What Does The Dog’s Growl Mean?
Today, we know that dogs are much more complex animals than we thought in the past. Their behavior is being studied more and more so that we can understand what they want to convey to us. A dog’s growl is only a small part of the set of ways in which it communicates.
Growling is considered a form of aggression and we tend to scold it . This is very likely to make the situation worse because we are not listening to what the animal wants to tell us. Finally, we end up with a dog that bites, whose end is usually euthanasia, abandonment, stigmatization of the breed and general image of these animals.
Does the dog’s growl mean aggression?
A dog’s growl doesn’t necessarily mean aggressiveness. It is part of the set of behaviors that a dog can display to communicate something. Depending on the situation, the dog’s education, personality and emotional issues, and your past experiences, a growl may involve:
- Fear
- Discomfort
- Self defense or a group member
- Aggression
- Just kidding
- Resource defense
- Threat
As we see, the dog’s growl can even be positive. Many dogs can growl in play situations, when they are with other dogs or also with their owners. This growl is not a threat, as it is linked to the positive behaviors of the game.
Resource defense
One of the reasons many dogs growl is defending resources such as food, toys or other objects that are of interest to them. Faced with this conflict, some owners fight with the dog and take what it is protecting, because they believe that the animal is showing its domain.
This is not true. The only thing the dog feels is that its owner is taking something that is very valuable to him, so the bond between them deteriorates. Also, due to frustration, the dog may eventually bite.
The best way to act in these situations is to make the dog lose interest. For example, if the dog values a toy a lot, we shouldn’t take it away. On the contrary, we should give you many similar toys, because if you have so many, they will lose their value.
Can a growling dog bite?
Yes, any dog can bite. The growl is not always the prelude to the bite. Often the dog growls and decides to leave. This is also a form of communication.
On the other hand, in some cases, if the triggering stimulus doesn’t stop, the dog may bite after the growl. However, before growling, he will show, through other bodily gestures, that something is bothering him.
Therefore, it is essential to know how dogs communicate. Unfortunately, some dogs have stopped using previous behaviors because they have realized that they have no effect on us, so they bite directly.
How to avoid the dog’s growl?
We cannot assume that a dog will never growl; it would be like imagining he will never bark. Both are a natural way of communicating, and it’s normal and healthy for them to do so sometimes. However, as always, the excess may not be normal.
Anxiety, stress, frustration mismanagement and other problems dogs can experience are conditions that can promote behaviors such as growling. For this reason, we should not try to correct the growls, but try to find out why the pet is behaving like this.
