Re: is growling ever acceptable?

In Reply to: is growling ever acceptable?
Category:   Aggression
Posted by:  Tom
Posted on:  August 30, 2002 at 17:42:08

: Last week, my family adopted a 1 year old JRT. He had been in two different homes in his first year being given up because of allergies of the owners. He took to my wife and 3 children the moment he went through our door. He is always to be found in their company and was very comforatble around them from day one. However, his behavior toward me is a different story. The first day home, he tolerated me, but from then on, he growls whenever I come near. Over the last couple of days, he has become more emboldened in his growling and sometimes seeks me out in the house just to growl at me. I asked a person who knew the previous owners if she thought there might have been mistreatment from a male sometime in his past and she thought it unlikely. If I try to approach him, he growls and runs away. He has never attempted to bite me or anyone else. He also won't accept food from me and if I try to walk him, he'll lead me in a circle back to the house as soon as I allow him to.

: My wife begins obedience class with him soon and the instructor advised us to let my wife do all the disciplining and for me to just ignore him until he comes around. I realize it is going to require patience and I can provide that, but I'm concerned that this might be a dominance issue and not a fear issue. If so, ignoring the problem is only going to make things worse. What is the best course of action?

Response:

Hi Tom,

I agree with you that it appears to be a dominance issue and not a fear issue. As soon as you told me that he is in essence stalking you, this was a big clue.

I don't know why the instructor would tell you something like this, in fact I would start to look for a new trainer, one that understands dog behavior. While it's nice that your wife is working with him, it's going to be equally important for you too to start working with this dog so he understands his place in your family, and that place is the family dog.

It's going to be very important for you to take a pro-active part in the handling and raising of your terrier. You along with your wife, and for that matter any of your children that are old enough, should make sure to work this dog in obedience.

Keep him off all furniture, make him "work" for everything, that includes meals, toys, treats, petting, going out, etc. Work means give him a command, any command that he knows and make him do it before giving him his meals, etc. Make him sit before snapping a leash on him.

He needs to understand his place in your family, this is not a cruel thing, most dogs want someone else to take over the leadership role so you will be doing him a favor.

It might not be a bad idea to consult with a certified animal behaviorist for other things you can do, they usually come to your house and spend up to several hours observing the dog and its behavior towards all the members in the family and will then plot out a course of action to take. I can guarantee you that seeing the dog seems to have issues with you that they will want you to be very involved.

Also you haven't mentioned if he's been neutered, if not get him in ASAP. Neutering will usually lessen a lot of this type of aggression, also territorial aggression and if he's not marking should keep him from starting, plus the added health benefits.