Your dog may growl for several reasons. He may growl at you if you get too close to his bone, if you try to move him off the couch, if you tend to abuse him, or he may growl at other dogs and people.

In most cases, growling is a sign of dominance. In a dog's language a growl is a way to tell you to stay away or you may get a bite. Often, the growl will be a slight mumble that may escalate to baring teeth and biting if the warning is not taken seriously.

In other cases, the growl is just a symptom of fear, a way for the dog to protect itself from a threat. Even though this is a weakness, dogs in the wild had to learn to protect themselves and never show weakness, so they would hide their fear with an intimidating growl.

Distinguishing the underlying cause, either being fear or dominance is vital for owners to decide the right course of action.

An important note: Growling, needs to be addressed quickly. A delay in doing so, creates a viscous cycle that may be more hard to eradicate. The dog must learn as soon as possible that growling in most cases, does no good. However, extreme caution needs to be used especially in dominant aggressive or fearful aggressive dogs.

Let's look at a few examples of Growling Out of Fear:

How growling keeps Strangers Away:

-A dog that has not been properly socialized may growl at people. It all may start this way: the dog has become naturally suspicious of people. People come too close and the dog is uncomfortable and its body will stiffen. The dog therefore, wants to figure out a way of not allowing people anymore to get too close to him. So one day he tries to growl. The growling works, because the stranger got startled and left. The dog is proud of himself and will continue this cycle. Once the cycle has set in, if the stranger then approaches ignoring the growl, the dog may feel like upgrading and will bare its teeth as he growls and eventually will bite.

In this scenario, the issue needed addressed quickly upon the first signs of not being comfortable. The dog was supposed to be exposed more to people. Strangers (or volunteers) were to be encouraged to come close regardless of the body stiffness. The people were supposed to (at a safe distance and with the dog perfectly under control) toss a treat until the dog started to become more and more comfortable as he recognized that people were not a threat. The dog was not supposed to be repeatedly exposed to fearful people that were intimidated making the growling effective.

Here is another scenario:

How Growling Keeps Pain Away:

-A dog is hit by its owner as a form of discipline. The hitting takes place for when the dog chews on furniture or urinates on the carpet. The dog submits initially, but then one day, out of fear of feeling pain again he decides to growl at his owner.

This type of growling is often fear related, however there may be a bit of dominance as well in long term cases of abuse. This is because owners that tend to hit their dogs are not seen as leaders. Leaders do not strike. Rather they tend to simply use body posture and dogs get the message. In nature, fights occur between middle rank dogs that are trying to go higher in rank. So a dog being hit is perceiving the owner as an equal member putting up a fight for rank. Leaders are calm and assertive and the use of force is not necessary because the boundaries are crystal clear.

Lets look at a few examples of growling out of Dominance:

How Growling Helps Avoid Annoyances

I was unsure where to classify this as it may be both fear or dominance related.

-A dog is reluctant to having his nails clipped. Every time grooming time comes the dog puts up a fight. Finally, he decides to growl. Since then, the owner was intimidated and has given up for some time and then when she decides to give it another try the dog will bare its teeth even before she picks the dog up. The dog has effectively learned to have it its way, and because the behavior was not corrected, it has escalated to a point that the dog dislikes being touched.

In this case, the owner was not supposed to allow the dog to put up a struggle. The dog has learned that it can have its way. The owner was supposed to work on making nail clipping fun by rewarding with treats so the dog would not fear the nail clip or try to avoid it, instead of putting up a struggle.

How growling helps keep priviledges

-Another scenario is a dominant dog that will not accept being moved from a bed. This happens one day. The dog has always slept on the bed with its owner. Then one day the owner decides the dog must sleep somewhere else. The dog therefore upon being moved growls at the owner which surprised and frightened backs away. The backing away reinforces the dog's pack status and causes the dog to see the owner as weak. The growling behavior has also been reinforced and the dog will therefore use it more frequently to show its power.

The owner was not supposed to back away. Instead she was supposed to firmly tell the dog to get off or quickly grab him and push him off the bed and discourage all further attempts to climb back on.

How Growling Helps Mantain Valuables:

-You give your dog a bone and your dog one day stops eating it as you pass by. He stares at you and stiffens its body. You walk away. Next time, when you are too close, your dog growls. The problem escalates and now you cannot get in the kitchen anymore.

In this case the dog has effectively learned how to keep you away from your valuables. The dog believes the bone is his and since in his eyes you are inferior, he feel the need to defend it. He also does not trust you at all, as his first thought is that you want to get the bone from him. In such scenario, taking the bone away is the biggest mistake. The dog must learn that the bone comes from you, but that you do not have any intention to take it away. Rather, ignore the growl as you get close but far enough to be safe, and when the growling stops toss a treat. Continue tossing treats every time you pass by. The dog soon learns that good things happens when you come close and that you are the provider of such good things.

As seen backing away often reinforces the growling, but what to do if the dog seems to be serious enough to grant a bite? In some cases, simply stopping from doing without backing away is a good way to mediate. The dog will not have its way as you are not backing off but yet you are safe. Then you will have to find a solution to put an end to the growling.

For instance, back to the bone, the dog growls and you should show no fear. While getting closer is dangerous and backing away is out of question simply stop. Once the dog stops growling toss a treat so he learns that growling does nothing to make you back off but rather when he stops he gets a treat!

As seen, dogs growl for various reasons. Knowing exactly why your dog growls is vital in treating the behavior issue properly. Most cases of fear aggression or general aggression should be addressed by a professional trainer or behavior specialist.

Disclaimer: the above article is for educational purposes only. If your dog has a behavior problem consult with a dog behaviorist. Do not attempt the above tips on your own.