The low, menacing growl of a dog can’t be mistaken for anything else. This vocalization is used by dogs in a variety of contexts, including tug-of-war games and protecting their favorite bones. But why do animals growl in the first place? Is it abrasiveness, fear, bossiness, or another emotion? What can you do to change it? Learn why dogs growl, what it signifies, and how to handle it in the following paragraphs.
Play Growls
Growling is a kind of dog communication that has multiple causes, just like barking. Everything depends on the circumstances and the dog. In fact, occasional grumbling can be advantageous. When playing, a lot of dogs groan and whine because they’re enjoying themselves. Have you ever witnessed a dog fight? You probably heard some snarling. Although you might have assumed that meant the roughhousing had gotten out of hand, it was probably all in good fun.
Your dog’s growling during play does not indicate aggression. It simply indicates they’re enjoying themselves. Even during a particularly enjoyable hugging or petting session, your dog can snarl. Many dogs use their growls to express happiness or to greet people. These growls are simply signs of contentment.
Warning Growls
Of course, some growls signify something quite different. A dog may growl in response to being trapped or as a warning to another dog. Another typical sign of resource guarding is growling. A dog that is hurt may frequently growl to keep others away. Growling is a sign that your dog is bothered by something in all of these situations and more.
You can think of these growls as stress growls, as opposed to play and chat growls. They inform you that your dog is in pain. And that’s priceless. Now you may step in and alter the circumstance on your dog’s behalf before your dog feels the need to use more drastic methods like biting.
How to Tell the Difference
How can you distinguish between stress growls and happiness growls? Observe your body language. For instance, if your dog is giving you a play bow or a submissive grin, any growling is probably OK. That growl from your dog is serious if it appears stiff and is glaring at you with a serious expression.
When you are familiar with a dog, the growl’s tone might occasionally be useful as well. You might learn something different from a growl that is loud and higher pitched than one that is low and gentle. When in doubt, though, present yourself as if the growl is a danger. It’s preferable to make a mistake and end a nice game than to misjudge and get hurt, especially when playing with dogs you don’t know well. Teach young children, in particular, to be cautious of any growls.
What Stress Growling Means
Growling under stress is a warning indication. To warn people to back off before the dog is compelled to take further action is their goal. Most dogs are reluctant to bite or attack. To stop the situation from getting worse, they snarl. This provides growls a lot of value. A dog that suddenly strikes is quite dangerous. Respect your dog’s growls for the understanding they provide into his or her emotions and for the opportunity they provide you to step in, assist your dog, and avoid harm.
Don’t Punish Growling
Hopefully, you now understand that growling is something you should never fix. It could be harmless or a sign of stress in your dog. Punishing your dog for growling will only prevent future growling. You won’t have taken any action to solve the root problem. For instance, disciplining your dog for growling while there are other dogs around will make him stop. Your dog will still feel uneasy around other dogs, though. Even worse, you might believe something else because there isn’t any growling. Your dog is still stressed out and could perhaps snap at any moment without notice.
Regrettably, when you correct your dog for growling, you also make the underlying problem worse. For instance, if you punish your dog for snarling at another dog, the other dog will likely assume that your negative response was the other dog’s fault. Now, your dog will be even more uncomfortable. After all, it’s other dogs that make you angry.
How to Handle Growling
The best strategy to handle growling is to identify the source of your dog’s discomfort and then address it. First, adjust the setting as best you can to suit your dog in the here and now. Cross the street, leave the dog park, or do whatever else is necessary to assist your dog unwind if the presence of another dog is upsetting your pet. Back off and let your dog alone if it’s getting too close to their bone.
Next, pinpoint precisely what caused the rumbling. If you can temporarily remove that circumstance from your dog’s life, do so. For instance, avoid taking your dog to the dog park if other dogs stress them out. Stop giving your dog bones if they defend them, and so forth.
Finally, use a behavior modification technique to permanently stop the growling. Desensitization and counterconditioning techniques might alter how your dog feels about the underlying problem that initially made him snarl. You must assist your dog in becoming accustomed to the things that once caused them so much concern for both their safety and your own. These aren’t quick fixes, and a dog trainer or animal behaviorist might be necessary. However, if you control your dog’s environment while helping them get used to their stressors, they should eventually stop needing to stress snarl. But if they do, you’ll be prepared for it now.
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What makes a dog growl in your direction?
Your dog may communicate with you by growling. It growls to let you know that it is scared, hurt, or that it needs you to leave its property or territory. Often, when a dog starts to growl, your immediate reaction is to run away from it or reprimand it. It’s crucial to handle a growling dog properly because it can be the first indication of more severe aggressiveness.
When your dog growls, it is trying to communicate with you. An underlying issue can be detected by growling. It’s important to find out why your dog is growling and deal with that problem rather than trying to educate it not to growl. It’s likely that the growling will lessen or end once the underlying issue has been resolved.
What does a dog’s low growl signify?
My dog hisses at my children. My dog growls whenever I try to remove his bone. My dog growls at strangers.
People frequently call me about growling problems because they believe their dog is aggressive. This is true both sometimes and other times. Although growling can be incredibly frightful, it is not always an aggressive behavior, and not all growling is negative. Although it may sound absurd, there are numerous instances in which growling can actually be advantageous. I have categorized the many types of growling into six groups. So let’s look at the potential causes of the dog’s ominous noises before worrying about how to get it to stop growling.
- Play Growling: Dogs often get into trouble because of the ominous noises they produce when they are playing or are trying to play. About a year ago, I had some clients who were reluctant to let me into their home due of their “violent dog.” The dog was on a leash and was really putting on a show, lunging, growling, etc. You should have seen the expression on their faces when I requested that they release him. Really? Are you certain? They questioned with saucer-sized eyes. The dog was energetic and aggressive but otherwise very harmless. I squatted down on the ground and engaged in a tug-of-war match with him. Although he was snarling uncontrollably, he was not being aggressive. Really, all he wanted was someone to play with. A new dog owner could find play growling to be extremely vicious. It can be heard during dog-dog playtime as well as during tug of war or rough housing matches with people. There is no cause for concern because this roaring is “excellent.” Simply take a pause or stop the dog’s game if things grow too boisterous. Allow the energy to subside before resuming. If you’re a first-time dog owner, you might think about finding a balanced dog trainer that offers playgroups or puppy socialization programs to help you understand what constitutes appropriate play behavior.
- Pleasure Growling: When being touched, for instance, some dogs will growl fondly. Additionally, they could growl to get your attention. This is typically a low growl with sloppy body language that leads owners to believe that the dog is speaking. Even words like “Wi wuv woo and in a way they are chatting… they are conversing in a vocal manner” may sound like it. Although most individuals are able to discern this, occasionally they believe the dog is posing a threat to them.
- Threat Growl: A dog will growl when they wish to put more space between themselves and a potential threat. This is typical in scared, possessive, or territorial dogs. A dog might growl at strangers, for instance, if they have trespassed on his property, frightened him, or if he is guarding a bone. To make that happen, they may bite while yelling “Go away!” This is alarming, especially considering that dogs can bite. To the untrained eye, threat growling can appear to be quite faint. It might be softly spoken and followed by rigid body language, a closed mouth, dilated pupils, and no breathing. Owners frequently miss threats unless they are loud and have a ferocious appearance. Almost everyone gets it once those fangs erupt! At this moment, people learn that their dog is actually a predatory animal and not just a furry baby. Hey, I’m just saying…if your child had similar conduct, you would contact an exorcist rather than a behaviorist! All dogs have the instinct to growl because they are hard-wired to be pack-oriented predatory animals; it is not something they can be taught to do. The intriguing thing is that despite how frightening it may seem, this aggressive show is actually beneficial since it protects against harm. Growling is a sort of “ritualized aggression” that helps keep the pack in line while causing the least amount of harm. Due to this, most dog fights look and sound really horrifying, yet the dogs usually finish up covered in slobber rather than blood. A dog’s jaws are extremely strong; they can rip through flesh like it’s made of butter if you’ve ever witnessed actual aggressiveness. Given how many dogs there are, it’s amazing that there are so few injuries. Unfortunately, domestic dogs can lack emotional restraint and biting inhibition. For this reason, education and socialization are so important.
- When a dog growls aggressively, it usually has malice in its heart and seeks to close the gap between itself and the person or thing it is attacking. Though it’s not usually the most evident, this is sometimes the most hazardous. The most cunning dogs are frequently the most dangerous. These people are not acting scared or as if they only want to make something disappear. They seek to battle, attack, or kill in order to establish supremacy. Similar to some people, some dogs also come to enjoy fighting; they actively seek it out and look for an intimidating foe. Some people have a strong desire to hunt other creatures. The majority of prey aggressive dogs get along with other dogs just well, but some appear to view tiny dogs as though they were rabbits or squirrels. Dogs that will seriously attack humans are much less typical. Dog attacks that result in death are extremely uncommon and mostly affect children or the elderly. While many dogs will bite, very few dogs would fight a human in any significant way. Also commonly involving packs of dogs rather than lone dogs are maulings and lethal attacks. Ideally, you won’t ever have to deal with aggressive growling, but if you even remotely believe your dog fits this description, seek immediate treatment from a specialist.
- Growling out of frustration: Growling out of frustration is sometimes mistaken for hostility. Typically, this is a combination of play growling, threat growling, and a general inability to tolerate frustration. Only difference between it and aggressive growling is that the dog wants to approach the object of their desire (often other dogs) but does not intend to cause harm. These dogs might want to pursue bicycles or skateboards, but most of the time they just want to play, be petted, or investigate something. You have undoubtedly witnessed this in the shape of a vicious-looking dog on a short leash lunging and growling. The person they are dragging can usually be seen doing one of three things: clinging on for dear life, yanking on the leash and yelling, “Leave it,” or waving cookies in the dog’s face and yelling, “Watch me, watch me, watch me.” Dogs that are confined behind obstacles like fences, windows, or cars may also exhibit this behavior. Because their dog has never been given the chance to approach another dog or a stranger, people occasionally assume their dog is hostile based on these displays because they are terrified of what he might do. Sometimes it’s simple to spot because the owners are aware that the dog is fine when free of a leash and barriers. In general, these dogs are not harmful. However, if they feel uncomfortable being restrained, they may turn hostile or start a fight. They might bite, nip, or simply approach too abruptly if permitted to approach in that agitated, overstimulated state, which may not be appreciated by the dog or person on the receiving end. With proper training, this could have been easily prevented and could now result in a brawl or legal issue. If your dog fits this description, all you need to do is learn some fundamental leash manners and obedience from a well-rounded trainer. Before permitting the greeting to take place, the leash needs to be relaxed and the dog needs to be calmed down. (See: The Three Second Rule and DVD and Letting Dogs Meet)
- When dogs are fighting or when a play session devolves into a fight, you may hear fight snarling. Although it can be challenging for a novice to distinguish between dogs fighting and rough play, there is unquestionably a difference in tone and body language. When they attend puppy class for the first time, new dog owners are incredibly anxious. Because they believe they are fighting, they try to prevent their puppy from playing continually. On the other hand, a genuine dog battle can be easily distinguished. Anyone who has seen a dog fight never said, “Oh, they’re just playing. The key to productive play sessions is recognizing when they are merely playing and when it is beginning to become aggressive.
Now that you know more about growling, I hope you can decide whether or not you need to take any action. The most important thing to remember is that not all growling is an issue, so you might not need to do much other than unwind! However, some growling is really serious and needs to be addressed to prevent injuries. The topic of how to stop serious growling is enormous and far beyond the scope of this article, but if I could give you one piece of advice, it would be that the growl itself is not the issue; rather, it is a symptom of a problem, most likely a number of problems, and addressing the underlying cause is the best long-term solution.
