Any ideas on cutting back playful growling?

Criosphynx

personally, I see it as perfectly acceptable communication. If an undersocialized dog mistakes the growling for som'thing else, chances are its not going to play well with your dog anyway. I have a talker, and like mentioned above. I do have to tell people its innocent talking when he goes to say, the dog park.

I can tell when hes being serious. You'll be able to with your guy too if you are observant. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Mikey

I ditto Crio. Growling in play is fine-it's just like kids shrieking-annoying maybe to some but totally socially acceptable.
And as a general rule of thumb, I don't think growling should ever be corrected for any reason-remember that's a tool your dog uses to communicate and you don't want to remove it-and leave his only option to bite.

wvasko

Our GWP that passed on recently was an avid growler/talker and if I would have put an end to that it might have destroyed a bunch of her personality. I think that sometimes when owners jump on things that puppies do (for whatever reasons) A thing is taken away from pup that cannot be returned. Something precious, of course if it's gone I guess you don't miss it. I guess that's why I preach that pups can do no wrong.

DM61406

I think everyone is missing a point here. Playful growl may not be dangerous by itself and it can be a safe expression of the dog's excitement, BUT...! There is a lot of ignorant dog owners out there who freak out because they have no idea about dog's body language/communication. I have a pit bull, the sweetest and most submissive little thing you will ever see. She gets along with everyone and has a wonderfully calming body language. But she loves to growl when she plays with other dogs, and most of the time people end up running away from us and always avoiding us in the future, because they think my pit bull is aggressive (thank you, media, for such thorough brainwashing!). No matter how hard I try to explain to them that she "doesn't mean it".

So, while playful growl may be normal, by our society standards, even normal is not always acceptable. I can't have little pit bulls running after dogs and growling, even if she stops when they stop.

GreatDaneMom

i think what you need to understand is that YOU chose to have a pit. people are going to react different no matter what. i have 2 danes. my one goes to the dog park. she will romp and growl and bark when she plays with other dogs and its fine, but the minute a pit does it the owners leave. its just something you need to come to terms with as a pit owner.

Tess

This is a really old thread...

kmes

Thread Closed!

Play nice everyone!