I bought home an 8 week female yesterday. I have a 1yr male. Today I brought her to vet for a check-up and she growled at the tech and the vet and she growled at me earlier after a bath. The vet thinks I should return her to the breeder as she ma/y too dominate. Has anyone experienced this difficult decision. Is it just fear of new surroundings

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Goldy was a big meanie when I picked her up too and I also had a one year old pembroke at home. She bit me when I tried to remove her from an area she wanted to be in and she bit the vet twice. My vet told me I needed to address these things right away. So I started working with her daily. I trained sit and look at me. And everyday for about 2 months we "played vet's office" on the table in the kitchen. When we went to the vet a few months later, my vet complimented me a hundred times about what a good job I had done with her. She said most people won't take the time to train those bad behaviors out of them. Corgis are not by nature aggressive animals. You may want to call the breeder and just ask about her behavior there. But know that you CAN train her out of this if you make time and have patience.
I have a couple of thoughts:

1) No, growling is not dominance or aggression in a tiny baby puppy. Baby puppies know perfectly well that they're not dominant to anything. It's fear, and avoidance, and "please, please, this makes me really worried."

2) If you don't have the tools to deal with her nervousness, and to make her feel better, you SHOULD return her. As a breeder, I want the puppy back if the owner is even CONSIDERING it. A puppy returned immediately can find a home she is better suited to (and I can refund money before it's spent feeding the other puppies); an owner who returns a puppy immediately can move to a different puppy who is a little easier or more bombproof.
I totally agree with Joanna! A couple of other thoughts I have and also suggest are...yes, get them to the vet for a check within 48 hours BUT at home the pup needs to ease into their new living arrangement! I suggest to my new owners that they try to keep things rather calm and I would not suggest a bath or shots or anything other than just letting the pup orientate to their new home.She may be doing this out of fear. It is always important to slowly introduce anything in a new home whether other animals,new people and just items. Socialization is critical but how it is done also is critical. I have one dog that is much more "reactive" than my others. She loves people and other dogs etc. but needs more time to process the whole experience. Pushing only makes it worse.

If you feel this is not the right pup...please call the breeder and return her! Did the breeder ask you about what your life is like? Did they try to match the dog to you? I many times have people who say "I want_______ Well that doesn't mean they get________ or any dog from me.

Good luck and let us know what happens!
Thanks for everyone's reply. We are having a quiet day today and she is doing much better. She (Chloe) and Cooper are playing together. I didn't have a good nights sleep worrying, but my husband reassured me she is fine. I am retired so I have all day with them. It will be great. I spoke with breeder and she was surprised to hear about the vets visit. She was very willing to do whatever I wanted. She's a keeper.
So glad to hear that today is better. Pups are just like people and will react differently because of their personalities. Can't wait to hear more on your little "keeper" after she's had a little time to adjust!

Congrats and enjoy!
Glad you are feeling better. Don't let the vet alarm you. Puppies will growl and Pems are very, very vocal about how they feel. Glad you spoke to your breeder.
Congratulations on the new baby! I brought home a new puppy yesterday, too. And I have a seven year old corgi as well. I was glad to see your discussion. He was a little nippy/grouchy last night too. I work part time, but am off for the next 4 days, and we have spent a quiet day at home today. It is amazing how much more relaxed he is today (though he cried off and on all through the night), not crabby at all. My vet told me last time to "play vet" with my puppy and that did make exams much easier for him.
We "played vet" with Finn from the start by handling his paws often, checking his teeth, rubbing his body so he was used to being touch all over. Finn never had a growling or nipping problem with the vet or other people though. The only time he'd ever get nippy was if he got into a very excited state and I tried to correct him. For instance, there was one time when someone knocked at the door and he charged the door barking and I got in front of him and made him back off and stay while I opened the door but as soon as our guest entered he was all over her jumping and wanting attention. He was so excited he ignored verbal commands so I grabbed his collar and held him by me and after trying to run off a couple times and realizing he couldn't he started making these bark/whine noises and nipped at me. I think he was just being a brat because he wasn't getting his way which I don't think is the case with your puppies.

Handling them as much as possible I think is a good idea and exposing them to as new people often (kids and adults) is also very good. If you have not thought about it already, I would also suggest taking steps to prevent food aggression. I know this has nothing to do with your current complaint but so many dogs have food aggression I think it's important get them adjusted early on. We would sometimes let Finn eat some of his food out of our hands, reach into his food while he was eating, take bones out of his mouth etc. Now you can do whatever you want while he's eating or chewing something and even if another dog wants to share his food or bone he will not protest one bit. The dogs I had growing up were never like this but we never took the steps in preventing food aggression with them.
nice to hear that I'm not alone. It was a little overwhelming for me yesterday. She is a crate puppy. Had 2 naps today and sleep through the night. Good luck to you and your new puppy.
I mean a 'good' crate puppy. It sounded she's always in a crate-she's not
Sorry to keep responding but I also thought of something that happened to one of my pups. We were meeting the new owners at my daughter's house and spent about 3-4 hours talking and enjoying the new family. Just before they were ready to leave the pup just went crazy and I had never seen this. My brain finally clicked after the initial shock and I realized that the pup had been busy all this time with no naps or quite time. She has NEVER done this since but it was due to us not thinking of her puppy needs! I felt so bad. She was fine as soon as she got a nap...but I learned a lesson that day!
Yes! I have learned with my puppy that he is always most aggressive before a nap.

They're just like kids sometimes! They get cranky!

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