A small dog growling at you may seem kind of funny for a time, until you realize that it might actually bite you, or even worse, bite a child or other dog. Of course, when a big dog growls, everybody starts quaking in their boots.
You may have noticed your dog growling at you, apparently for no reason at all. Maybe you approach it, maybe you pet it, or maybe you’re just doing something around the house, and it starts growling at you. Why is it doing this?
It’s important to note that while you may thing that the dog is growling for no reason, there is always a reason. No dog growls just because it likes the sound of its own voice. If your dog is growling, although it may not be perceivable to you, there is a reason.
Pain
Let’s not forget that dogs have a limited amount of noises which they can make. Between growling, barking, and yelping, the selection is not very large.
If you have a dog that usually never growls at you, and then all of a sudden growls when you touch it in a certain spot, there may be some kind of injury or medical condition to blame.
If you touch your dog in a certain spot and it growls, it may be in pain, in which case you will want to take it to the vet.
Guarding Its Property
Another reason why a dog may growl at you is to protect its property, or what it perceives to be its property. Dogs can become possessive of things such as water, food and food dishes, toys, couches, and other objects.
If you go to touch the dog’s toy and the dog perceives that toy to be their toy, it may growl. Moreover, dogs are natural competitors. In the wild, dogs live in packs and they always compete with each other for resources.
If you go to touch the dog’s food dish and it growls, especially if there is food in the dish, it’s telling you that “this is my food.” This kind of behavior is not ideal as dogs who are possessive of belongings may escalate things and bite you if you try to take something away from them
Therefore, you need to ensure that the dog views you as the pack leader so it won’t try and challenge you for the ownership of items. You also need to ensure that the dog feels comfortable in your home. If the dog feels like it needs to fight for resources, it will do so.
Fear
One of the most common reasons why dogs growl at people, apparently for no reason, is due to fear. Now, this is not all that common in dogs that were raised in good homes, especially from a young age. After all, a puppy raised in a good home with kind owners, traumatic experiences aside, should have no reason to be fearful or anxious of their owners.
This issue is much more common in dogs that are adopted from shelters, particularly when they came from bad homes where they were abused. Simply put, your dog may be afraid of people and feel threatened by them.
A dog growling is a warning sign that they don’t like something, and they want it to stop. If you have a fearful dog, it’s going to take a lot of patience for it to come around, but it should eventually become comfortable in your home, if you treat it right.
Play
This is one of the types of growling that you really don’t need to be worried about. If your dog is growling during play, this is totally normal.
Once again, there’s a number amount of sounds a dog can make, and it will want to make some noise when playing. It’s normal and nothing to worry about, as long as it does not appear to be dominant or possessive during play.
Aggression
Yes, some dogs are just aggressive. Aggression in dogs can be caused by a number of factors including a lack of socialization, fear and anxiety, frustration, and to a lesser extent, the breed of dog.
An aggressive dog that does not have good social skills is one that is likely to growl, bark, and bite people. As the owner, you therefore need to curb the aggression, or else things will end badly.
Conclusion
The important point to remember is that dogs don’t growl for no reason. There is always a reason and you need to figure out what it is. If you can figure out why the dog is growling, then you can work to solve the underlying cause.
