I'm not sure if I can help you or not, but I can tell you this:
When we 1st went to look at puppies, my husband picked Millie, because he observed Millie growling and nipping at her siblings if they were coming at her and she wanted to be left alone or they were playing too hard. My husband "wanted a puppy who could stick up for herself".
Of course this presented problems along the way for us. She is very cranky at times and she will growl, if we are bothering her or doing something she does not like. This is her defense mechanism and has been that way even before we got her. (so I know it's part of her personality and not something that we did to initiate it) But having said that, we do make sure that she understands that this is not acceptable behavior and I will have to grab her and hold her up to my eye level and tell her "I'm the boss, not you!". Or I will grab her by the scruff of her neck and let her know to stop the behavior. (I never hurt her, just scare her)
She still is picky about other dogs. If the dog is about her size, she will snarl at them and nip at them if they come at her to forcefully or if they are bothering her. If the dog is way bigger than her, she will roll over on her back and expose her belly, letting them know she is harmless and "don't hurt me".
When it involves other dogs, I let them handle it themselves (supervised of course). They know best how to handle these types of behaviors amongst themselves. I don't think it means they don't like them it just means "you have entered my space and I don't like it, so go away". |