Why do Puppies Snap at People Who Pet Them?
A case study of a mixed-breed puppy who sends mixed signals.
A listener, Jill, recently wrote in about her 4-month-old Yorkshire Terrier and Mini Poodle mix. Every day, Jill brings puppy Lainie to her workplace. But lately, there’s a problem! “The past couple of days,” Jill reports, Lainie “will let someone pet her, but if they take their hand away for a second and then go back, she snaps at them!” Jill’s puzzled – as she points out, “these are people she has seen before, and they were just petting her.”
This week: Why a dog might snap at a person who was just petting her, and what to do about it.
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Aggression: Your Clue That Your Dog is Stressed
You can always take it as a given that if your dog /pets/dog-behavior/what-to-do-if-your-dog-growls-or-snaps in a situation, something about that situation makes her uneasy. In Lainie’s case, she snaps when someone who’s been petting her stops and then reaches for her again. There are at least 3 possible reasons, and close observation of her behavior can help Jill figure out what’s up:
Possibility #1: The Puppy is Socially Ambivalent
Like other behavior specialists, I’ve had many clients report that their dog will approach people and look as if she’s seeking contact, only to duck away, growl, or snap when the person actually touches her. When I meet these dogs, I find that their body language is a mess of mixed signals. A dog may sniff at me with her neck stretched out as far as it can go and her /pets/dog-behavior/what-do-dogs-say-with-their-tails between her legs, for instance. That’s a pretty extreme and obvious case of social interest combined with huge anxiety about actually getting up close and personal.
Many dogs are more subtle; I might have a dog sit pressed next to me, for instance, but /pets/dog-behavior/how-to-read-a-dogs-facial-expressions me out of the corners of her eyes. Or she may clearly signal relaxed friendliness right until the moment a stranger touches her, and then her whole body stiffens up.
If Lainie does approach people voluntarily, Jill should keep a close eye on her body language to make sure she’s really enjoying whatever interaction follows.
Possibility #2: The Puppy Would Prefer Not to Greet People at All
Common small-dog scenario: The dog’s owner holds him, or holds him in place on leash, while other people reach to pat him. A dog who’s somewhat /pets/dog-behavior/how-to-help-your-shy-or-nervous-dog, or who’s not entirely comfortable with restraint or with handling, will respond to this experience with signs of stress. Most obvious are attempts to escape. Unfortunately, it’s so easy to restrain small dogs that many people just clamp down harder instead of accepting the dog’s clear communication that he’s not enjoying himself. You may also see pinned ears, lip licking, and shrinking away. Some dogs will freeze up, as if they were thinking of England and waiting for the whole thing to be over.
Suppose that picture matches Lainie’s situation, it’s easy to imagine her relief when petting stops, and then her exasperated snap when that hand comes back again.
Possibility #3: The Puppy is Tired and Cranky
Jill didn’t mention how busy, crowded, or noisy her workplace is. If it’s a quiet office and she’s rarely disturbed at her desk, I may be completely off base here. But suppose Jill is, oh, an IT person at a good-size firm. People will be in and out of her work space all day long; many or most of them will be unfamiliar to Lainie, and many or most of them will want to pet her and play with her — she’s a 4-month-old puppy, after all. She must be crazy cute!
But puppies need quiet and rest as much as they need exercise and play. Also, they may get crabby when they’re overtired, just the way toddlers do. If Lainie’s episodes of snappiness took place late in the workday, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
What to Do About a Snappy Puppy
Make no mistake, it’s a huge benefit to be able to take your dog to work with you. But I would manage Lainie’s experience carefully. First, Jill should familiarize herself with canine body language so she can easily see when Lainie is happy and relaxed or playful, when she’s nervous, and when she’s tired and tense. This knowledge of her dog will enable Jill to look out for her.
Suppose Lainie is eagerly sociable all morning, but in the afternoon she seems sleepy and wiggles away when people pet her. There’s a big clue that a half-day in the office is all she needs – and maybe she doesn’t need that half-day to be every day.
Or suppose Lainie tenses up only around certain people – Jill’s grab-the-puppy boss, maybe, or a loud-voiced HVAC repair guy. Jill can help Lainie out. She could ask her boss not to grab Lainie; instead, let Lainie approach and get comfortable at her own pace. (I can’t help with the office diplomacy here – that’s a question for https://manners.quickanddirtytips.com/.) As for Mr. HVAC, give Lainie some distance from him so she has a chance to get used to his big voice. If he’s friendly and likes dogs, Jill could enlist him to spend a few minutes a couple of times a week sitting in her office, speaking softly and paying Lainie no attention at all. With a little luck, this may be all Lainie needs to learn to feel at ease.
If Lainie likes petting but it sometimes goes on too long, until she finds it overwhelming, Jill should ask people not to reach for her. Instead, they should sit back and let Lainie choose the social pace. Even when she invites petting, the people should keep touches gentle and brief. Leave Lainie wanting more!
What if the Puppy is Anxious in Many Situations?
Finally, what if Jill’s observations of Lainie tell her that, actually, Lainie is anxious and stressed from the moment they walk into the office till the moment they leave? What if, now that Jill knows how to read Lainie’s body language, she can see that Lainie is shy or even fearful in many situations?
In that case, it’s time to call in the cavalry, in the form of a /pets/dog-training/choosing-a-behavior-consultant-for-your-dog. A puppy who’s globally timid at the age of 4 months will not just “outgrow it.” She needs help, and she needs it as soon as possible. The more anxiety-provoking experiences Lainie has, the more likely it becomes that she’ll continue resorting to aggression to make scary things go away. That’s the bad news. The good news is that with a well-planned behavior modification program, young animals can be surprisingly flexible and resilient.
As always, send comments and questions to dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. And you can talk to me on https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Dog-Trainer/58431916698, where I’m The Dog Trainer. https://twitter.com/dogalini is me on Twitter. Thanks for reading, and have a great week.
About the Author
Jolanta holds professional certifications in both training and behavior counseling and belongs to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She also volunteered with Pet Help Partners, a program of the Humane Society of the United States that works to prevent pet relinquishment. Her approach is generally behaviorist (Pavlovian, Skinnerian and post-Skinnerian learning theory) with a big helping of ethology (animal behavior as observed in non-experimental settings).
