Is growling at owner EVER okay?

[Smilla]

Yes, we were--I'm curious how that might make things different. Lefty was in the middle of us.

[lizbud]

If you all were sitting together on the couch then he would
see himself as an equal (or superior) member of the pack. Being
at an elevated level like a couch,chair or bed lifts his status in
the pack setting. In this situation, I would never let my dog get
away with growling at me, ever. He would immediately be made
to "off" whatever he was on & be put in a down/stay or sit. I
would also forbid any further laying on the furniture. Sounds like
Lefty would really benefit from the nothing's free treatment.

I first thought you meant Lefty was laying on the floor & someone
had bent over him where he could not see their face or hands &
that's what made him nervous.

My Buddy was a "give him an inch & he'd take a yard" type dog
also & I had to be very firm & consistant with him as he was
growing up. (Not mean, but firm, no nonsense commands)

[Smilla]

He's allowed on furniture but not on the bed (though lately he's been getting up there while we're at work!). The trouble is, we LIKE cuddling with him on the couch. I don't always like getting down on the floor with him when I want to pet and hug him.

I hope that my being firm with him everywhere else will mean that we can continue letting him up on the furniture. He seems to respond well to the firmness. Like you were with Buddy, I'm just no-nonsense, not mean. After all, it was enough of an adjustment for me to be firm with him!

He definitely hasn't been at his best lately, but he's a smart dog and I know he can do better.

[stacwase]

Max growled at us quite a few times, when we first brought him home. One time he even trapped my husband in the guest room, growling, and wouldn't let him out! That was just a few days after we brought him home.

There are certain things that set him off, which we just don't do anymore. We don't usually play hide and seek, because he gets really aggressive then. If we hide under a blanket he'll actually jump right up on us, growling fiercely, and rip the blanket off. When we play with him, we're really careful not to do anything that leads to him jumping up on us because it seems like when he gets airborn, he gets more aggressive.

We do show our dominance to him in every possible way, to keep him in his place. I place my head in the exact position you described every time I have contact with him. I take things out of his mouth, and never let him on the furniture. I don't think I'd recommend this to most people, but whenever he opens his mouth like he's going to start mouthing me, I put my hand in his mouth and gently grab his lower jaw. He hates that and it teaches him not to mouth. Of course that could be dangerous.

Another thing we've started doing is whispering commands. We whisper "sit" as quietly as we can and call him to us using whispers. We reward him with tons of attention when he responds to that, and it helps him to realize he has to pay attention to us and always listen.

We do allow playful growling - he talks to us that way all the time. But if he every growled aggressively I would definitely put him in his place.

[clara4457]

Originally posted by Smilla
I hope that my being firm with him everywhere else will mean that we can continue letting him up on the furniture. He seems to respond well to the firmness. Like you were with Buddy, I'm just no-nonsense, not mean. After all, it was enough of an adjustment for me to be firm with him!

I think you can let him up on the furniture, just do it on your terms not his. Make him sit or down - then allow access. Make him get off on command. Remember - he has to say please and thank you.