Control Your Puppy’s Growling

It’s usual for a puppy or dog to growl when playing tug of war. However, it’s also a sign of aggression and can be a sign the dog may bite – so be cautious!

You should know if the growling is appropriate or inappropriate. If your puppy or dog is at a meal or has his favorite chew toy and growls when you get close, that isn’t behavior you should allow. Your dog is being aggressive.

If the growling begins unexpectedly with no obvious trigger, it’s time for a visit to the vet to make sure there isn’t a medical cause.

Growling can be a signal that your dog is trying to position himself as the alpha dog or pack leader. So, the next thing you check is that you position yourself as the leader of the pack in your house. Once these dominance issues are solved,many other problems will disappear.

To position yourself as the alpha dog or pack leader, you should adopt the approach of NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free). This approach means that you ask your dog to do something before you give him anything. With this approach, you can’t allow your dog to demand attention from you. If you permit him to demand attention, you have lost dominance. Just ignore him if he tries to demand attention. You must choose when to offer him attention. He may try harder but you must not give in or everything is lost.

With NILIF everyone who comes into contact with your dog needs to be consistent.

So, for example, you request your dog to sit quietly before you place his meal down or before take him out for a walk. Don’t allow your dog to pre-empt you by offering the behavior before you request it.

You should be the first to walk through the door when leaving the house. You can let your dog see you eating a small snack like a biscuit before you put down his food since the alpha dog eats first. You only need to do this for a couple of weeks to position yourself as the leader of the pack.

Everyone needs to engage in this activity to place them higher up in the hierarchy than your puppy or dog.

The alpha dog goes to higher ground to sleep, so do not allow your dog to sleep on your bed if you want to be the dominant one.

You should do consistent training sessions with your puppy or dog. Make the training sessions short and fun. This will start you on the path to a better behaved dog.

Read more about stopping your dog growling and other aggressive dog behavior.