Did your adolescent dog “mellow out” specifically regarding mood and growling?
Currently have a 15 month old dog. He’s our first dog so I don’t have anything to compare him with.
He is sometimes in a grumpy mood or growls when you touch his face in particular, such as teeth, eyes etc.
We made sure to touch his paws, face, ears etc a lot as a puppy. I would regularly brush his teeth with no issues. However, ever since becoming a teenager he growls at us when he either doesn’t want to do what we ask him to do or brushing his teeth etc.
He’s been to vet and has no physical issues. The second he growls we stop and I respect that he is communication he isn’t happy but I am wondering where we went wrong as we did touch his face and trained with him since being a puppy. Are adolescent dogs prone to mood swings? Do they tend to mellow out as adults?
I want to continue working on brushing his teeth, touching his face etc cos I think it’s important the vet can check on those things safely and I feel it’s my responsibility to make sure the vet can do those checks without him air snapping/growling.
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