my daughter has a pup she is a bitchon frise 4months old my daughter is 15 and very responsable i have her pup when shes at school ,the thing is izzi has started barking and growling when people come to the house??? we got her when she was 11 weeks old my daughter would take her out from day 1 and hold her she was fine, its only been the last 2weeks shes started doing this and i cant see what has started it ,i tell her off when she starts ,i need to get this niped in the bud asap but how?? any help please xx

Don't tell her off - this will add to her stress and make her behaviour worse. She's frightened. Puppies go through stages of fear.

Keep her in another room or her crate until guests come in and sit down. When she's calm, allow her into the room, asking guests to avoid looking at her, but to drop some high value treats (like chicken) on the floor as long as she isn't barking. If she won't stop barking then calmly remove her from the room again (or put her in her crate) and ignore her till she calms down.

Don't try to comfort her or chastise her while she is barking/growling.

Alternatively you could ask the guest to sprinkle the treats as they enter the house.

Either way she needs to learn that guests coming in means lots of treats.

Edited to add - if you do have to remove her from the room, do it calmly without it seeming like a punishment. Don't talk to her, just calmly move her.

thanks toon will give this a go x

At 4 months she is still very much a baby.  I never tell a youngster off - for anything!  Prefering distraction techniques with pupsters.

Telling her off will increase her anxiety.  Often it's hard to pinpoint the cause, so you have to just go softly, softly.  I agree with treats from visitors, and just take it VERY slowly.  :-)

Up till now it has been assumed that the dog is nervous or distressed by the visitors, could it be possible that she is just feeling her feet and pushing the boundaries, as a breed some can be a bit pushy. Not that this would change the way to deal with it but one could forget the gently gently approach and let it be known that it did not please you.

This is one of the problems with diagnosing a problem over the internet you do really need to see or at least ask enough questions to understand what the problem is.

Perhaps get in a 'professional' to assess the situation? if you get this wrong, you may be left with a long term problem. imo

I believe that BF's have a degree of watchdog ability. This is different from guarding, a watchdog warns you that something has changed/ is potentially dangerous. It could be that at 4 months this aspect of her makeup is kicking in and she has still to learn that people coming into the house is generally a good thing.

You say your daughter got her at 11 weeks- was she well socialised prior to that? Do you know much about ther life prior to you- this may hold clues?

It may be a result of inadequate socialization or a normal developmental phase or it could be attention seeking.

Why not try to speak to someone in the breed and take advice? In the meantime don't worry. When visitors arrive pop her into a crate with something nice and let her learn from a safe distance that people coming into the house is fine. Once visitors are in ask them to ignore her. You can open her crate and let her decide if she wants to investigate the arrivals. Key thing is no fuss, just act in a kindly way as though she is totally insignificant and get visitors to do the same. If she barks or growls just ignore it or move to another room. See how you go, if she calms down pretty quickly then it probably is just a phase. If she persists then you could ask an expert to see her.

As Nova said, it is very difficult to offer advice by remote so if your guts are telling you that her behaviour is OTT or you just don't know how to deal with it it is probably best to get expert advice just so you don't make what is probably a small/non- problem worse.

Do remember though that breeds that have been developed for any degree of watchdog ability will produce some individuals that have little and others with much more and socialisation is key. As a first port of call, I think talking to the breeder, if possible, is a good idea.

thankyou every1. she does it mostly to people she hasnt met before and if some1 comes in and makes a beline for her she backs away and growls then barks i tell her to stop being silly(thats what i mean my telling her but i will ignor it now) her breeder knew what she was doing ,but i do think maybe not enough people around the pup/s so maybe not enough socialization was done? as some of you know we have german sheps also and 1 of our girls barks like mad when some1 is coming towards our door she is a great gaurd dog (drives me mad most of the time lol)but the other 2 dont bother barking .....im wondering if izzi is/as picked up on this?? but if thing dont change i will have to get her looked at and i will ring her breeder later and see what she thinks
again thankyou guys x

In that case definitely stop anyone making a beeline for her- sounds like she gets a bit overwhelmed. Just ignore and carry on chatting etc.. and ask everyone else to do the same, do not even look at her. If she comes over and sniffs the new people ask them to continue to ignore her- this way she can learn about life at her own pace without getting overwhelmed.

Meantime work on her basic obedience, sits and so forth. If she makes progress and gets to the point that she actively wants attention off people this is the point you can start getting people to ask her for a sit before she gets a stroke or treat.

Yes, she may be noticing your big girls behaviour and copying a bit of that too. Have you considered trying to train your GSD to bark on command? This way you can train her to stop barking once she has alerted you that someone is at the door? Your BF then has a role model too. You would probably need a good trainer to help you teach this.

Good luck

thankyou freelancer ,that sounds like a plan re the barking ,it dont bother hubby and kids but does me x

i will ring her breeder later and see what she thinks

Why not ring her/him now?

If I had a pup owner having an issue with one of the pups I'd bred I'd want them to ring INSTANTLY! That's what I instil into them ... if your breeder can't help, that's when I'd look at asking for help on a forum. Oh, ok, I might ask for the 2 alongside each other, but why not contact your breeder now, if it's someone you respect?!

Just a thought from my perspective :-O