Puppy growls when strangers try petting her

[Lauren and Basil]

We took our 4 month old doodle on vacation with us. She enjoyed long days of playing in the water and hiking. Of course every person that sees her wants to run up and pet her. She allows it for a second and then seems to get nervous and lets out a growl and a snap. I'm caught off guard and can't sleep at night thinking about her reaction to multiple people and children. She is surrounded by 6 kids and has never acted like this. I can count 3 instances now when a gentlemen tried petting her she snapped. Multiple children but the one with crutches she snapped at and lastly a group of children she snapped. Most of these instances before I even have a chance to speak people are petting her. I am scared to death now she's going to bite someone. We have been through obedience class and she did great. Again, she is great around our 6 children (ages 2-11). Is this a puppy phase she will grow out of? Any training suggestions? I'm so upset over this. I don't want a dog who can't go into public with our family, or scared when children come over to our home.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nobody should be "running up" to any dog or puppy to pet them, especially strangers or big groups of kids. That's very threatening to any dog, let alone a young puppy, and I daresay half the dogs here might growl if it happened to them.  I know my guy would. She's a baby, away from her litter for only two months, in a strange place, where there is lots of noise and lots of unfamiliar people, lots of hands moving at her quickly. That would be frightening and overwhelming to any puppy. 

 It's up to you to protect her and to educate kids (and even adults) on the correct way to approach a dog if they want to pet one. If I saw anyone coming at her, I'd get between her and the person/people approaching. First, they should ask your permission to pet her. They should move toward her slowly and calmly, and not head on, but rather from the side. They should not bend over her or put their hands out towards her head or face; petting by strangers should be done on her sides and chest only. 

You should also start socializing her gradually to all kinds of situations away from home. Take her to all kinds of public places where there are all different kinds of people, noises, activities, etc. and let her just observe. Walk past a school yard at recess time. Sit in a park where there are kids playing. Go to home improvement stores, pet supply stores, farmers' markets, youth sporting events, anywhere you can bring a dog, so that she can gradually get used to all kinds of people, movements, sounds, etc. This is usually one of the first "assignments" that a good dog trainer will have you do when you take puppy classes.

At four months old, she can't possibly have "been through obedience class", lol. She can't possibly even have scratched the surface. Training never ends, and group classes are a great place to help your dog become comfortable in different circumstances with different people. I'd get her back into training classes, with the goal of earning her CGC. 

[Lauren and Basil]

I honestly thought I covered the early socialization thing. I've done 7 week puppy obedience class. Take her weekly to park play date with kids and to softball games. She is always going for car rides with us to different parks. We are pretty active, so I guess that's why I'm so nervous about this. I'm so thankful for your suggestions. When these incidents happened the man was bending over behind her. The children were petting her on the head.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Hi Lauren ~ Karen gave you great advice.  Regarding obedience training,IMO one 7 week puppy course is not enough.  You might consider going on in obedience to so Basil can get his CGC certificate. It is also a great way to continue with socialization.Then after that it is a lifetime of reinforcement! LOL  I love the name you chose and Basil is a very handsome doodle.  Just another thought, not all dogs like to be petted on the head - one of mine will not let anyone pet him on his head - he ducks down so they have to pet the neck or side.  I get it- I would not like anyone patting me on my head!

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

I always feel reassured after reading your responses, Karen!

[Becka]

I agree with Karen--it's very important that you learn to put yourself between your puppy and anyone approaching her, and politely but firmly explain that they need permission to touch her. When Sadie and I went to obedience training, our instructor made everyone practice this, and I would encourage you to try this with someone you know

[Lauren and Basil]

If I give permission to touch her and then she snaps I feel terrible,  like I have a mean aggressive dog.  After she snapped at children I walked her to the car and another women tried petting her. I politely told her no and she said she has a neighbor with a doodle who is "weird" too. Lol I don't want people to think I'm bringing an aggressive dog in public either. 

[Becka]

I don't think you can give people permission to pet her until you're sure that she won't react negatively--meaning after she's had lots of practice. It's OK to tell people no.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Lauren, I'm following this as Olive seems wary of little kids. It is hard, because they seem to come at her despite my pleas for them to ignore her (one even pegged her head with a ball) and so she backs away and hides. She prefers to do her friendly greeting on her own terms - when people aren't greeting her first. But I'm afraid the next step could be a snap.
I've read about socialising them with a hundred people by the time they're 16 weeks (those in your own household don't count)- all sizes, colours, ages. I thought we pretty closely covered it. I know I have to expose her to more little kids in a positive manner, but I'm still trying to figure out how to control that situation. I've thought about posting on FB, asking for calm little kids who may be willing to "treat" a puppy - LOL that sounds strange! At least these pups are young and I'm hopeful we can remedy this before it becomes a problem!
BTW, welcome to DK! :)

[Ginny Nightingale]

I agree with Karen 100% and would emphasize the training part--continue taking classes so that you can learn how to handle a dog--it is as much for you as it is for her....she obviously is a good dog with the family but needs to develop confidence in you when out and about--she feels it is her job to judge people and protect herself rather than looking to you for guidance....In our training classes, we learned to have a dog sit at our side while we met people and if we wanted the dog to be greeted, we gave the command "Say Hi"--that meant that the person met OUR approval and that the dog felt confident enough to meet them--and lots and lots of treats were involved in this training before we felt that the dog was "trained"--

At the age of four months, you are dealing with the equivalent of a toddler---as the puppy grows, she will become more likely to snap if she feels threatened--so get going on this training immediately--and never go anywhere without a pocket of kibble or something you can give her to get her attention on YOU when others approach--hold the treat by your eyes so she looks at you and give her a sit command to focus her attention away from the stranger--and then give her the treat and move on--until she is reliable, I would not let others pet her--and she will need to develop that confidence in you and learn the command to greet a person calmly--it takes WORK! Good luck and I wish you the best.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I agree with Karen 100%. Our Vern is wary of strangers and absolutely hates people coming up behind him and shies away from being patted on the head. I am on high alert for anyone approaching us and have stopped small children from running up to him. He also will growl at some strangers. I never ignore his growl because I feel it is fear based and I do not want it to escalate. Luckily, our Fudge does not have the same issues and I always start by asking the kids to pet Fudge first and see how Vern does. Many times he takes his cue from Fudge and sees that she is comfortable and he relaxes. I always make my dogs sit before being petted and let Vern proceed at his own pace. Nobody should ever come up behind your dog...that guy should not have done that and personally, I wouldn't like it myself :) My first responsibility out on a walk is to keep my dogs safe and I have no problem telling strangers not to pet the dogs. Your puppy is so young and Karen is right about socializing. Even so, you may find your pup still doesn't like certain things and there are ways around it.

I bet your puppy will be fine at home with kids where he feels safe in his environment. Our Vern is very loving in our house, but I still make sure that no one is running at him or scaring him from behind. The hardest part for me was letting go of the feeling that I wanted my dogs to like everybody. For some dogs, it just doesn't work that way and we just deal with it...almost like having a very shy child. Good luck!

[Amy and Annabelle]

Just last week I took Annabelle with me to pick up my 7 year old grand daughter from camp. After she walked over to us, then her camp friends ran over screaming they wanted to come and see the puppy. She was the one who educated her friends on how to approach, and pet the puppy. As we have talked about, she only allowed one at a time to pet her. All went well. But yes, if 7 screaming kids she didn't know came running at her tried to pet her, I am not sure how she would have reacted. And Annabelle loves kids, but even she might have been scared and overwhelmed by it all if there hadn't been an intervention. No one is allowed to pet her near her face, only on the back. Sometimes she likes someone so much she wants to lick them. I did buy her a bandana that says, warning, I can't control my licker.

[Wendy and Myla]

I totally agree with all of the advice given here!  I just wanted to add that I think Basil is doing an awesome job at four months if he is dealing with six young children at home and there has been no problem!  I honestly think he has a lot on his plate and you should give him more time to fully adjust to his life.  I cannot imagine how busy his life must be.  The fact that you're on vacation and in a different place and strangers are coming over to him and petting him inappropriately must be awful for him.  I would definitely keep taking him to different places as you are and introduce him to different sounds and experiences but make sure that no-one touches him unless he initiates it - even if you have to put a "puppy in training - do not pet" jersey on him. It's your job to make sure that he feels safe and secure in any situation - not only as a puppy, but as a member of your family. I really believe that if Basil learns to deal with all of the kids in your family, and he doesn't get traumatized by outside members, he will be great with anyone when he matures.  He is, after all, only a baby.  He sure is adorable!