Why Do Dog's Growl?

Have you ever seen a dog growl? Perhaps your current dog or a previous dog has growled at you or growled at other things in their environment. Ever wondered why your dog growled?

When a dog growls you might hear people comment that the dog is trying to be dominate and rule the roost. That you need to take charge and show them who's boss. In reality this is unlikely the case and instead dog's growl because they are not comfortable in the situation they are in (e.g., feeling unsafe, feeling pain). Growling for a dog is a form of communication. Dog's cannot talk like we do instead they use body language signals plus vocalisation (e.g., barking, growling) to communicate.

While it is not ideal that our dog is growling and we don't want to encourage this behaviour, it is also important to acknowledge our dog's discomfort and explore how we might be able to change their emotional response so they no longer feel the need to behave in this way. If you want more information on conditioned emotional responses, I discuss them in my blog "Understanding fear in dogs".

My Dog Suddenly Growled, They Have Never Done That Before!

It is not uncommon as a dog trainer to hear someone say that their dog has always been fine in a certain situation and then suddenly one day they weren't and they growled. Often I hear of this happening at an off lead dog park but there are plenty of other situations were dog parents have experienced this perplexing behaviour from their dog. While for the pet parent the behaviour is shocking and out of the blue in reality the behaviour to me is actually not surprising at all. When I start to discuss what has occurred in more depth with the pet parent there is often lots of unnoticed behavioural cues, that the dog has been showing, that they didn't realize were signs the dog was not comfortable. The dog has been signalling their discomfort in more subtle ways (e.g., turning their head away, walking away, ears flattened, eyes wide, whale eye -showing whites of their eyes, tail between legs) but because no one has noticed these cues, and for example stepped in and stopped the other dog at the park from licking their dog in the face, they have finally after repeated negative experiences given up on using more subtle cues and have had to go to "shouting" to get anyone to pay attention to their discomfort.

"Listen to your dog's whisper so he doesn't have to shout" - Chirag Patel

Red, Yellow & Green Zone

So how do we stop this occurring in our dog or if it has already happened how do we stop this happening again? Firstly if it has already happened then you may need the help of a professional dog trainer or veterinarian behaviourist to assist you in rehabilitation, particularly if this is now a regular pattern of behaviour you are seeing.

Part of the solution is being able to accurately read our dog's body language cues to know what signals from them mean that they are content and relaxed, that they have had enough or they are feeling uncomfortable. A great way to get more knowledge on dog body language is through literature like 'Doggie Language: A Dog Lover's Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend' by Lili Chin. While all dog's are unique, and it is important to look at the whole dog's body language and the context in which they occur, learning general body language information can be very helpful. Then once you have started to identify these cues from your dog the next step is to know what to do about it. This is where we can refer to the traffic light zones.

By understanding how our dog might be feeling we can be more confident in knowing what to do to help our dog succeed. We can reduce the chance that our dog will growl because we have noticed the earlier subtle signs and have advocated for our dog before they have needed to "Shout".

Medical Concerns

The final consideration I want to discuss here is the possibility that your dog might be showing reactivity or aggression due to an underlying medical condition. It is very important to get your dog fully checked out by a veterinarian and even a dog physiotherapist to ensure there are no medical reasons for your dog behaving in this way. Pain, thyroid issues, neurological issues can all contribute to behaviours like anxiety and aggression (A Review of Medical Conditions and Behavioral Problems in Dogs and Cats, by Tomas camps, Marta Amat, Xavier Manteca). This could explain genuine situations where your dog was fine with a given situation and now they are not. A medical condition may have developed that you are unaware of. Dog's are masters at hiding pain and may run, chase their ball etc and still be in lots of pain. My previous dog Tasha seemed perfectly fine until one day she randomly started limping on one leg. There were no other changes in her movement, she was still running around and the limping happened sporadically. The vets couldn't work out what was going on for her, thinking she had perhaps sprained her shoulder. It wasn't until much later when her conditioned deteriorated that the specialist vets discovered through scans she had bone growing inside two of her vertebrae that was crushing her spinal cord. She would have been in pain but outwardly was showing hardly any signs until the problem really worsened. So don't disregard pain as a factor because your dog runs around and "seems fine".

I have heard of two people recently who have dogs with unpredictable aggressive behaviours, for example the dog is on the couch with them and soliciting attention and enjoying the pats one minute and then the next minute is suddenly growling at them, that have now being diagnosied with a painful condition called tether cord syndrome (abnormal tension on the spinal cord) in which if the dog moves in certain ways they get sharp shooting pain down their spine. So, in this case there is a good chance the dog is enjoying the pats on the couch and then moves slightly the wrong way, get a sharp pain and then associates the pain to the person patting them and growls at them.

So in summary learn to read your dog's body language, advocate for them if they are not feeling comfortable and it is always advised to get your dog medically assessed if they are showing behavioural concerns.

Want specific help in reading your dog's body language cues? Give me a call to discuss your options - 0493 661 678.