Pet peeve #875: People who freak out over a growling dog (rant)

[Shakou]

Something I run into often enough that really gets under my skin are people who seem to think a growling dog = an unstable, dangerous dog. I got into a conversation with someone on another site about her dog, who she took to a very busy non-dog event where there were people everywhere, costumes, etc. Dogs technically weren't allowed to the event, but she brought him anyways. While there, he simply growled at a service dog, and this "horrified" her to no end, and she wants to seek a behaviorist and trainer for him.

I mean, don't get me wrong. It's good she's seeking that kind of help, because it's obvious she doesn't understand dog body language and what's normal dog behavior. But it still annoys the crap out of me. So you bring your dog to some crazy, stessful, event where dogs aren't even allowed, force him to meet another dog, and when he lets out a warning growl at the other dog due to probably already being stressed out and uncomfortable to begin with, you decide he's messed up and ill-behaved and needs help.

I think this kind of thing bugs me as much as it does, because it's something I see way to much. I really don't get it.

 

[Ozfozz]

And the ones that correct growling as if they're changing the situation.

So many people end up with a dog that bites after very few warning signals because growling has been corrected to the point that the dog no longer utilizes it as a warning. And they're always so surprised that their precious little dog bites because "he hasn't growled in so long!"

 

[Maxy24]

This drives me nuts. I don't see it so much when a dog growls at another dog, but if it growls at a person? OH HELL NO. People get this urge to beat the dog because he asked them to stop. What makes a growl so horrible? Doesn't hurt, isn't loud and scary, isn't a snap that could accidentally make contact, it's absolutely harmless. The dog can lip lick, stiffen, give whale eye, quietly refuse to give in, whatever. But GROWL? Now it needs a beating, it's a horrible dangerous, ungrateful beast. People really need to learn that a growl doesn't necessarily mean the dog is about to maul you, he's just asking you to stop.

 

[amberdyan]

I volunteered at a shelter for 20+ hours a week for 5 years and the only time I've ever been purposefully bitten there was a small dig who had obviously been taught to never bark or growl. She laid on the floor of the kennel and I bent down to coach her out. She did have stiff body posture but she went from being stiff to having my hand in her mouth in 2 seconds. Hugo has only growled at something once in the time I've had him but I removed him from the situation and praised him for letting me know he was uncomfortable.

 

[Shakou]

Charlotte, who has fear aggression towards dogs, will let out a warning growl and bare her teeth at another dog in close proximity before she lashes out aggressively at them. I've come to be able to read and spot the other signals of discomfort she makes before she even get's to that point, but it really pisses me off when people threaten to beat the crap out of her when they allow their dogs to get to close to her and push boundaries when in fact she's actually displaying immense tolerance and good communication. She's warning them to get the hell away from her rather then just attacking.

I think this is where my anger and frustration towards this particular ignorance stems from. When people blame their dogs and other dogs for growling, and consider them to be dangerous and unstable, when infact they are just communicating and behaving perfectly normal.

 

[Southpaw]

I don't mind growling at other dogs (if the situation warrants it, ie when Juno was more leash reactive and growled/lunged at dogs that were across the street, that was dumb), but I am one that considers growling at people a bit of a problem. Lucy growls at people and if she were "mine" (and therefore could have more consistent training) I'd work on it, but to be honest as a 10lb dog it's not AS concerning to me. I'd jump on it more if it were Juno or Cajun.

If people have a problem with growling and want to fix it, I don't really take issue with that so long as it's addressed from a "why is he growling and how can I make him more comfortable in these situations" angle rather than simply trying to suppress it.

 

[Shakou]

If people have a problem with growling and want to fix it, I don't really take issue with that so long as it's addressed from a "why is he growling and how can I make him more comfortable in these situations" angle rather than simply trying to suppress it.

And I agree with this. But she wasn't trying to get to the bottom of why he was growling, and took it more as a behavior issue rather then a sign that he was uncomfortable with the other dog being so close to him. She couldn't of handled it by simply moving her dog away, or asking for space, but rather being "horrified" by the ordeal and treating her dog like he was the next cujo lol.

 

[Cheetah]

Ugh this is one of my pet peeves as well. Shippo doesn't like dogs in his face, or towering over him, and he will growl at them to let them know he's uncomfortable. He will even move away if he can. People often stare at him all cautiously and act like he's unstable just because he's communicating his feelings to their dog. It's kinda frustrating.

 

[DJEtzel]

Four ish years ago, I had my first dog (as an adult) and as an adolescent GSD, he started growling at people.

I sought advice/help from forums because I didn't have any nearby resources and I totally thought my dog was broken. They told me he was a liability, unstable, nervy, etc. and some even told me to accept that I may have to euthanize him. These were breeders, sport people, pet people.... They even spread lies that he bit them.

Man I'm glad I stuck around and didn't listen to them. 3 years later he's bomb proof with kids, dogs, all sorts of people and medical equipment. To the best of my knowledge, he is just REALLY sensitive to pain (caused by allergies/skin infections at the time, also noticed during an ear infection) and HAD the nerve to growl at people making him uncomfortable or what he thought would be pain (people coming in to pet him) so that they would back off. And it worked, I didn't correct him for it, and we desensitized him to people and got the medical issues under control... now he's fine. It's not that I don't want to accept that my dog is nervy if he is, but hindsight is always 20/20, and I really appreciate that he had the clear mind to growl to show that he wasn't feeling well instead of going straight for a bite.

So yes, knowing what I know now, I do not put as much worry into a growling dog. Instead I try to figure out what could be causing the growling (fear, medical issues, etc) and tackle those problems instead when necessary and thank my lucky stars that they growled instead of biting.