Nobody likes it when a dog growls at him.
Unfortunately, we rarely consider where the unsuitable (in our opinion) behaviour comes from. Instead, we immediately take action: we use punishment to teach the dog not to growl at us.
Have you ever wondered why a dog growls and what he wants to achieve by that?
Unfortunately, most of my clients stopped at statements like “the dog won’t growl at me” or “I don’t want / I don’t agree to him growling at me!”
I understand that it’s not cool. Nobody likes to be growled at him. We feel uncomfortable then, regardless of whether a dog, an official, a parent or a neighbour growls at us.
I strongly encourage you to think about a few points:
- Why does the dog growl at you?
- What does the dog want to achieve by growling at you?
- What do you want your relationship with your dog to look like? Is the dog your subordinate/robot or friend? Do you focus on absolute obedience, or are your dog’s feelings important to you?
- What will be the consequences of our actions?
Let’s start with the first two points.
The dog growls at you because he doesn’t like something. He probably feels threatened or in pain. Let’s take into account that every dog is different. One loves being touched, the other does not like it, and the third is terrified of the human hand. Remember to avoid leaning over dogs, hugging them and looking them in the eye. For us, all these behaviours are natural and neutral. Many dogs feel very uncomfortable in these situations. For them, all three of these actions can be perceived as a threat. Therefore, they might growl.
IMPORTANT: Growling is NOT an aggressive behaviour!
Growling is a form of communication. It is a message: “I don’t feel comfortable, please stop”. In this way, the dog politely asks for more space, withdrawal of the threatening individual (human or dog), and cessation of unsuitable behaviour.
For example, a dog may want to avoid anyone coming near its bowl while he is eating. Perhaps he has some bad memories? Trauma? There may have been a time when he had to fight for food. If the problem of defending the bowl concerns you, don’t hesitate to contact me (info@baronsacademy.com). I will be more than happy to send you instructions on resolving this problem on good terms.
If your dog usually likes to be petted, and today, he growled or gently grabbed the hand touching him with his teeth, he had a reason! Probably something hurt him. Instead of getting angry with him, gently check which part of his body is sore or take him for a check-up visit to the veterinarian. Perhaps your friend strained a muscle during a walk, hit himself painfully, or maybe his stomach hurts a lot. Or perhaps he feels unwell today and wants to be alone, or maybe your touch woke him up abruptly from a dream in which he was about to start defending you from a huge, strange dog? You don’t know that. Only one thing is sure: growling always has a cause and a purpose.
Now, let’s talk about the relationship you want to have with your dog.
In every relationship, you should consider the other party’s opinions, needs, feelings and emotions, regardless of whether it is about professional or private contact. Treating the other party (dog, child, boss, subordinate, customer, neighbour and anyone else) seriously and respectfully is always worth it. For me, this means considering his opinion, needs and feelings. One doesn’t need to succumb to them necessarily and be subordinate to them every time, but leaning over them, trying to understand them, and working out a compromise where possible.
This approach benefits both sides. Suppose a person (dog or human) weaker or dependent in a given relationship feels taken into account, treated seriously, and with respect. In that case, he is more willing and open to cooperation. In a completely natural and automatic way, you defend yourself when someone wants to impose something on you. When you see goodwill from the other side, you are more willing to open up and look for solutions that suit all concerned.
The last point is the consequences of your behaviour.
Here, you should consider both possibilities: what will happen if you respect the dog’s opinion and what will happen if you punish him for growling?
Situation No. 1:
The dog growls, and then you – depending on the situation – withdraw your hand or walk away. Then, you try to understand why the dog felt uncomfortable.
The result: the dog sees that he can communicate with you—> he trusts you more, he is less afraid of you—> he is more willing to cooperate.
If you determine the source of your dog’s stress, you can solve the problem! When the pain is the source of the problem – go to the veterinarian for help; if the dog defends the bowl – write to me to get the instructions mentioned above and follow the guidelines to show the dog the profitability of letting you take his bowl away; if your dog doesn’t like to be touched, you can work on it (write to me on info@baronsacademy.com and I’ll tell you what to do to get a free ebook that will help you get your dog used to the human touch); if you do not know what the problem is for your dog or you lack an idea how to help him, make an appointment for a consultation. I will be happy to help you find the source of the problem and rebuild a harmonious relationship based on mutual respect, understanding and trust.
Situation No. 2:
The dog growls, for which he gets a slap.
Pay attention to how your interaction went. The dog informed you he was uncomfortable and asked for more space, and you attacked him.
The result: the dog learnt that you are aggressive and cannot be trusted. Let’s add that nobody can’t blame him for that. He is simply right.
Let’s presume you achieve the desired effect, and your dog stops growling. What did your dog learn? Well, you just taught him that it is not worth trying to communicate with you, that you are aggressive and cannot be trusted. Remember that the dog still feels threatened in certain situations. The only difference is that he has stopped informing you about it. Be aware that if you continue putting him in difficult conditions, the dog is still stressed. In addition, he is frustrated because he does not influence the course of events (attempts to communicate caused your aggressive reactions). What do you think will happen, considering the amount of the accumulated stress? The same thing happens with excess stress suppressed by a person: it will either find an outlet or one day explode.
A stressed person will fall into addictions, self-harm, become aggressive, start to somatize (i.e. fall ill with one of the stress-relieving diseases) or explode, i.e. one day he will do something terrible (e.g. kill himself or someone else, run into school with a machine gun or beat someone very severely).
A dog under stress may become overactive, i.e. overreact to what is happening around him (e.g. start barking for any reason); perhaps he will start throwing himself at the dogs he passes; he will begin demolishing the apartment, biting your shoes or committing self-harm. Like a human being, he can somatize. He might also suppress stress for as long as he can; when it is more than the dog can take one day, he might attack. Not necessarily the person who had been punishing him. He can pounce on someone who had the misfortune to appear next to him at the wrong time. In such cases, bites can be severe.
The tragic thing is that in such a case, we usually hear, “The dog bit without warning,” “The dog pounced on the child for no reason,” etc.
The reason ALWAYS exists. If we exclude genetic defects and diseases, the cause is always human behaviour or neglect. The guilty person is not necessarily the one who got bitten or even the current guardian. The dog’s reaction might have been the result of his previous trauma.
Let’s pay attention to what dogs are telling us. They are not looking for conflicts. They search for ways to avoid conflicts. They are doing their best to communicate with us. Indeed, their signals are not always clear to us. Still, it’s worth learning more, learning the basics of dog body language, or making an appointment with a behaviourist or zoopsychologist.
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