Hates being restrained

[notailabigail]

My puppy screams bloody murder when he's held upside down in my arms. He rolls over voluntarily all the time, but he makes noises louder than I've ever heard coming from a dog (seriously!) when he's restrained like that. He can keep it up for a long time so I've either been flipping him upright when he's quiet for a millisecond while taking a breath, or I'll give him a treat during breaths. I want him to be fine with all kinds of restraints and handling. A trainer scared me the other day by telling me how his dislike of being restrained like that meant he is very hardheaded and will be quite a handful as an adult. What do you think? From your experience with puppies (this is my first puppy) is she right? Before she told me that I thought it was a fairly normal response from a puppy who isn't used to being restrained..

 

ETA: he also screams and cries quite a bit while being held in my arms or restrained in any other way, but it's by far the loudest if he's on his back.

[Liz P]

Depends on how old the pup is and what his previous experiences are. I happen to like the screamers because, as your trainer said, they are more stubborn and I want a dog that won't back down on stock. However, some pups just HATE to be restrained. Work on getting your pup used to it, do plenty of obedience training, be a firm but fair leader and enjoy him!

[RaisingRiver]

Hmmm.. I've never held a puppy upside down before. Kinda weird to me. (not head down first, you mean just belly up, right?)

 

However, when I used to pick up River as a puppy she would wiggle like crazy. Eventually, she got used to me picking her up AND she trusted me to put her safely down. When she started agility at 9mos, she wouldn't walk up the regular sized dog walk so picking her up to put her on top to walk down it was useful - and she let me lift her to my head height without a wiggle. She has no problems letting me pick her up and is completely still.

 

I would think your puppy just isn't used to it nor does he have a reason to trust you yet. Remember, you have to earn a dog's trust, you don't start with trust (in general).

 

I would acclimate your puppy to being picked up first. Start with picking him up by the belly a few inches off the ground, wait a sec then put him back down on all fours. Also work on handling him when he's laying down chewing something. You can eventually start to roll him while he's busy. River never shows me her belly, but will let me roll her even though I've never acclimated her to it. I have to believe it's just trust.

 

I just now picked up River and I've never held her in my arms with her belly up, but just did and she didn't care one bit. (of note, I just did the same with Diesel who didn't care either and I've never picked him up at all - and I doubt he was desensitized to it)

 

I also don't buy into old wives tales - horses with hair colics on their forehead are supposed to be difficult, but I know horses who have it who are as sweet as pie and horses who are stubborn.

 

He's just a pup who's recently been separated from his family. Build the trust.

[notailabigail]

He's about 9 weeks and he's been with me for a week. I'm not sure how much handling he had before coming into rescue with TDBCR - he does love people though.

 

Yup, belly up, not head down I actually like how confident he seems to be in his abilities to extricate himself from any situation, so I don't know why I let the trainer scare me. I think maybe she thought I knew nothing about dogs and would let him walk all over me? I'll just keep working on getting him to like handling so he isn't a terror at the vet. He's such a smart little guy that it shouldn't be too long before he realizes there are benefits to being handled in all kinds of ways.

 

Diesel might have been fine with being held upside down because I sat at my desk with all 45 or so pounds of him every day on his back in my lap. He was just too cute and cuddly to resist!

[RaisingRiver]

Diesel might have been fine with being held upside down because I sat at my desk with all 45 or so pounds of him every day on his back in my lap. He was just too cute and cuddly to resist!

 

Oh! lol! Yah, he's definitely an in your face, you must love me and I must get my dog hairs all over you because that's how I know I'm close enough to you dog. River is affectionate, but on her terms - though never far away (likes to keep eyeball on ya). And Jaida isn't a snuggler at all. It's all good

[mbc1963]

Hmm...

 

My dog knows the command "roll over" (sort of) but absolutely HATES to do it. He hates to go belly up for any reason, especially out in public where anyone might come along at any time. He was 1 - 2 when I got him, so the days of holding him upside down and giving treats were over. I guess this is a refusal to give up control in this particular situation, but he will surrender treats to me, stay when I tell him to, lie down when approached by a big scary dog... so I don't worry too much about his not wanting to flip himself.

 

Mary

[Black Watch Debatable]

My first pit bull was a stray that trotted onto the farm as a starving, eight-pound pup. He never particularly enjoyed being petted, which I've heard can be typical of very dominant dogs. If you tried to hold him on his back he would fight like a demon until he was [literally] red in the face: roaring, snarling, twisting, scratching, trying his best to bite... good thing he was tiny It took two hands and a fair bit of effort to keep him on his back.

 

So a few times each day I'd roll him over on his back out on the lawn and hold him until he stopped fighting. Once he'd calmed down a bit I'd tell him he was a wonderful boy, and turn him over and let him go. Eventually he became completely relaxed about being held on his back and handled in general --- he was loved on a lot despite his preference for a game of tug --- and I'm convinced those sessions on the back lawn were a major reason he grew up to be the best dog in the history of the universe.

 

I'd forget the treats, but that's just me. Find some nice, soft lawn and gently but firmly hold the little guy on his back until he realizes resistance is futile Be calm and gentle, and don't let him go until he settles down. He'll get the idea.

 

One other thing --- this sounds terribly foo-foo and I've never done it with any of my dogs, but it makes sense, especially if you expect your dog to be around people a lot: doggy dress-up as a tool to desensitize dogs to being handled.

 

From Jean Donaldson's blog:

It took me probably five ounces of smoked salmon to get Buffy to love her tiara, poodle skirt and pillbox hat and several jars of baby food to get her wagging when I cracked out the “Doggles,” but aside from the fabulousness of it all, I felt fancy indeed when my veterinarian remarked that she had never seen a chow so readily accept having her head restrained.

[rossie]

When I first got Buzz at around 12 weeks, he definitely did not like being held on his back. I only did it once, at the shelter, as part of a temperament test on him and his brothers. Of the three dogs, one NEVER struggled and the other two never stopped struggling. According to the books I had read, a "good" puppy will struggle for a bit and then relax, but if you have to pick between one that always struggles and one that never struggle, you want the one that always struggles. Don't know about the noise thing because Buzz is very quiet in general, but didn't RDM say these were the noisiest puppies she'd ever had?

 

Now, Buzz has no trouble with me handling him in any way because we've built up a trusting relationship. If I were you, I wouldn't force it. When the puppy is resting on his side or back, that is a good chance to pet him and maybe shift his weight around a bit so that he gets used to you moving him in this way. That is what I ended up doing Buzz kind of by accident; he had a herniated umbilical that I had to massage and check every day, so I would just sneak my hand onto his belly when he was lazing around.