Corrections for growling

[Dekka]

Recently Anisette has started growling over her food bowl towards the other dogs and over some treats to the other dogs. She didn't do this before. So I am not quite sure where it is coming from and what is causing it.

In fact, one time the chewy was on the floor. She was on the sofa. Another dog went to get the chewy, she jumped down and growled.

Now this I am not a fan of at all. And I want to stop her from progressing with this behavior.

She is trying to resource guard her food. Its a pretty common dog behaviour (Doesn't make it ok.. but its normal)

First off I would feed her separately. I am of the belief that dogs should be able to eat in low stress environment. For the treats, are you handing them out for nothing? Or does the dog have do something first? If not try having dogs earn their treats. If so teach your dog that if they try to guard the food they loose the chance to earn it. Dog growls send her out of the room, and continue. Let her back in to earn it after 30 seconds later.

 

[theresa92841]

She is trying to resource guard her food. Its a pretty common dog behaviour (Doesn't make it ok.. but its normal)

First off I would feed her separately. I am of the belief that dogs should be able to eat in low stress environment. For the treats, are you handing them out for nothing? Or does the dog have do something first? If not try having dogs earn their treats. If so teach your dog that if they try to guard the food they loose the chance to earn it. Dog growls send her out of the room, and continue. Let her back in to earn it after 30 seconds later.

The other dogs aren't even trying to get her food. She was at Gigi's abandoned food bowl eating what was left behind. She gets to eat after Gigi eats. And usually thinks it is a treat to get whatever Gigi didn't eat. And Gigi came back over to get water. The other dog, Enchante is on a tie out until Anisette is done eating. Anisette has her own food bowl that is set down away from both of the other dogs.

Should I pick up her food if she growls? She is tiny and I worry about her not eating. And this approach seemed to work fine until recently.

She has to do something to get the chewy in the first place. But my dogs are small, so they don't finish the chewies. And they will leave them lie until later. I tend to let them because I woudl rather they chew on them than find something less desirable to chew . . . and I found that if there were no chewies around, that was what happened.

When Anisette growled, I went and took the chewy from her and gave it to another dog. Not sure if that was right. I figured if she growls she loses the chewy. But maybe I shouldn't have given it to another dog.

Anisette is 1.5 years and Enchante is 10 months.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Anisette is reaching social maturity... she isn't a puppy any more! Many dogs don't growl or show any signs of aggression/reactivity until they're 2 or 3, because they aren't mature. Honestly, Fozzie had NEVER growled at another dog until he was 2 1/2. And that was only after two dogs attacked them when I was walking them. Now, he's a pretty vocal dog, but he has never had a "spat" ever with another dog. Other dogs don't get threatened by his growling, either, it obviously has a calming affect. He will growl if a dog rudely steals food or treats from him, but I don't ever correct that, I simply avoid those situations and if it does happen... he only growls. He has a good reason to growl and the other dog needs to learn some manners!

So... you let one dog eat out of a bowl, and what that dog leaves, the other eats? Definitely end that. Buy 3 bowls for the 3 dogs, feed them as much as they should eat, give them 10-15 minutes to eat it then take all 3 bowls up until the next meal time. It's a good idea to either feed the dogs in seperate rooms or crates if you aren't standing right there to keep them at their own bowls. For now, you want Anisette to learn that she does not need to compete for food, so she does not need to be stressed about it. Pick up all chewies and feed them ONLY when you're watching or the dogs are seperate. It's a hassle, but it's a far better alternative to paying Vet bills for bites, or creating a dog who is super stressed and guardy with food. The less stress there is about food, it's likely the less Anisette acts aggressively about it.

 

[Dekka]

The other dogs aren't even trying to get her food. She was at Gigi's abandoned food bowl eating what was left behind. She gets to eat after Gigi eats. And usually thinks it is a treat to get whatever Gigi didn't eat. And Gigi came back over to get water. The other dog, Enchante is on a tie out until Anisette is done eating. Anisette has her own food bowl that is set down away from both of the other dogs.

Should I pick up her food if she growls? She is tiny and I worry about her not eating. And this approach seemed to work fine until recently.

She has to do something to get the chewy in the first place. But my dogs are small, so they don't finish the chewies. And they will leave them lie until later. I tend to let them because I woudl rather they chew on them than find something less desirable to chew . . . and I found that if there were no chewies around, that was what happened.

When Anisette growled, I went and took the chewy from her and gave it to another dog. Not sure if that was right. I figured if she growls she loses the chewy. But maybe I shouldn't have given it to another dog.

Anisette is 1.5 years and Enchante is 10 months.

The bolded part is important. YOU know the other dog doesn't want her food, but she is just 'reminding' the other dog that the food is hers. Growling doesn't mean 'I want to bite you' growling almost always means.. back off I don't want to get in a fight but might if pushed. Its a dog's way of avoiding a fight.

I wouldn't take away her chewies and give them to another dog.. that will just increase her anxiety. It teaches her the presence of the other dog is bad and will make her MORE reactive. The correct response is distract the other dog. Other people in this thread have mentioned letting dogs sort out their own issues. I do that to a point (lol I do have JRTs) but if a dog is chewing on something and another dog keeps bothering them and not heeding the warning then its the other dog that is being rude.

To make a human analogy... If everytime you sat down to a nice snack (or if it happened often) your housemate came and stuck their fingers in your snack. You would say something "please stop that" a dog will freeze and 'glare' at the other dog. Lets say this person continued, you would likely get more emphatic in your response "hey cut that out!" a dog might curl her lip maybe growl a little. Person still keeps being rude, you might yell at them. A dog will growl and snarl...

Now lets say everytime you tried to ask the person to stop you not only lost your snack, your snack was handed to the annoying and rude person!! That isn't likely going to improve your temper any is it?

 

[theresa92841]

I don't think I explained it correctly.

Each dog gets their own bowl. And I feed them one at a time. Gigi is a dog that sometimes eats all of her food and sometimes doesn't. So Anisette has always been able to eat some of what was left of Gigi's . . . if she wanted. If more than crumbs are left, I pick it up after Anisette has nibbled on it a bit. I used this approach to teach her a rock solid stay. It was her reward. This is in addition to her own food bowl which is already down on the ground for her. She just seemed highly motivated to eat some of what Gigi left so I used that. So there isn't any dog who is competing with her for the food.

Enchante also has her own food bowl.

Also, Anisette no longer had the chewy. It was several feet away. She had abandoned it which makes it fair game. But, when she saw Enchante move towards it, she jumped down and ran over and growled at her. I understand when she is actually chewing on something and another dog is bothering her. But this wasn't even within her space.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Each dog gets their own bowl. And I feed them one at a time. Gigi is a dog that sometimes eats all of her food and sometimes doesn't. So Anisette has always been able to eat some of what was left of Gigi's . . . if she wanted.

So the problem is that Anisette is guarding her empty food bowl while she's eating Gigi's leftovers? Personally, I'd pick up her food bowl if she left it alone.... if she was hungry, she'd finish.

I used this approach to teach her a rock solid stay. It was her reward.

Great. So... she knows a rock solid stay now? So you can stop using this method to teach the stay and work on the resource guarding instead??

So there isn't any dog who is competing with her for the food.

Doesn't matter if there is a dog competing or now, Anisette thinks there is a dog threatening her food, and that's what matters.

There are two ways to stop resource guarding: Manage the situation so that the dog does not need to guard - feed in separate rooms, make sure food is picked up when all dogs are together, etc. - which is a relatively quick and easy fix; or teach the "guarder" to be comfortable with other dogs around her resources - which can be done but is fairly complicated and requires a ton of dilligence and practice. You cannot stop resource guarding by trying to teach the "guarder" that other dogs are not actually trying to steal their food.

Also, Anisette no longer had the chewy. It was several feet away. She had abandoned it which makes it fair game. But, when she saw Enchante move towards it, she jumped down and ran over and growled at her. I understand when she is actually chewing on something and another dog is bothering her. But this wasn't even within her space.

I think in these bolded sections, you're showing that you're projecting your human rules and procedures on the dogs. But this is obviously contradictory to what Anisette feels; if she thought the treat was out of her space, she would not feel the need to guard it. So because she was guarding it, we know that she sees it as hers still, and what she thinks is the only thing that matters here.

The advice given in the above posts here is excellent, hope you are able to fix this issue!

 

[Southpaw]

Interesting thread. Lucy's a growler. If she's laying on the couch and my niece goes up to her, she growls (and then we make her get off the couch). If Juno is 10 feet away and looks at her, she growls... followed by a lunge. If the cat meows (from ANYwhere in the house!) or walks into the room, she growls and lunges. If she's near me, I make her get off the couch every time it happens. I don't think it's appropriate for her to be growling at little kids and I think it's kind of ridiculous that she growls at Juno and Jinx just for being in the same room as her. I want the growling to stop but I guess I've never put much thought into how that should be done... I suppose it would make more sense to get her to enjoy having kids and dogs and cats near her, and then she wouldn't feel the need to growl... see this is why I come on Chaz lol.

 

[Dekka]

I would just like to point out Dekka can 'own' a chewie from about 4 feet away. If you watch closely though she is still 'telling' the other dogs its hers. If someone thinks they can get it she will tell them off. Doesn't happen often, almost always the dogs can tell if another dog has actually left the chewie or is coming right back and still 'owns' it.

 

[theresa92841]

Doesn't matter if there is a dog competing or now, Anisette thinks there is a dog threatening her food, and that's what matters.

There are two ways to stop resource guarding: Manage the situation so that the dog does not need to guard - feed in separate rooms, make sure food is picked up when all dogs are together, etc. - which is a relatively quick and easy fix; or teach the "guarder" to be comfortable with other dogs around her resources - which can be done but is fairly complicated and requires a ton of dilligence and practice. You cannot stop resource guarding by trying to teach the "guarder" that other dogs are not actually trying to steal their food.


I think in these bolded sections, you're showing that you're projecting your human rules and procedures on the dogs. But this is obviously contradictory to what Anisette feels; if she thought the treat was out of her space, she would not feel the need to guard it. So because she was guarding it, we know that she sees it as hers still, and what she thinks is the only thing that matters here.

The advice given in the above posts here is excellent, hope you are able to fix this issue!

I would just like to point out Dekka can 'own' a chewie from about 4 feet away. If you watch closely though she is still 'telling' the other dogs its hers. If someone thinks they can get it she will tell them off. Doesn't happen often, almost always the dogs can tell if another dog has actually left the chewie or is coming right back and still 'owns' it.

Interesting. It had always seemed before that when the dog got up from the chewy and another dog came along to get it, that was ok. So I had taken previous experience as an indication of when the chewy was abandoned. I have to readjust my thinking. I just wasn't understanding her and why she was treating it like that.

And I can go ahead and pick up Gigi's bowl when she finishes. It was just that it had worked for so long as a training tool, that I was in the habit of thinking it had to stay that way. Anisette had gotten advanced . . . LOL . . . and I was stuck in my rut.

 

[Criosphynx]

What if your dog is growling at family members?

why is he growling at familiy members? The why is very important.

you figure out the why, and then go from there.

If she's near me, I make her get off the couch every time it happens.

and so begins the viscious cycle. Dog is uncomfortable around kids, for example. All dog sees is that everytime a kid gets tooo close, they are punished by being made to get off the couch...so next time dog sees kid dog is even MORE uncomfortable.

Dogs associate punishment more with what they are seeing, then what they are doing (at least until you teach them otherwise lol) dog sees kid, dog gets punished. Most dogs will never make the growl/punishment connection, OR if they do, they will simply skip the growl and go straight to the bite

 

[MPP]

I am SO glad I got to read this thread. I have always thought of growling as the prelude to biting instead of a substitute for it. Huh. Obviously, it requires a different approach than I thought.

Doesn't somebody have a banner saying something like, "It isn't what you don't know that will hurt you; it's what you DO know that isn't so"? How very true.

 

[maxfox426]

Interesting thread!

Fortunately, Morgan is not much of a growler to begin with, so I haven't really been in much of a position to make a "mistake" with him except on one instance...

We were at a friend's house with Morgan and their dog. Morgan found a wayward chewie on the floor and started working on it. Friends' dog comes up to Morgan to play (she really didn't care about the chewie at all), and Morgan growled at her in a serious manner (at least, how I interpreted it... I'll admit my experience is limited).

I simply took the chewie away and gave him a tug toy the two dogs could play with together. I didn't want to punish him for giving a fair warning, but I also didn't want the chewie to escalate into another issue.

Anyways, I'm not sure now if that was the correct response, but it's only happened that one time, so I'm hoping that in itself isn't "bad". Is there something I could have done better?

 

[lizzybeth727]

We were at a friend's house with Morgan and their dog. Morgan found a wayward chewie on the floor and started working on it. Friends' dog comes up to Morgan to play (she really didn't care about the chewie at all), and Morgan growled at her in a serious manner (at least, how I interpreted it... I'll admit my experience is limited).

I simply took the chewie away and gave him a tug toy the two dogs could play with together. I didn't want to punish him for giving a fair warning, but I also didn't want the chewie to escalate into another issue.

Anyways, I'm not sure now if that was the correct response, but it's only happened that one time, so I'm hoping that in itself isn't "bad". Is there something I could have done better?

Morgan was resource guarding, which means that when he saw the other dog approach, he was afraid that he was going to loose the chewie. By taking it away from him, you showed him that he was right.

What you could have done instead was to trade the chewie for something even better - like a handful of awesome treats - which would turn it into a rewarding experience for him.... he has a chewie, he gives it to you and gets something way better.

 

[maxfox426]

Morgan was resource guarding, which means that when he saw the other dog approach, he was afraid that he was going to loose the chewie. By taking it away from him, you showed him that he was right.

What you could have done instead was to trade the chewie for something even better - like a handful of awesome treats - which would turn it into a rewarding experience for him.... he has a chewie, he gives it to you and gets something way better.

Yeah, I figured it was resource guarding.

So... I had the right idea of trading for the chewie, but I just didn't trade with a valuable enough of an item. Good to know.

At the time, he seemed happy enough to play tug with my friends' dog, but for future reference, I will be sure to be better prepared.

Hopefully that one incident didn't set him back too much.

Thanks, Lizzy!