I accidentally hurt my dog and he yelped. When I went over to “apologize” to him he growled at me. How should I have handled this?

Hello Cindy,

I'm not planning on this happening again, but recently I walked past my dog who was lying on the floor. As I walked past him, he popped his head up and my knee clipped his snout. This was accidental, not intentional. It hurt him and he yelped. I felt very bad and went to 'apologize' (pet/reassure) and he growled at me! I told him in a low firm voice, 'no.' Then I left him alone to give him time to forgive me or forget about it. He doesn't growl at me; this is not a pattern.

Like I said, this kind of thing is rare, but what is the best way to handle such an event, in your opinion? I can imagine that if it is not handled carefully that a dog could learn to be aggressive to their owner or some other bad outcome?

Being he is 3 years old, I considered that maybe he is old enough to rationalize with and I could explain to him that there are consequences to sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, and accepting responsibility? Just kidding. I wouldn't consider that until he is at least 5. Oh! And I think this hurt me more than him. Should I growl back? Just kidding again.

Thanks for the great resources provided at Leerburg.com!

Kathryn