It's a beautiful day, so you decide to take your dog for a walk. As you turn the corner a larger dog starts running towards you. You glance at your dog and notice he is panting more heavily and his pupils are a bit larger than usual, but it is hot out today so you continue on with your walk. The other dog is still running your way, but you notice he is on leash so you are less concerned than before. You look down and your dog seems to be squinting and blinking a lot - maybe he got something in his eye - it is a bit windy today. Now your dog stops, sit down, looks away, backs up you try to move him but he stays still. The other dog is still approaching. Finally it happens, out of nowhere - your dog lets out a growl. You turn very quickly and yell NO, bad dog. Your dog cowers and assumes a submissive posture.
Dog's are very effective at communicating how they are feeling but they do this using body language not verbal language. They rapidly fire displays that they are uncomfortable that we unfortunately miss such as - wide eyes, blinking, looking around, panting when it's not hot, looking away, backing up, lifting a paw, furrowing a brow, refusing treats, refusing to move forward, tail tucked, trembling, lip licking etc. When their body language has been ignored repeatedly and we are still unaware that they are uncomfortable then they offer a verbal clue of their uneasiness - a growl.
Unfortunately we as humans have an idea that dogs should never growl. A growl is a sign of aggression and aggression is a sign of a bad dog. We don't want to have a bad dog so we must punish them swiftly and harshly to stop them from every exhibiting this behavior again. But wait - what did that growl actually mean?
In most cases a growl means - hey guys I don't like what is happening here and I would really like it to stop. Usually it comes from a place of uneasiness or fear.
So when the dog growls he is saying I am afraid and our response is to punish him verbally or physically - does this change how he feels? I would say yes - your dog told you he was afraid, your response was to punish him - end result the dog now has less trust in you as his leader because you didn't understand what he was saying AND he is now more afraid than he was before.
So what happens next time your dog is afraid? Well he knows you don't notice his more subtle signs of fear and anxiety. He knows you really don't like growling. What is left - biting. Your dog has learned that to communicate with people when he is anxious or nervous biting is the fastest and easiest way to get the message across. The problem with biting is that it always works - a dog bites someone and the person or other dog almost always withdraws so this behavior will get perfected.
How should we respond instead?
In a perfect world everyone would pick up on the most subtle of body language and realize when their dog is uncomfortable but this is pretty difficult to do. However we should rethink the idea that growling is bad and instead try to interpret what our dog is trying to say. If we understand the message then we can respond more appropriately. Let's revisit the above scenario and see what happens when growling is handled differently.
It's a beautiful day, so you decide to take your dog for a walk. As you turn the corner a larger dog starts running towards you. You glance at your dog and notice he is panting more heavily and his pupils are a bit larger than usual, this is strange my dog seems a little stressed. You continue on with your walk. The other dog is still running your way, but you notice he is on leash so you are less concerned than before. You look down and your dog seems to be squinting and blinking a lot - maybe he got something in his eye - it is a bit windy today. Now your dog stops, sit down, looks away, backs up you try to move him but he stays still. The other dog is still approaching. Finally it happens, out of nowhere - your dog lets out a growl. You look to your dog and wonder what is it you don't like and look up to notice the other dog still approaching. Oh it must be that dog - your quickly turn 90 degrees and find a new place to walk. You continue enjoying the beautiful day with your dog who is happy he can trust you to keep him safe.
What did your dog learn in this situation?
I can trust my owner to keep me safe when I am afraid AND if he was willing to play or eat as the other dog passed by he may also be starting to learn that larger dogs approaching rapidly aren't quite as scary as they once were.
So next time you hear a growl from your friend - before you jump to telling them no, stop what you are doing and ask yourself what are they trying to tell me. You may be surprised to see what happens.
