A Growl is A Glimpse
Ever step out of your office, either at home or away from home, because you're irritated about something that just happened? You're taking deep breaths and maybe going to get some tea, coffee, or chocolate to clear your mind. Someone sees you trying to relax and rushes you, piling onto your to-do list with their word salad. You're very likely to snark and give them a piece of your mind. "Now's not a good time and could you please stop heating up fish in the microwave?!"
In order to avoid conflict, we all need to be able to “read the room.” It means considering the source of the other's stress and empathizing. It means having good observation skills. De-escalation is a skill that animals use all the time and people could stand to use more often.
When people tell me about their dog’s growling, my second question is what happened leading up to the growl. My first question is, "What was your response to your dog's growling?" Response to growling is an important de-escalation skill everyone should have.
A growl is communication. A growl is a glimpse of something your dog would like to stop and or go away. A growl is often preceded with de-escalating body language that goes unnoticed or unheeded. Please familiarize yourself with the Canine Ladder of Aggression.
If you yell, hit, give a stern “no”, alpha roll, and punish your dog for growling, you are escalating the problem. Even if your dog stops growling in the moment, you are still escalating the situation. Punishment escalates the problem because the underlying reason causing the dog to growl has not changed. Not only that, but now the punishment is associated with whatever caused the growl. This intensifies your dog’s bad association with the underlying cause. The next time she’s triggered by the underlying cause of the growl, your dog may, due to punishment history, skip growling and ratchet up her response to air snapping or biting.
So how do we de-escalate growling? De-escalating a growl is situation-dependent. However, staying calm, keeping your body loose, stopping, looking away, and slowly giving the dog space is a good place to start. Write down everything that you observed before, during, and after the growling started. These notes will be useful for a force-free professional dog trainer. Before meeting your trainer, do what you can to avoid situations causing your dog to growl. After meeting your trainer, follow the behavior modification plan created for you and your dog.
I hope this gives you some context regarding what you should and should not do whenever your dog growls. Your actions can make your dog's behavior better or worse. Here's to better days ahead!
Thank you Erin Saywell for allowing me to use the cover photo!