Re: what can i do about puppy's growling?

In Reply to: what can i do about puppy's growling?
Category:   Aggression
Posted by:  Christian
Posted on:  May 11, 2003 at 11:25:49

: I read in a previous question that another person posted about their puppy being aggressive(barking growling), while they are playing. I had a similar question...my 2month old JRT also growls and barks while playing so we are not going to play anymore "aggressive" games with her, like tug of war or chase. But sometimes, she also barks and growls when we're merely just walking around or walking away from her or even to her sometimes. She runs at our feet even when we're not playing a chasing game with her, and barks and growls(never nips either, but it might lead to that in the future). What can we do about this? I try giving her a toy to play with and it seems to work, but then she does the barking and growling all over again sometimes when we walk around, away from her, or to her. It seems that this is the only problem, she's well behaved other than this and does not do it when calmly sitting or playing in our laps. I don't want her aggression to get any worse or lead to biting so other than obedience classes(we're thinking of taking her by the way)what can we do at home to prevent this from continuing?

Response:

Hi Christain,

Here's my thought on this subject (and other reps might feel totally different than I do), first of all this is a very vocal breed. When my two engage in play, whether with me or the two of them together there is a lot of barking/growling going on.

I personally don't believe in inhibiting a dog's vocal communication (unless it's nuisance barking), what can happen when one discourages a dog from growling let's say, is it can lead to a much more dangerous situation. Dogs will growl for a couple of reasons, there's "play" growling and then there's the "warning" growl that many dogs will give when feeling threatened or when ready to attack. That is a dog's warning signal, you take the warning signal away and you end up with a dog that just bites with no warning ahead of time. I had a dog once that I got as a much older pup, apparently the previous owners discouraged growling with this dog, so this dog became a dog that could bite without warning. This is a very dangerous situation.

Barking and growling combined in playing is nothing to get too concerned about. Barking, growling and trying to attack/bite you is an entirely different matter.

My guess is your puppy is just being that, a puppy. God I can still remember how my first JRT pup (who is now a mellow old guy) used to growl, bark and go for my ankles and pant cuffs lol! It's just a puppy stage. The best you can do for what you deem inappropriate behavior is to continue to consistantly correct her "NO" and either give her a time out or give her something appropriate to take her puppy aggression out on like you have been doing. Just understand that you will have to do this correcting really, a gazillion times as pups that age just don't "get it."

Oh, and please do just think about obedience school for her, do it. It's one of the best and most loving things you can do for your dog. You end up with a deeper bond with your terrier, and a better behaved one that will be a joy to live with.