angus
T
Tina-SCBR-NY
Guest
I wouldn't tolerate the biting either a quick smack on the nose and NO BITING will do the trick.
As for the cropping I am against it also. No need unless your showing. I know many people who have it done, then once it's done they wish they hadn't. It very hard to see your puppy go through that kind of pain!
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Proud momma of 3 boxer babies and 1 foster:
Dallas, F, Brindle 3/21/95
Dakota, M, Fawn 7/10/99
Missy, F, Brindle 8/7/99
And 1 Second Chance Foster dog
www.secondchanceboxer.com
American Boxer Rescue Association Affiliate
http://hometown.aol.com/scbrboxers/myhomepage/pet.html
As for the cropping I am against it also. No need unless your showing. I know many people who have it done, then once it's done they wish they hadn't. It very hard to see your puppy go through that kind of pain!
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Proud momma of 3 boxer babies and 1 foster:
Dallas, F, Brindle 3/21/95
Dakota, M, Fawn 7/10/99
Missy, F, Brindle 8/7/99
And 1 Second Chance Foster dog
www.secondchanceboxer.com
American Boxer Rescue Association Affiliate
http://hometown.aol.com/scbrboxers/myhomepage/pet.html
Boxer Family
Boxer Booster
Hi Joshua,
Don't worry about what people say when you talk about ear cropping. It's all in what you like the looks of. I personally think that cropped ears on a boxer looks better than floppy. I think that it really makes a boxer look like a boxer. It's like seeing a doberman or a great dane without there ears done looks silly. ( That's just me though ) Anyway, Emma had her ears done today and she's doing just fine. I went and picked her up about an hour ago and she's a little groggy but my vet has been doing ear cropping for 10 years and says she'll bounce back within a couple of days. The important thing is to MAKE SURE you have an experienced vet doing the ear cropping. Emma is 11 weeks old today and I've been giving her pet cal every day to help build up her cartilage in her ears. That will help before and after the surgery. Remember if you wait past 12 weeks it will probably be too late. So make sure you make your own decisions about ear cropping. Don't let someone talk you out of something that you like. You are the owner of your pet and you will be the one who takes care of him forever !!
Good luck and best wishes,
Mary
Emma 11 week old female
flashy, fawn, ears cropped today
Don't worry about what people say when you talk about ear cropping. It's all in what you like the looks of. I personally think that cropped ears on a boxer looks better than floppy. I think that it really makes a boxer look like a boxer. It's like seeing a doberman or a great dane without there ears done looks silly. ( That's just me though ) Anyway, Emma had her ears done today and she's doing just fine. I went and picked her up about an hour ago and she's a little groggy but my vet has been doing ear cropping for 10 years and says she'll bounce back within a couple of days. The important thing is to MAKE SURE you have an experienced vet doing the ear cropping. Emma is 11 weeks old today and I've been giving her pet cal every day to help build up her cartilage in her ears. That will help before and after the surgery. Remember if you wait past 12 weeks it will probably be too late. So make sure you make your own decisions about ear cropping. Don't let someone talk you out of something that you like. You are the owner of your pet and you will be the one who takes care of him forever !!
Good luck and best wishes,
Mary
Emma 11 week old female
flashy, fawn, ears cropped today
Cookie
Boxer Buddy
We also tried the yelp technique with Kes to stop her biteing and it worked a treat she still growls when we play which we don't mind but with the added bonus of teaching her 'ENOUGH' so if she gets a bit over excited as they often do we can stop the play without her keeping on hassling you to carry on
As far as the cropping debate goes it has been illegal over here in the UK for many years so to see a Boxer with cropped ears looks kind of strange to us but it is all down to what you are used to and pearsonal likes for example quite recently breeders were allowed to dock tails now only vets can dock tails with a valid reason so there has been quite a lot of boxers with tails walking around and personally I don't like it I think it ruins the shape of the whole dog (plus they really hurt when they hit you ) but like cropping its what you are used to. At the end of the day a Boxer will always be a Boxer what ever we do to them .
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All the Best
Cookie & Kes (Razzini Perfect Moments)
As far as the cropping debate goes it has been illegal over here in the UK for many years so to see a Boxer with cropped ears looks kind of strange to us but it is all down to what you are used to and pearsonal likes for example quite recently breeders were allowed to dock tails now only vets can dock tails with a valid reason so there has been quite a lot of boxers with tails walking around and personally I don't like it I think it ruins the shape of the whole dog (plus they really hurt when they hit you
) but like cropping its what you are used to. At the end of the day a Boxer will always be a Boxer what ever we do to them .------------------
All the Best
Cookie & Kes (Razzini Perfect Moments)
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