Growling

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned a great book called "Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson. I really think that every dog owner should have this book and should read it carefully.

One of the hardest parts about owning a dog is understanding them. And, to us, a growl is a scary thing. To a dog, it is supposed to be scary.

A growling dog is telling us that s/he is feeling like their personal space is being invaded. It means "Leave me alone." It means "You scare me and I want you to go away." It means "I am warning you. Please don't make me take evasive action."

So, we have to figure out why our dogs are growling, determine if we can help them with the problem and then help them. We should never punish a dog for growling.

If a dog is growling because it is afraid, which many rescue dogs are, then we need to analyse the environment and figure out what is causing their fear. At that point, we need to either remove the thing causing the fear or move the dog to a place where it isn't afraid. This protects the dog and the people around it. We do not want to inadvertently push the dog over its limits.

Then, we need to try to help the dog get over whatever it fears. I have talked a bit about this here.