My dog growls at my sons and others who pet him. I don't want this behavior to continue but don't want to be too aggressive in correction and break our bond. Suggestions?

Question

Dear Mr. Frawley,

    I am writing as I have a growling problem with our five and a half month old pet Ridgeback.  I know you have a lot of mail so I will brief as I can.

    I have followed your philosophy closely.  I have 8weeks to 8mths, Basic Obedience and E-collar training and read much more from your website.

    He lives in a wire crate in our family room, most of the time and can go into the rest of the house with a person. I think he knows his order in the pack, he eats last, goes through doors last, sleeps in the family room , sits before entering and exiting the car, crossing the street and is in his crate while we eat.

    His training is going very well, with sit and down he is onto the Correction/Distraction phase and with the Recall we have just started the learning phase.  He trains well with food treats.  I train, feed and look after him.

    I have two boys, a three and six year old.

    Our problem:  He growls at us, example - when he's lying on the Family room floor and the boys go to pet him he growls at them and nips them, or they can so much as walk past his crate and he will growl at them.  It's mostly when he is lying down. He will even growl at me when I am petting or interacting with him when he's in his bed.  My Brother-in-Law, whom he loves and he will often follow around when we are outside, put him on his bed in the back of our SUV and he growled at him, when he went to pet him goodbye. I went to close the trunk door on the SUV the other day and he had his nose out the back and I pushed it inside and he growled at me.  He's never bitten me, and I just go on doing, what I am doing with him when he growls, so I think he's all bark and no bite, but this behavior is just  NOT OK. 

    Other than this particular problem he is a wonderful dog, loves people, I take him to the park and my sons school and he interacts with people and other dogs just fine.  The growling is not all the time, he will roll over and I will spend a long time petting and loving him, then one of my sons will come along and start to pet him and GRRRRRR.  It's a few times a day with the boys and when he doesn't want to do something that my wife or I want him to do.

    This is not a behavior we can have in our Human pack, its very disconcerting for the family and for other people.  I have been searching your material as to how to correct this problem.  I don't want to break our bond by being to aggressive with him, can you please help with some ideas as to how I can deal with this.  I think I am over thinking this and missing the solution.

    Thanks for all your time,
    David Brown

    PS, Thanks for all your material and training instructions, we are having a great time learning, both of us!

Accepted Answer

A couple of things jump out at me. Your dog is obviously showing some dominance and territorial aggression already. He is basically telling you when and where it’s ok for you to touch him. This may stay the same or escalate to a bite as he matures. I personally always take a growl seriously as it is nothing more than a warning, a warning to a bite. This is not OK, you are right about that.

I would probably manage your dog differently to take the loaded situations out of the picture.

I would not let my kids pet this dog when he is on a bed (I would probably take the bed away if this was my dog) and I would not allow the kids near the crate. He is also showing the same behavior in the car as he does on his bed and in his crate.

I believe that this recently finished DVD could really help you. It’s titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS and was a 5 year project. You can go to the web page and read the outline of what’s included on the video. My DVDs are not meant to be watched one time. The fact is anyone who needs this information needs to watch it many many times because every time they watch it they will pick up new ideas. This will show you how to handle him when he does this. There is footage of Ed correcting a dog when it growls at people when it’s on furniture. This is the same type of scenario.

Until you get a better handle on this, then I would control this dog’s life 100%. You won’t break the bond you have with this dog by becoming more assertive. As it is right now, your dog does not respect you or he wouldn’t be growling in the situations he does. If a puppy of 5 ½ months old does this, and you don’t nip it in the bud now it could become a serious issue as he gains confidence and maturity. Ridgebacks can be tough dogs, and need very clear leadership. This may involve being more assertive than you have been.

Hope this helps.