puppy growls when he has a bone

[Puppy Madness]

My dog starts to growl when he has something he shouldn't and you take it away. You can pet him without any problems when he's eating. But if he finds a bone (he took a t-bone out of the garbage) he will growl when you take it away. He didn't bite, he just grabbed the bone tighter. I'm not sure what to do. If I take the bone it just proves he was right to growl because I took it. If I back off it shows him that the growl worked. This only happened a couple of times but I want to handle it correctly. He is 4 months old.
Thanks

[Adina P]

I would work hard on the command "Drop It" by trading treats for him dropping items. Work up to really HIGH VALUE items over the course of your training...practice LOTS so when he DOES have something he should not he will drop it automatically when you say "Drop it".

[Libby & Bentley]

Hi John, we had a similar problem with our 4 mo old puppy..and I had no clue what to do either. So I did some research..and this is what I did..when he had the bone..I would come close and offer a treat that he liked..if he gave up the bone to eat the treat, I then praised him...and gave the bone right back to him. I also would approach him when he had the bone..offer up a treat..and pet him quite a bit breaking from the bone chewing..and praise him plenty. We were able to correct this behavior within 2 days after initiating the treats and praise. Good luck!

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Another side to giving a treat to get the puppy to release the item it took is our puppy's behavior..... She began to take things just to get a treat. We obviously were "rewarding" this behavior instead of curbing a bad situation. We finally began "faking" rewards, or substituting dog toys for the foods she would steal from the garbage (which has to be put out of her reach immediately) or the toys or clothing she would take from the children and destroy.

I also got her used to having my hands explore the inside of her mouth. When she chews up something she should not have I open her mouth up and check it thoroughly to make sure she doesn't have the tiniest item that can hurt her left in her mouth. It is also a good way to get her used to having her teeth brushed. Good luck, doodles are extremely intelligent and learn very quickly.