Poll: Has your dog ever growled at you?

[anna_66]

In almost 13 years Angus has growled at me 2x's. Once I was just playing with him and his treat and he growled. Of course I immediately took it from him and gave him a good scolding (in other words I hurt his feelings ). And the other time I was trying to fix his blanket under him to cover the floor. Of course I scolded him and made him go outside for a little while.
Since then, he's never growled at me again.

Neither Roxey nor Huney has ever growled at me in a mean way.

If I were you I would definately teach him the "drop it" command.

[primabella]

Mickey will only growl when we play growl, but never directly AT me. He'll growl at the toys or at my hands.

[tatsxxx11]

How is Major with food in general? Does he show aggression, growl, give you "that look" if you or another animal approaches his bowl? I worked on this with Star since puppyhood, hand feeding her, then putting my hand in her bowl when she ate, lifting it and taking it away, making her sit then giving it back and so on. I worked hard too on the "leave it" command and if she ever accidentally bit my hand while playing rough, I'd pull my hand away, look upset and say loudly "ouch, NO BITE!" It worked great and to this day, she and Cody can eat together out of the smallest dish and she never will try and take Cody's bone, food etc. I'd try working hard with a rawhide, offering it to him, holding onto it, then taking it away, giving the "leave it" command. Make him sit then offer it again, take it away, and so on. Do it again and again and again. He'll get the idea. And do that with his other toys, his food, etc. He has to know that you can give it and you can take it away, anytime! You might also check out the "Nothing in Life is Free" dog behavior program. I hear people have great results with it! Maybe someone has a link; more info!

Found a link

NILF Training Program

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by MariaM
Hmm well Major didn't show his teeth, but I have a feeling he might have tried to snap if I DID take the bone away...I probably did the wrong thing, letting him have it, but it was the first time he'd done this (to me, I think he growled at my sister once) and I was so surprised, and a little sad.

What I do with Nova is I give her a Puperonie (dog treat) for her bone. Now she doesn't mind me takign her bones because it means she gets the treat.

Ashley

[Kfamr]

I don't think Major's growl was good AT ALL. Nor should it have been something he got away with.

Since day 1 with Kiara i've been taking things away from her, sticking my hand in her food bowl while she eats, putting my face in her food bowl, putting my face near hers while she chews her bone, touching her while she chews/eats....etc.

The same with Simba. The same with Nala. I don't let them get away with a single growl over a bone or with food. If they growl at Kiara while they're eating or chewing on something, it gets taken away from them. Growling aggressively is NOT accepted, especially not towards me, and especially especially not over food.

Now, Nala is still in the process of realizing, if I growl over this bone, I don't get the bone. She's done really good with Kiara within the couple days we've had her. A majority of the time, she just lets Kiara walk right up and steal it... she would have NEVER allowed this before.

The way I think of it, is what if it's a child, instead of me reaching for that bone. For one, it'd scare the childs, and the last thing we need is more people afraid of dogs. Another, it may not have been just a growl that time, it could have been a bite. Although, children also should know not to take things away from someone's dog.

I forget who said it, but there's a huge difference between a play growl and a "mean" growl. With my dogs I know the difference in their growls. They do growl while playing, which I'm fine with. But when they get "that tone" with me, it is not accepted.

Nala has never growled at me aggressively. Simba has, back when he had very bad ear problems and wasn't feeling well at all. While I cleaned his ears, he growled. It scared me because he's never gone something like that before. It wasn't accepted then, although I kind of let it slid more than I would now because he was in so much pain.

[K9soul]

When Tommy was a bit younger one time, I was about to put the dogs to bed and he was curled up by the couch in the living room. I called him to go to bed, and he just laid there looking at me. I went over and reached for his collar and he jerked his head away suddenly and growled, but did not bare his teeth or snap. Then he immediately leaped to his feet and dropped into a play bow, and then ran crazily around the living room a couple times in his hyper playful way before barreling on down the hall and into his bed where he knew was what I wanted. I was puzzled by this, as his behavior did seem somewhat defiant, but then also like he wanted to make a game of it. I since learned it always makes him nervous when someone grabs for his collar, and as I know he had been abused before he came here, I'm guessing he may have been dragged around by the collar as a pup too, I know of a certainty by the time he was 6 months old and the owners were getting rid of him, he lived on the end of a chain.

Anyway, was the growl real? To me it seemed like the same kind of response as a dog who yawns when nervous or uncertain. He jumped into an "I'm playing what a fun game!" mode but then did run off to his bed too. Afterwards, I worked with him more on come, go to bed, stay and so on, focusing on rewarding him when he did what I wanted. He's quite eager to please and loves food and praise reward so it was pretty easy. He loves to find treasures and carry them in his mouth but through time I taught him he got praise and reward when he came to me with things and gave them to me, so now when he finds things, he almost always comes to me and gives it to me rather than going off to hide with it.

I'd agree that working with Major on leave it, drop it, give it, etc. would probably be a good thing and would curb any possessive aggression that might develop. I do feel that when a dog shows defiance it is best not to get angry and disciplinary as this can spark a battle of dominance. Withdrawing attention and goodies and then rewarding them to him when he behaves properly is probably going to get the best results. Good luck.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Bitsy has never growled at anything. Buster shows his teeth to the cats if he's having mommy time and one of the cats try to hoard in, but he gets scolded. We laugh more then anything because he is missing some teeth (including both k9's), and he looks so funny. Charlie on the other hand hates his nails clipped and will growl when we are clipping them. If he's being bad we use a muzzle. If he's good while we're clipping them then he gets a biscuit, if he's bad he gets the muzzle on (which he hates) and no biscuit. He knows now and usually behaves well.

[tatsxxx11]

Cody has the same collar issues as Tommy, Jess She becomes terrified if anyone suddenly goes to grab her collar without her being aware, even for a benign reason. She flips her head back and mouths your hand. She was abused, as Tommy and I'm sure she relates a collar grab with harsh discipline

[jazzcat]

Disney will growl when you try to take her rawhide bone away from her but only in play. She thinks it is part of playing if you say "I'm gonna get it" she will growl but not snap or bite. Other than that the only other time she has growled is at one of the cats if they bother her in her bed.

[K9soul]

Sandra that does sound like Tommy. I've tried to work with him on it, associating placing a hand on his collar is nothing to worry about. He hasn't ever shown true aggression but he will still jerk his head and get a fearful look in his eyes.

[chrissycat21]

Snowy has only growled in that mean way twice; when a huge dog tried to attack her and after her first trip the the groomer. (Horrible groomer, we haven't taken her back there since, she had cuts from her that we found later) Other then that she is either barking at people on the street or sleeping.

-Chrissy

[heinz57_79]

Kay, you and I have very similar views on the whole growling thing. I was the one who said there's a big difference between the play and the mean growl.

Someone said they didn't want a big dog they were afraid of, and the only way you won't be afraid of a dog when they're 100 lbs is if you curb bad behaviour when they're 20 lbs. I know a lot of people who would never get into a rotti's face the way I get into Arthur and Anna's sometimes when they start getting too rough. When they get to be 100+ lbs they'll know without a doubt who's boss.

The only reason I don't say or do anything when Arthur growls at Charlie when he's eating is because if he didn't Charlie would bully him and eat his food. I've rolled Charlie several times for being a bully and stealing the other dogs' food, but my poor baby has a learning disability, and can barely manage basic commands. *sigh* As long as Bella and myself can stick our hands in his food, in his mouth etc I can't blame him for telling Charlie to back off when he goes to steal his food.

[binka_nugget]

You got some great tips! Kai has never growled at me. Even in the car ride home, the day we got him, I immediately started working on being alpha. I won't accept it from my dogs. Play growls I don't mind. Any aggressive responses I work on immediately.

Kaedyn did growl at me though. In fact, he attempted to bite me. He was dominant when we got him so I had to work a lot with him. He growled when we asked him to down (he even did it in front of the trainer at obedience classes). He then bit me when I made the mistake of towering over him and asking him to down. But everytime he did it, I made sure he knew it wasn't tolerated. He was immediately put on NILIF and got better within the first 2 weeks. After the 6 weeks of obedience, he was completely different (to the family). He's still fear aggressive so he actually lunges at people but we're working on that. Around the family though, he doesn't give the slightest growl anymore.

[sammy101]

Kodie only growls at me is when he is playing,otherwise it's a playful growl.he's never been aggressive at all!

[MariaM]

Ok, thanks everyone, I will try some of the things you've been telling me. I already am on the NILIF thing.

I'm still teaching Major "drop it". He won't sit, have something in his mouth, and drop it. I have to hold on and then say it, but at least he's got that down so far.

I've never seen Major give me "that look". I pet him while he eats sometimes. Another animal hasn't ever approached his bowl while he was eating. I think he'd just eat quicker though. Oh, and before I give him his food, I ALWAYS make him give me his both paws (I'm trying to teach him Sit Pretty...so far not working lol) and then shake, other, and down and sit. Then he gets his food.

I'm pretty sure the growl was real, it sounded pretty mean.

Thanks everyone, from what you've all said, I have some better images in my mind of what to work on/do when it happens, etc.