[angelbaby]

Ok so one of our dogs has this thing anyone who comes in the house he growls at them. He isnt being aggressive and most of the time wags his tail at them . He doesnt seem scared at all just being an ass. With people who dont know him well or are scared i just remove him fromt eh scene I dont want him to feed off there fear or anything. He does this to people he knows as well as those he doesnt see often or people on walks I dont allow anyone to come up to him because of this , dont know if that hurting the situation but people associate growling with mean and dont ned them thinking that. We had the neighbor come over the other night and worked with him on this issue , I corrected with a quick snap of the leash and a shhhh every time he did it. took about 15 minutes and finally he stopped and then was bouncing all ove rthe neighbor and enjoying the pets and love. Any tips to get this behaviour to stop and maybe quicker then 15 minutes? We would like to show him but scared if we have him in the ring and he growls at the judge the judge may mis understand that as aggression. Again he doesnt seem scared tail isnt tucked its usually wagging, and he has never tried to bite or raise lips , just a deep growl. Any tips appreciated. { also he doesnt do this to anyone inside the house, just strangers or outside people who come in aot of them he knows and has since a pup}

 

[texasgame]

here is what i would do since ive had this same issue with my female i start by checkin her verbaly or with a quick sharp noise maby a shh or deep hey if it continues i check them with my hand on the cheek. ive had good results doing it this way and not hitting i mean just grabbing firm to let them know i mean buisness and u rnt allowed to growl. i had to do this eariler in the day with my male just got my kennels up and he has figured out how to get out well he knows better and i gave him one oppertunity and did this and he hasent come out all day

 

[aus_staffy]

Haha! Roxy does pretty much exactly the same thing. Even I get growled at when I come home every night when she runs up wagging her tail. She just does it when she's excited.

I've never thought about correcting it. It's just part of her charm...

 

[texasgame]

yes, and it all depends on the growl aus i used to have a male that would do the same thing. it's just the interpratation of the growl, what its saying is the difference. but angle for your sake and friends who may be scared and dogs definatly feed off energy and you never know, i would go ahead and try some correction and be very consistent and you may be able to just get rid of it comptely. best of luck no matter what you decide

 

[performanceknls]

Haha! Roxy does pretty much exactly the same thing. Even I get growled at when I come home every night when she runs up wagging her tail. She just does it when she's excited.

I've never thought about correcting it. It's just part of her charm...

That's in play and perfectly fine, siren does the same thing. She grabs her bone and runs around growling... kinda cute

back to the OP it's hard to say without seeing it first but to me it sounds like weak nerves. Some people get the wrong idea and will get defensive when you talk about nerves but it is what it is. I have a few weak nerved dogs it's just something you understand and adapt too. Doesn't mean you have a dog with a horrible temperament either. The growling could be based out of being territorial or fear again it's hard to say without seeing it. It does not sound like above where the dogs are doing it out of play. Yeah he could just be an ass and so you deal with it. You could try correcting him and teaching that is inappropriate behavior when someone comes over. IMO That is what I would do. How old is he? depending on that the other option is just putting him in a crate and avoid any issues.

What I would do is find some conformation classes to take him too so you can see if it is going to be an issue in the ring.

 

[angelbaby]

Thanks guys Ill just continue correcting it. If its nerves still PK would he still be wagging his tail ? Iwas watching for tucked tail or lowered head to show he was scared or nervous but he doesnt do that. Its deff not play aus , mine growl when they pay but its a different growl and you can tell they are just playing this sounds more serious although it isnt where i would call aggressive, although I want to nip this early incase it does esalate to more. he is just turning 1 so getting to that nice age where the homones kick in. we have just noticed this in the past couple months here. If I get the neighbor or freind over to work with him again ill try and get a video and you can see exactly what he is doing. He knows he is bd when he does it when I shhhh him he get that sad look and drops his head and runs over to me to suck up but then will do it again...... the classes are a good idea didnt think of that for that purpose i will look into those.

 

[performanceknls]

no that's wrong, a wagging tail does not mean happiness at all. And do not get weak nerves confused with nervousness, it could mean the something but not always. It's hard to explain without showing what I mean. One example is Siren my dog, she has thin nerves but look at everything she can do. Does not mean she is not breed worthy either just more of a quark. I would never breed to a dog who has the same issue but she is fine. She has thin nerves and a good example of that is, normally she is pretty bomb proof but every now and again things spook her. There was a plastic bag on a fence blowing in the wind and I thought she was going to lose it! lol

I work with a lot of dogs with behavior problems and you never trust a tail when you are working with a dog. Wagging could mean happy, content, nervous, or a few other emotions. Instead look at the eyes and if they are dilated or not. If they are dilated then I am guessing it is more fear based. He they are normal and he is wagging his tail he is an ass, lol. Get video if you can it really can help with what you should do.

Now when you corrected him did he have a slip chain on or prong collar? also what corrections where you giving?

 

[angelbaby]

OHHH good info see I always looked to the tail and head position when judging what they were saying. Good to know. No I didnt have a prong { dont ownone } or the slip chain on him I had the basic flat collar on. For correction I used a quick pop and verbal response like Shhhh or No. If I dont have a collar on him I use touch usually a couple finger and just more of a push to get his attention on me then the verbal correction. If Its set up and expected like the other night with the neighbor I have a leash on him I find it easier to control his attention. Is there a better correction that would work?

 

[performanceknls]

Try putting a slip chain on, a flat collar no wonder it took you 15 min. I would have boot a boot in his ass in two seconds and stopped it there. Don't just say shhh get a nasty voice and make him feel that you are upset not just going shhhh. Look at Clint's thread about what his dog is doing and I kind of give a few ways to correct.

 

[angelbaby]

Alright will try that , I have to go get him a slip collar he outgrew his and isnt big enough for lokis yet, will do that today though. We have a friend comming by later he has experience with bullys and knows our dogs well he is going to help us work with crush , see if he growls at him. Hope he doesnt but at the same time gives a chance to correct this if he does. will try and remember to get batteries for the camera so I can get video.

 

[YAHHOO]

Ok so one of our dogs has this thing anyone who comes in the house he growls at them. He isnt being aggressive and most of the time wags his tail at them . He doesnt seem scared at all just being an ass. With people who dont know him well or are scared i just remove him fromt eh scene I dont want him to feed off there fear or anything. He does this to people he knows as well as those he doesnt see often or people on walks I dont allow anyone to come up to him because of this , dont know if that hurting the situation but people associate growling with mean and dont ned them thinking that. We had the neighbor come over the other night and worked with him on this issue , I corrected with a quick snap of the leash and a shhhh every time he did it. took about 15 minutes and finally he stopped and then was bouncing all ove rthe neighbor and enjoying the pets and love. Any tips to get this behaviour to stop and maybe quicker then 15 minutes? We would like to show him but scared if we have him in the ring and he growls at the judge the judge may mis understand that as aggression. Again he doesnt seem scared tail isnt tucked its usually wagging, and he has never tried to bite or raise lips , just a deep growl. Any tips appreciated. { also he doesnt do this to anyone inside the house, just strangers or outside people who come in aot of them he knows and has since a pup}

I would be careful correcting him without know why he is growling. If he is scared you can make it worse by being hard on him. If it is dominance and territorial I would remind him it is my house my company my rules. I would be careful correcting him if you are not sure why he is growling.

 

[angelbaby]

I would be careful correcting him without know why he is growling. If he is scared you can make it worse by being hard on him. If it is dominance and territorial I would remind him it is my house my company my rules. I would be careful correcting him if you are not sure why he is growling.

What do you mean? If it isnt corrected he will continue to do this and to me thats unacceptable. PK gave me some good points and things to look at I have a feeling he is just as ass, but will watch his eyes and see if there is any change. What would you do in this case ? anything you recomend? hopefully I will get a video soon and you can all see what we see. I have a feeling could very well be territorial as well.

 

[YAHHOO]

What do you mean? If it isnt corrected he will continue to do this and to me thats unacceptable. PK gave me some good points and things to look at I have a feeling he is just as ass, but will watch his eyes and see if there is any change. What would you do in this case ? anything you recomend? hopefully I will get a video soon and you can all see what we see. I have a feeling could very well be territorial as well.

If it is a fear thing I always work on desensitization. For example say someone comes in and he is growling. I would remove him from the situation, calm him down, and then slowly reintroduce him to your friends. After he is ignoring the guests I would then ask them to offer him a treat and let him sniff them. Then I would again remove him from the situation. You want him to get comfortable with the guests. I had a dog who was fearful and I never used corrections only positive experiences and eventually she learned to associate guests or new people with getting a treat. But PK knows 10000x more about dog behavior and training then I do, so I recommend listening to her advice.

 

[performanceknls]

I know what your getting at Lance and that may work for some dogs but not all and why knowing your dog goes a long way. A simple voice correction if done properly goes a long way. You should NEVER tolerate aggression towards people and that includes fear aggression. Now with a dog like that do you have to correct the crap put of them with a prong collar? absolutely not! You can make more of a mess but you should let them know that you are in charge and even if they are worried it is not their job to feel like they have to back people off. Also if they are really fearful I would not make people try and feed them, that can make it worse. I would just have them ignore everyone and be in the room and not bark. Not saying that AB dog's FA just staying with your fear aggression comments. With a dog who is really FA I would work them in Obedience and get the obed really good then take them in new situations and use the obed to give them something to focus on. It really calms them down when they do not have to interact people and can just focus on you and what they should be doing. Many times it helps bring them out of their shells. I do not treat scared dogs like broken glass it takes much longer and more work than you really need. Treat them like every other dog and they start to come around.

I just got a Doberman rescue who tried to bite me when I first got her. I just ignored her fear behaviors and corrected her for trying to bite but was very sweet when she calmed down. Today she is jumping all over me! lol

There are lots of approaches with FA dogs but this is what has worked for me. I am not trying to argue with what you said just explaining why I would do a different approach.

 

[YAHHOO]

Yea I did use voice corrections, when I think of corrections I always just think of physical corrections.

 

[performanceknls]

Many times that what people associate the word correction with is a harsh punishment. There are lots of ways of getting a point across without being harsh. Most of my dogs are just verbal corrections but anytime there is correction praise should not be far behind

 

[angelbaby]

UGH... so friend came over and he didnt growl at him , LOL. Its good he didnt but i have a feeling this isnt going to be the last time he does that so was hoping he would so we could correct it ,probably sounds stupid LOL. Oh well going to see if the neighbor can come by later this weekend and see if he starts it up again. Best case is he finally got it through his thick head after we got after him last time and he wont do it again. Will have to just keep trying.

 

[performanceknls]

I know what you mean, you have to be able to set them up to be able to correct the problem. My little pup Venom is getting really DA and I have given her some corrections in puppy class but I can't correct her the way she needs at the dog club. Some bleeding hearts there.... lol
My friend came over today with another puppy and I really got after for going after that puppy. If I can't set her up and correct now she is impossible to handing in dog sports when she gets older. It's all about being able to set up situations and correct the problem.

 

[angelbaby]

exactly , we had 2 friends over today again although 1 he sees almost every other day , but the other friend he rarely sees and again he didnt growl. Maybe he got it ? lol, I doubt it he will probably pop off when Im not prepared or wanting to have to correct lol, such a creep he is.