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Post by loverocksalot on Jan 4, 2012 8:02:20 GMT -5
Rocky does in tug. He did once at my little son when he was laying on my other big sons bed and when little one went to move Rocky he made a little growl. He knew how to push that kids buttons big time. So that one I made my son order Rocky off.
Occasionally like last night he barked with hair up when my son came to the back door in the dark with hood up. He must have thought it was one of the naughty kids down the road. We have a sociopath in the neighborhood too. We also dont use that door to come in the house.
He does not growl when playing with other dogs. He rarely growls or barks. He recently started barking about strange people walking down the road. But we live very secluded area so people walking past his yard is quite rare.
But basically the only real intense growl will be playing tug and when he plays with his blanket and gets carried away with it he will growl.
So I think if these dogs growl other than play we better listen.
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Post by RealPitBull on Jan 4, 2012 11:19:06 GMT -5
The growling while playing tug is a different sort of growling. It is not defense/fear-based. It is prey/play driven. Totally normal!
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Post by marc on Jan 5, 2012 7:50:54 GMT -5
Is it common for some dogs to growl at other dogs while playing? The growling while playing tug is a different sort of growling. It is not defense/fear-based. It is prey/play driven. Totally normal! |
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Post by loverocksalot on Jan 5, 2012 8:16:48 GMT -5
Yeah I cant say I ever heard Rocky do a real growl. Just when he is unsure and barking at something it starts with a growl type sound then goes into a Im really not sure about this bark. He has very distinct barks that I know what each one means. But most of us do I suppose.
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Post by RealPitBull on Jan 5, 2012 8:55:23 GMT -5
Is it common for some dogs to growl at other dogs while playing? The growling while playing tug is a different sort of growling. It is not defense/fear-based. It is prey/play driven. Totally normal! Yes, but depending on the context - could be growls meant to cause distance ("I'm getting uncomfortable, back off") or just play growling which is fine. |
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Post by suziriot on Jan 5, 2012 11:04:08 GMT -5
Is it common for some dogs to growl at other dogs while playing? Yes, but depending on the context - could be growls meant to cause distance ("I'm getting uncomfortable, back off") or just play growling which is fine. Ditto. And the difference in growls is usually very obvious. Otis is a very vocal dog, and makes noises at everything. He sounds horribly vicious when he's playing, but I know his sounds so I know it's okay. His actual "serious" growl is very soft and more of a vibration. Brandy growls and snarls very loudly during play as well. Her "serious" growl is also very different than her play growl. And of course body language is key in all of this. |
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Post by marc on Jan 5, 2012 19:33:24 GMT -5
thanks. trying to interpret what a friend of mine does with his dog and some signals that other dogs give Jackie when she nudges them too much.
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Post by emilys on Jan 5, 2012 19:45:35 GMT -5
thanks. trying to interpret what a friend of mine does with his dog and some signals that other dogs give Jackie when she nudges them too much. It's not just one thing. you have to look at the whole dog and the context. Some dogs give very subtle (to us) signals. So you have to watch the other dog(s) too. If they aren't responding as if the growling is aggressive, then it isn't. same thing as a wagging tail.. doesn't mean "happy". (except when it does...) |
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Post by pitunia on Jan 7, 2012 22:18:38 GMT -5
Growling is communication and it is silly correct a dog that growls. I will try to find out why and desensitize. With the victims of dog fighting, they will do a low growl out of fear. I used a clicker and positive treat work to get over the fear. The owner wanted a fast fix by jerking the chain instead of investing time to find out what was making the dog uncomfortable.
Farns was scared to death of a radio. He would low growl and go into a defensive posture. It took time but the big brut no longer fears the sounds out of a radio. I invested time. I cared to find out what was the trigger. I never reacted to the trigger and only tossed treats until I could see the muscles relax. I will get off my soapbox now.
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Post by johnr on Jan 8, 2012 6:11:34 GMT -5
thanks. trying to interpret what a friend of mine does with his dog and some signals that other dogs give Jackie when she nudges them too much. It's not just one thing. you have to look at the whole dog and the context. Some dogs give very subtle (to us) signals. So you have to watch the other dog(s) too. If they aren't responding as if the growling is aggressive, then it isn't. same thing as a wagging tail.. doesn't mean "happy". (except when it does...) And you have to ask, if the dog IS happy, what it's happy about! Is a big dog wagging his tail at a little dog or cat saying "oh joy, a play mate! or "oh joy, lunch!" Actually, in this breed, it's pretty easy to spot the difference between a tail wag that generally involves just the tail moving very quickly and stiffly (I call it the metronome wag) accompanied by a locked stare, all of which is screaming arousal and possible aggression and should put you on alert, vs the whole butt and buddy happy wag with dancing front paws and silly smiles. |
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Post by johnr on Jan 8, 2012 6:24:31 GMT -5
Growling is communication and it is silly correct a dog that growls. I will try to find out why and desensitize. With the victims of dog fighting, they will do a low growl out of fear. I used a clicker and positive treat work to get over the fear. The owner wanted a fast fix by jerking the chain instead of investing time to find out what was making the dog uncomfortable. Farns was scared to death of a radio. He would low growl and go into a defensive posture. It took time but the big brut no longer fears the sounds out of a radio. I invested time. I cared to find out what was the trigger. I never reacted to the trigger and only tossed treats until I could see the muscles relax. I will get off my soapbox now. I've met a lot of dogs with fight scars and they haven't generally shown fear. The badly ripped up dog Dempsey who I fostered only showed fear once - when a large, globe shaped flower was waving in the breeze. ;D Of course, some jerks, especially punk kids who "learned" via the rumor mill, buy into the idea that you're supposed to undersocialize the dogs. That's pretty, as in totally, ludicrous, but as long as the myth gets repeated and believed, some people will do it. Those dogs, like all undersocialized dogs, end up quasi-wild animals with fear issues galore. But most of the fearful Pit Bulls I've known did not show signs of having been fought. They were just undersocilaized by negligent owners the same way dogs of all sorts of breeds and mixes are. |
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Post by tank on Jan 8, 2012 13:43:54 GMT -5
I don't think growling necessarily has to be worked with by a trainer. Jake growls at other dogs a LOT but isn't dog agressive. He is scared of them at first and so he growls because he needs his space to figure out whether they will hurt him or not. Once he figures it out he is fine. If another dog gives him the space to figure that out then all the better. Most of the dogs he growls at when first meeting become his play buddies a few minutes later. He just has fear issues where he is afraid of everything new. There is only so much that can be worked at with that IMO.
The only time I correct him for growling is if a particular dog (usually a puppy) is continuing to bug him and he won't just go somewhere else. Because if he is afraid of a dog and they keep pushing him, he will usually stand there and just growl and growl and not do anything else. What I want him to do is go somewhere else. Sometimes he will just stand between 2 dogs playing and growl because he doesn't want to be bothered when the dogs were already there playing before he went in the middle of them lol. That is when I intervene and tell him no and call him over to a calmer spot so if he doesn't want to be bothered he won't be.
I honestly don't see this as aggression. I see this as a very vocal and scared dog which has learned that when he vocalies when he is scared other dogs will back off until he is ready to interact with them. I used to think it would get him into fights with other dogs but it never has. The only dogs that have attacked him have been dogs that are aggressive in nature but still are allowed to be with the other dogs (another story all together, uh.) But yah my dog has been attacked by other dogs on numerous occasions and none of those times he was growling. He pretty much thinks he has to growl or he will be attacked (a fear thing.)
I don't know if any of that made sence. I just get annoyed by people thinking that growling is always aggression and because my dog growls means he is a mean dog when really even when attacked he won't ever fight back, he is just afraid of everything no matter how much conditioning we do. Don't get me wrong we have had some progress with him being afraid of objects and young people but when it comes to other dogs I trust him to know that no person can control a dog and he never knows if they will be friendly to him or not.
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Post by maryellen on Jan 8, 2012 17:42:01 GMT -5
sadie growls when she has a toy in her mouth but its a play with me growl, her play with me growl is way different from the growl of stranger at night walking funny keep away..
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Post by johnr on Jan 8, 2012 18:14:45 GMT -5
The one issue I'm having with my current pack, specifically Pumpkin and Angel, is that Pumpkin will often barge right into the middle of a group including Angel and start growling at her. This behavior gets very obnoxious very quickly. So I continually disrupt it with a loud "happy voice": Hey, what's going on? I doubt that Pumpkin will let it go entirely any time soon, but if I can make her less PROVOCATIVE, it'll help settle things down around here. I never really thought about it before, because I never really had to. But there is a pretty significant difference between growling when a dog approaches vs approaching a dog and growling,
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I look forward to learning much here