Lisa,

I wouldn't correct him for growling. It's a warning to Gertie, which is not a bad thing. If he has not reached the point of being aggressive, just monitor them closely. Be sure to give him plenty of time without her being present but do not interact with him. Give him treats, toys, playtime when they are together, this will help him understand that good things happen when she is around and nothing happens when she is gone. Some dogs just don't like roommates, but we have to help them to at least tolerate their existence.

Good luck, be patient

Lynn K

I'm sorry to hear Milo is being a meanny, poor Gert, and i certainly can't offer any better advice than has been posted already, but I will say that if need be Gertie can come stay with Leeloo for a while... hee hee hee!

- Cristina (& Leeloo)
"the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

Milo is communicating with Gertie. He is telling her he doesn't want her touching him. As the alpha he has that right. If you interfere with this communication and Gertie doesn't learn now and becomes an abnoxious teenager he might bite her to get his point across. Like Ce, I do not let my guys fight. THey have snapped and growled but I have never had to break up an all out war. Diesel knows when TOnka wants to play or not. Diesel was over his kennel cough first so he started bugging Tonka to play. Tonka finally snapped at Diesel and it was over. Diesel went and sulked in a corner with nobody to play with. Let them communicate or you will make things worse.

and I'll work on the growling...deal?
...seriously to a point you have to let them be...
gertie will be getting bigger and Milo wants her to know he's the big Kahuna...if they are just growling and a little lip curling...then i really try to let them work through it....
..however never never never allow him or her to bite the other....
...That's going too far...
and do reinforce ..or start teaching ..which ever the case may be..that you and Glen are indeed the alphas...have Milo and Gertie sit for treats...you both go out the door first...that sorta stuff...

Gertie needs to see and know Milo is top Kuhana also..feed his bowl to him first...first treat to him..she should be second always...leash on him first..etc...it's not mean by the way..it's reassuring to them to know who is who in the pack...

if Milo's growling is too annoying...and loud ...remove him from the area...a crate for short times would be okay as a rest or break from each other..but I would never use it as a punishment...even if you don't crate him...a vet may have to at sometime..and you don't want the crate to have bad vibes...
good luck...and many hugs...
howver I think my first offer is the best solution..send Milo to me...chuckle...ce

Maybe it's just a talking growl and not an aggression growl. Mine growls when they play when they want to play and just when they want something.

You said you didn't want her to grow up around that so I have a simple solution. Maybe once she gets a little bigger her will realize that it doesn't bother her.

... is that a lot of us need to use lemon juice for reasons other than a "correction." A squirt of lemon juice in the back of the throat helps to break up phlegm if it's REALLY bad. Grover already takes off like a bat when he sees the plastic lemon coming, even though I think I've only used it twice on him.

Everyone does things differently. I'm not putting down that method at all. I'd just hate for Milo to associate lemon juice with "corrections" if Lisa should ever need to give him some to help him breathe. Ya know?

Hugs and snorts to King Arthur.

Julia

I think I would keep a crate handy, maybe right in the office. Whenever he growls I'd just tell him "wrong" in a calm way and put him in the crate for a few minutes. Don't yell at him because that just escalates the growling in my experience. Calmly say "wrong" and put him up.
Hope it works.
Elizabeth and Briggs

Hi Lisa,
Have you tried using a squirt of lemon juice each time he growls? A long necked lemon bottle works
well, so does a quick shot of Binaca on the nose.

Good luck,
gregg
snuffles f/ arthur to Gertie and Milo

Absolutely beautiful pics by the way, I don't think
they make a chain big enough to drag Arthur (or my wife) back stateside if we would get out there! LOL

Had to change from lemon juice to Binaca, (which we havn't had to use for a while) because my 8 yr old daughter was slipping him Lemonhead candy! Doh!!

Binaca hides in the hand well, and it doesn't take many times before they get the point. : )

Take care
gregg
Huggs to your beautiful bullies!!

nm

Vicky Bosco & Bella

Bulldog Club of Greater Seattle

http://www.rainyday.net/bcgs