I have a 3month old boxer boy pup who is a lovely dog, just recently we have noticed he has started a bit of growling especially at the children or if someone tries to make him do something he doesn't want. Today however he managed to open the rabbits cage and has attacked the rabbit.
The wounds on the rabbit look like he has played with him, ie chase and pounce as it's mostly the rabbits back end that is a mess. He has pulled out the fur and caused quite a lot of surface damage on the rabbits bottom half. The rabbit is at the vets now and is unlikely to survive.
I take full responsibility for not checking on the dogs sooner and therefore not finding the rabbit sooner. Incidently my older dog who is 11 didn't touch or go near the rabbit. I know there would have been a lot less damage and I could not feel more upset this is a hard lesson to learn.
My question really is - Where do I go from here with my pup. I know what he did was instinct but the growls at the kids and this is making me unsure as to where to go from here. I know a lot of this is my fault but am finding it hard to brush it off and absolve my puppy of all responsibility.

Please help me.

Hi Helen

It would be best if you could find someone who can watch you and your pup and children and give advice that way as we could say something but it could be completly wrong in your situation.

What is your trainer (I assume you take him to classes) like?  Would they be able and willing to visit you to see what is happening and give some advice

Thanks for the reply

I am at class on thursday and will talk to my instructor then. I know i am at fault, and as i'm a big believer of there are no bad dogs just bad owners then the blame rests with me. However I guess what I want to know is if my puppy will keep on chasing things, killing things now he's done it once.
I know he's quite a dominant dog and we are working on this through classes.

I just need your thoughts and views

"as i'm a big believer of there are no bad dogs just bad owners"

this is such a guilt trip that was started by BW if I am not mistaken.  Unfortunately there ARE "bad" dogs eg ones with mental problems etc just as there are people; fortunately they ARE rare!

Dogs chase, kill and eat bunnies; that is what they do. It is nature.  With enough training and socialisation you can train your dogs NOT to do it however.

Dogs will do what works; if chasing animals results in catching them so they can play/kill/eat them then that behaviour will be reinforced.  You can however obviously manage the environment and him so that this can be nipped in the bud. Good grief he is only 12 weeks old!

You made a mistake, result, bunny got "eaten"; don't know anyone who did not make several mistakes in their life or who will not make many more.

Kerioak's advice was sound.

Hi

I don't think you can do much about the rabbit - these things happen unfortunately with dogs and small and furries...its instinct.

Re the kids - providing the kids are not poking, prodding or being naughty with the pup and the pup is just flexing his muscles with them he would have a smacked backside and be put in his bed until he learned that growling is not the done thing. This view might not be popular with some, but there's no way I would tolerate a pup growling at my family and he would be taught with a short sharp shock :)

Good luck.

Thanks chloe

We do discipline him when he growls, and have stopeed the children playing with him on the floor. ie. the children always have to be stood on their feet not crawling, laying or kneeling on the floor. This has helped a lot and I feel the children and I are making progress.
The rabbit incident today has really shook me up, i just never thought he could open the cage which was double locked let alone hurt him, even if he was just playing.

Dont feel too guilty about the rabbit, these things happen, you weren't to know he would get into the cage.  When I was little my dog accidently knocked into the rabbits run and he escaped, the dog (an Afghan) caught and killed him, it was very sad but not anyones fault its just what dogs do. 

My 12 week old pup goes into what I call a "growling fit" he just has a puppy hyper moment and growls and jumps at me and bites me (usually my bum ) I banish him from the room or hold him still until he stops growling, I think this could be a different "type" of growling to what your pup does though.

Good luck, and dont feel guilty.

This is really two very separate issues.

The rabbit issue is unfortunate but no real indicator of your pups temperament toward humans. I've currently got a labrador and springer pup of similar age to yours and whilst they have no temperament issues, I'm pretty confident they would catch and kill a pet rabbit if left to their own devices. The fact that the rabbit was still alive when you got there suggests that he was really only playing!

As has already been mentioned, without seeing the growling at your children it is difficult to prescribe a solution. It could be caused by fear, pain, aggression, prey-drive, rough play, dominance or just being a bit vocal. (or maybe a combination & possibly lots of other things i've not thought of). As has been suggested, best to get a good trainer / behaviourist to come and have a look.

People would honestly recommend a behaviourist for a 3 month old pup??!! Really? Every single male dog I have had has tried his luck by growling at this age and every single one has turned out to be a perfect dog, totally trustworthy, and stopped growling once they realised it was not the done thing. Come on...please... he's 3 months old! He'd be growling his head off at this stage whilst playing with his littermates and they would be growling back. He just needs to learn its not right to growl at family. Just tell him no and ignore him till he learns that growling equals "no play" :)

Thanks Everyone

My rabbit has just passed away. I know it's not my pups fault and although I still feel very shook up about the whole thing am managing to see it as a very horrible mishap.
My pup really is a good boy and from what has been said above I agree if he had meant to kill my rabbit, I wouldn't have found him alive.
I agree with what has been said above about male pups trying it on. I have only ever had bitches before and am new to the challenges a male pup brings.
Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

Sorry to hear about your rabbit. I had a similar mishap with Willis - he opened a round handled door and caved in a dog crate to get at one of mine....and this is the soppiest dog in the world! Have you talked to your breeder for advice? I know boxers can be a handful, might be an idea to get some support from other boxer owners :)

I agree the issues are separate, and agree that if you have a good trustworthy trainer that can assess what is happening, that might be best. Sometimes pups growl because they have had enough, because they are overtired, or because they are playing. IMO kids can get pups so overexcited and it's not fair to blame the pup, although your children sound very good :) but did they play fight etc before? If you physically discipline your pup but he is still growling there may be a problem somewhere. He may even be unwell. It happens :(

I'm really sorry about your rabbit :(

Lindsay
X

I think getting the advice of your current trainer is the best way.  I am sorry but I really do not agree with physical discipline at all.  If mine do things that are out of order and not acceptable they are ignored or put away in a room for a few minutes to cool down.  It is now very rare but the one thing a dog hates is being ignored.  Physical discipline just doesnt work and is more inclined to make him worse I would have thought.

I feel a bit better now. I know that my pup is a good lad, and we are doing things right with regards to his growling. I think the punishment thing is individual, I find my pup very rarely needs a physical smack, the tone of my voice is usually enough. There are times though when just as his mum or litter mate would nip if he stepped out of line I need to mirror that with a tap.
We are both going (husband and I) to training on thursday to have a chat about things and will nip this in the bud after all as was said above he is only 3 months old.

I stll love him to bits and know it wasn't his fault today, I am actually proud of him that he didn't go to kill the rabbit just to play. The vet said the wounds were very superficial and that my bunny just died of the shock.

Thanks for all your kind words and advice

Helen

The only thing that makes a puppy worse is people not reacting swiftly to unwanted behaviour and going off and fretting about the causes too much. For goodness sake, its a 3 month old pup who is going to need discipline else he WILL get worse. I'm not advocating a beating, but a tap on the backside is what a pup of mine would get if he were growling at my kids - assuming "ignoring" wasn't working and assuming the kids have not provoked or behaved improperly with the pup. My family has had dogs for years and we have never had one problem and I have 2 danes now that are well over 20 stone between them. Far too many problems these days are caused by too much worrying and not enough basic training and realisation that its a puppy and he is going to test his boundries. Lets be realistic here.

I am talking generally here, not specifically in the case of this poster.

must admit I thought it very strange to have to involve a behaviourist or trainer at this age...surely it's just as Chloe says, regardless of how you deal with it....it's the same as a toddler having a tantrum and then us calling a psychologist in...although, I know dogs ARE different from humans but still common sense surely calls for laying down rules, etc...and not always consulting and relying on a trainer/behaviourist, especially in a young pup , at the first sign of a dog being a dog..

ChloeH, Bobo,

Yes, OK a behaviourist is overkill for a 12 week old puppy, in my defense I responded very quickly. What I should have written was merely 'someone who knows what they are doing'. I'm certainly not in the business of lining behaviourists pockets! However, this was in response to someone sounding a bit panicky, and it is usually far better to advise in these kind of cases when you can actually see what is happening rather than relying on a written (or verbal account).

Having helped out a few people with 'problem dogs' (usually for free) I have found that the mental picture you get when the owner describes the problem is often significantly different to the reality, which is why many will steer clear of giving specific advise on these kind of cases over the internet.

Trust me, I would be as hard as I need to be with a pup in these circumstances but I wouldn't advise someone else to do that unless I could see exactly what was happening and judge the reaction of the dog. Get it wrong and things could get a lot worse.

fair enough, good points.. :)

See, my problem with posts like this posters is that sometimes you can't differentiate between normal puppy behaviour and something that just might be going wrong...at which point I normally keep shtum. However, I still believe that people read far too much into what is NORMAL puppy behaviour these days and are constantly looking for potential problems that don't even exist!

This poster seems perfectly sensible to me and just needed a bit of reassurance that its normal for a 12 week old pup to be both vocal and testing the water :) I just wish some folk would realise its perfectly OK to treat a dog as a dog and use methods that, frankly, have worked for donkey's years - before consulting costly, and possibly useless, alternatives :)