Growling puppy

[Zsara]

My puppy Blade is very loving and playful. I have a next door neighbor who is an older gentleman. He and his wife had a dog several years back that has passed away and I know they both like dogs.
Well when I bought Blade home at 6wks and saw my next door neighbors leaving for work and I called them over to introduce them to my new puppy. When the gentlman came over and reached out his hand Blade went behind me as I was sitting with him on the steps. When the man reached again Blade growled! I didn't realize puppies could growl. LOL confusicon

His wife approched and the puppy was receptive but cautious. He let her pat him. I decided to make sure he was socialized around people and have since carried him to picnics, the park and to friends homes. He is still cautious with people he has never met before but the regulars he greets with a wagging tail and big kisses.

He is now 9wks and tonight we were in the kitchen just chilling...the patio door was open to get the evening breeze when he looked outside...There was no one out there. He tilted his head and growled like there was danger outside. There were no strange sounds to have caused this reaction. Any feedback is appreciated. My shitzZu ignores most everyone but also barks at this one male neighbor. I think its his scent.
Are all boxers this protective and/or intelligent at this young age?

[Julls]

GHOSTS could be it . Sorry to frighten you, but they say that dogs can sense (see/hear/smell) ghosts. What you are describing hs happened 3-4 times already with Emma, my 6 months old Lab, who's been with us for only 2 months now. She would be with us in the living room, suddenly she'd get up, and go peek-like into the bedroom from outside. Then she will look away like she's scared of what she saw, then look back into the room, and then her head/eyes will start following something invisible to us around the room. WE look to see that there's no fly or something she is following, and there NEVER is. Then she'd look at us like "have you seen that??" and after half a minute or little more she'll just keep doing whatever she was doing until then. We had another Lab puppy here who was 8 weeks old (the poor thing got Parvo and is recovering with her breeder for now) for one week, one incident was seen by both of them, suddenly they stopped what they were doing and were just following something invisible in the air, then lower on the floor, from one side of the room to the other, both just stunned by what they are seeing, just fascinated by it for 3-4 minutes not paying attention to anything else.

Follow your puppy, see that there's no insect he's following, and then start getting frightened .

Liraz.

[GG-CG-AG]

Puppies are funny. They are just like human children. They do things sometimes that don't make any sense to us.

When I first got Abby, someone sent me an email that had a letter written by your puppy to you. It said something to the effect of "I will bark and growl and chase imaginary monsters" And trust me, Abby and Baylee do it constantly. I do believe in what the post above me says, that animals can see things that we can't, but I also believe that puppies just have a playful imagination. They bark at things because they want something to do, and they're bored. Baylee barks at rain and fuzzballs in the carpet. Abby just barks out the window. It could be a passerby, a bird, an insect, a car, or a funny looking rock... you never know, but I doubt you have a "real" problem, unless the barking gets out of hand and then you'll probably need some extra training. They're just protecting their home and their people...

[muttersley]

What you are describing is normal. Both Tess and Belle bark at nothing, they set eachother off sometimes. As for the growling at the neighbour, maybe he felt a little threatened and vunerable. BELLE is quite growly with people she doesn't know but is fine when she gets to know them.

Hey Julls - you certainly know how to put the wind up people.