Strange Behavior

1667 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by carrie, Jul 24, 2005

carrie

Discussion Starter · Jul 20, 2005

Ok, I really was torn about posting this, but I really would like some input on this issue.

A few days ago, I visited my friend, her mother has Massimo’s sister from his litter and his sister from another litter, she thought she would bring her dogs to visit with mine. While we were there, when Angel (his litter mate) or Mira came to me to be pet, Massimo would get all jealous and growl, he’d even use his mouth to take my hand off them. When he did that I would say "Massimo, what's wrong with you" or "Massimo, No" He never hurt me or them at any point in our 2 hour visit. Every time one of them would walk up to HIM when he wasn't near me he was fine. They even ran around playing. And Angel is more of the dominant type, she jumped on him and chased him around and he was fine. However, when he was sitting on me, he would growl at them when they tried getting on my lap. Otherwise he acted normal.

I posted a while back about Massimo growling at my husband. He has since stopped that. What has started since the visit with his sisters, is he’s been growling at my kids when they try to pet him while he’s on ME. This was really strange to me. I would give him a stern “Massimo, NO” and he would look like I tried to BEAT him or something. I would do that every time he would growl at my kids. He started to shake when he growled- like he knew it was wrong but he did it anyway. He wouldn’t look at me, only straight ahead, growl and shake. My husband pet him while he was on me and he was fine about it. We did an experiment. I gave Massimo to him, I left the room and the kids pet him. He did NOT growl. But as soon as he let go of him, Massimo would run to follow me. He’d get all excited and do his “pick me up” dance. I didn’t pick him up. When I sat down he got on my lap and I told the kids to pet him, and he growled again! I don’t know what has happened in the past few days, but he usually great with my kids. He loves to play with them (actually as I type this he’s running around chasing the kids, when they sit down he jumps on them and licks their faces!)

I’m just looking for away to get my love bug back with some NICE advice.

Thanks.

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fach

· #7 · Jul 20, 2005

Originally posted by Carrie@Jul 20 2005, 01:49 PM
Ok, I really was torn about posting this, but I really would like some input on this issue.

A few days ago, I visited my friend, her mother has Massimo’s sister from his litter and his sister from another litter, she thought she would bring her dogs to visit with mine. While we were there, when Angel (his litter mate) or Mira came to me to be pet, Massimo would get all jealous and growl, he’d even use his mouth to take my hand off them. When he did that I would say "Massimo, what's wrong with you" or "Massimo, No" He never hurt me or them at any point in our 2 hour visit. Every time one of them would walk up to HIM when he wasn't near me he was fine. They even ran around playing. And Angel is more of the dominant type, she jumped on him and chased him around and he was fine. However, when he was sitting on me, he would growl at them when they tried getting on my lap. Otherwise he acted normal.

I posted a while back about Massimo growling at my husband. He has since stopped that. What has started since the visit with his sisters, is he’s been growling at my kids when they try to pet him while he’s on ME. This was really strange to me. I would give him a stern “Massimo, NO” and he would look like I tried to BEAT him or something. I would do that every time he would growl at my kids. He started to shake when he growled- like he knew it was wrong but he did it anyway. He wouldn’t look at me, only straight ahead, growl and shake. My husband pet him while he was on me and he was fine about it. We did an experiment. I gave Massimo to him, I left the room and the kids pet him. He did NOT growl. But as soon as he let go of him, Massimo would run to follow me. He’d get all excited and do his “pick me up” dance. I didn’t pick him up. When I sat down he got on my lap and I told the kids to pet him, and he growled again! I don’t know what has happened in the past few days, but he usually great with my kids. He loves to play with them (actually as I type this he’s running around chasing the kids, when they sit down he jumps on them and licks their faces!)

I’m just looking for away to get my love bug back with some NICE advice.

Thanks.
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I don't know the best approach for this, and don't be offended by my comparison, but my sheltie had a bit of jealousy when Dixie came home with us. He is the type of dog that follows me everwhere, all day long, and now Dixie is there too. Anyway the way i handled it was to have the three of us sit together and share Dixie's puppy kibble. Worked like a charm. Her food is very different and he knows it it hers [his is low fat and much less exciting I guess] I would try to have the children give him special treats for allowing contact on your lap. it might just start out as them feeding goodies while you hold and then work up to petting. Just a novice guess. Good luck.

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