# He growled at me :( So upset and confused on what to do



## Amrit (Jun 12, 2011)

Jager growled at me last nigh. I have no clue what to do.... 
Ill take you through what happenedn;

For last 3 months been working away from home and visit on sat night and sundya and leave sunday/monday early hours of thd morning. 
My greeting is to come home, 
Jager spins around in circles cos hes happy
I tell him to sit
I open his area and tell him to jump up on me for hugs and kissds
Doing that since he came hime at 9 weeks old. He is 3 now. 
On sunday i came back and did exactly the same. He did same stuff run around etc. Jumped up. Gave him a kiss. He growled. I grabbed him by then scruss straight away and took him to the floor in a diwn position and said NO. 
He didnt say anything and just looked up at me. Then i directed him outside. I was shook up and cinfused in what the **** happened. 
Ok so after 15mins i opened the garden door and he came back in. Gave commands and he did straight away. No growling. So that happened then everything was ok mon tueaday Wednesday and Thursday morning. 
Thursday night i come back from my work near home, he does his same circle gurns happy etc. 
Again jumps up. He then smells my chest and i could sense something not right. So i grabbed him again by the acruff. As i did he growled a low pitch and in his throat. I put him in his cage and he griwls more. Didnt lunge though. I was stunned. I just looked at him. He then went back to being perfectly normal. Did the commands. I reduced hisbarea size as his normal punishment for bad behaviour. I then went in the other room and broke down. Hes my boy and cant bare to see him do this. Im his master. 

We then decided to go to the vet this friday morning at 9am. They took bloods as i asked for thyroid to be checked. 
They said he may have osteoporosis in wrist. Hes on orijen but i examined his wrists on Wednesday and he didnt show any pain. 

I DONT KNOW WHATS GOING ON. I need help please. I love him so much. 
Hes always been on orijen since he came to. Me at 9 weeks. 
Is it a pack thing since iv been away? But i thought my few days extra of assertiveness should of put him back below me at least. 

I live in the UK. 
I get teat results today at around 3pm (4h from now)


----------



## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Good job for checking into the Vet to see if it has anything to do with his health. Please let us know how that goes and the results!
That's what i would do as it seems to be a sudden thing after 3 years of having him! 
Hopefully they can figure out what is going on.
As for now, i would ignore him when you come home, keep your back toward him and your hands away from him, completely ignoring-no talking. And offer your attention when he is laying down and ignoring you and then ask him to come over and give him attention. See if that helps. Because it seems to be the same scenario that he acts up, when you come home right? So avoiding that scenario until you can figure out the actual reason, might be a good idea- at least that is what i would do!


----------



## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

don't have your coming home greetings so emotionally charged .

what is happening with the dog while you are away. May be bored out of his skull , then along you come and whip him up with excitement .

instead of jumping up for hugs and kisses , slap a leash on him and take him for a jog.


----------



## Amrit (Jun 12, 2011)

Just rang the vet. Said everything is excellent and within normal range. Thyroid wise liver etc all fine. 
Its good news but wish we could find a cause really.... Now back to being clueless about the sudden change. 
They did say see what happens with the painkillers but it will be so hard to tell since it is so random. 
I will try what you guys said. Im already doing NILF. 
Please please if anyone has experienced this before please give me some advice


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I would crate him. Since the incidents seem to be related to you coming home and the excitement around that, crate him so you can control his actions when you get home. Wait until he is calm before releasing him from his crate.


----------



## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Read Carmspacks answer - its all right there. You now know its not medical - just because he hasn't done it in 3 years, doesn't mean much. Follow her directions, diffuse the greetings and put his pent up energy somewhere.

Also - at 3 years old there will still be some "coming into himself". Who is looking after him during the week? Are they staying consistent with the rules you set forth?

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## vickip9 (Mar 28, 2012)

Is it possible that he was just being vocal out of excitement? I know when my dog gets wound up, he will growl, bark excitedly, moan/groan, etc. It's all in a playful/excited way though. No teeth baring, no aggressiveness whatsoever. I would think that since he was doing the excited circles, jumping up and loving on you, that it wasn't actually an aggressive growl but more of an excited vocalization. Is it possible that is the case here?


----------



## vickip9 (Mar 28, 2012)

Another thought.. Is it possible he's sensing something different with YOU? Has anything changed with you recently? Different cologne? Different deodorant? Working around different environment that is producing a scent on you? Anything medical going on with you? Dogs have such a keen sense of smell and intuition, a lot of times the sense something that we are not even aware of.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

vickip9 said:


> Is it possible that he was just being vocal out of excitement? I know when my dog gets wound up, he will growl, bark excitedly, moan/groan, etc. It's all in a playful/excited way though. No teeth baring, no aggressiveness whatsoever. I would think that since he was doing the excited circles, jumping up and loving on you, that it wasn't actually an aggressive growl but more of an excited vocalization. Is it possible that is the case here?


Agreed, especially when his entire body language screams,"happy" but as a young dog he went over board, you turned into some crazy person and now he is confused in this situation. Calm things down like others have said.


----------



## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

My boy will growl at me when he is charged up and I'm creating a scenario that charges him even more. It isn't aggression, it's him getting amped. 

If you find a behavior in your dog that you don't want (growling) and you find what triggers that behavior (jumping on you after being overly excited) you stop /change the trigger. 

NILIF 24/7. Don't change your dynamics with your dog. Reward when you normally would reward. Priase often for wanted behavior. If you allow on the furniture, make him wait to be invited. Don't over correct. Be firm, but fair. 

Exercise...exercise....exercise....


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

It's not the end of the world to have a GSD growl at you. 
It is a way of communicating.
You were gone a long time, probably smelled something strange on your clothes.
Also, to dogs, jumping up and"hugs" are a dominant gesture. So you unknowingly taught your GSD to do something that is undesirable.
A dog shows respect to his owner by not jumping on him.
Stop the encouragement to do this immediately.
Ignore the dog upon coming home. Approach the dog when he is calm.
Also, punishment by restricting his area is kind of silly, as the dog lives in the moment and has no idea why his area is being restricted.


----------



## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

mine growls sometimes when she's about to initiate a play session. She'll stand dead still on the other side of the room and stare at me while giving off a low growl, if I make a sudden move towards her that's usually when she smacks her paws into the play bow and takes off doing zoomies.

Idk though, I'd stop smushing him to the floor though by the scruff when he does something wrong. If I grab mine's scruff when she's excited she likes to get mouthy and try to wrestle with me, but I let her be like that with me.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Yes. I have had Hans growl when very excited. Growling can mean many things.


----------



## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I agree you have to look at the tone and body language, not just the growl itself. Jazzy growls in play all the time but her tail is wagging and usually she's in a play bow, so it's obvious that it's not aggression but just a way of communicating and luring me into playing with her.

I have yet to see Delgado growl at a human but he will bark when frustrated or excited. Again, it's done in a playful stance while hopping around


----------



## Amrit (Jun 12, 2011)

Yeah i understood that the whole kissing his face and letting him jump on me is what lower members of the pack do...but I assumed wrong and thought he would realise that's not the case....guess its hardwired into him.

I'm getting the family together (hes with my mum dad and sister we all live together) to go through NILF again.

I never knew having energy could of caused him to growl. I assumed it would be just running around crazy and not listening rather than growling.

With play time and wrestling he does charge and skids as he comes close. But never before a growl.


----------



## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Draven growls at me all the time. At first I didn't know what to think and I wondered if we had a problem, nope, he wags his tail while he growls, he leans against me and kisses my face while he growls. It's just his way of talking to me. :wub:


----------



## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

OK OK to the OP -- go re read the posts that said - dogs growl. It's how they talk. I'm used to a lot of RRRR when we play, when my dogs are ramped, when they're excited. There's growling and then there's a low crouched growl that is "I'm gonna take your butt outa here." It's way different. I think you have the growling in excitement junk going on. If it had been the "take you outta here" junk, you'd have some serious lacerations...


Stop scruffing your dog. Re read the posts that offer a lot of alternatives. 

Here's one I haven't seen mentioned... issue a command for a different activity. Like down or sit or go ....


----------



## Amrit (Jun 12, 2011)

middleofnowhere said:


> OK OK to the OP -- go re read the posts that said - dogs growl. It's how they talk. I'm used to a lot of RRRR when we play, when my dogs are ramped, when they're excited. There's growling and then there's a low crouched growl that is "I'm gonna take your butt outa here." It's way different. I think you have the growling in excitement junk going on. If it had been the "take you outta here" junk, you'd have some serious lacerations...
> 
> 
> Stop scruffing your dog. Re read the posts that offer a lot of alternatives.
> ...


The scruff thing was just a reflex. It was the shock that made me do it. I would of thought thats how their mother did it when they are bad...
plus it was the best way for me to get a grip.


----------



## ApselBear (Feb 10, 2014)

I think vickip has some good ideas about you changing something, even it is small. I also kind of think all the growl doesn't mean aggression comments are probably not far off either. But it wouldn't hurt to consider maybe letting a dog behaviorist/trainer witness the growling to get a good idea what is happening. You could also record the interaction with him and share it on here to get some better opinions.

Hoping for the best!


----------



## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I agree with the advice to keep comings and goings low key. My dog is trained to get a toy when I come home and I only greet him after he's calmed down. 

Also, as others have said, the growl may be a normal vocalization but your extreme reaction is going to create a problem for him because it sounds like you are the one acting erratically and he now has no idea what to expect from you when you come home. From his perspective: Will you be happy to see him or will you grab him, shove him to the ground, yell at him and lock him back up? 

And finally, you mentioned something about him smelling your chest? Could you possibly have a health problem or perhaps smell differently in some way?


----------



## TwoBigEars (May 11, 2013)

As others have said, it could be a happy vocalization/growl, but we can't decide which it is over the internet. I will say that this reminds me a lot of my own dog Ryker who does have aggression issues. He can be greeting and happy one second, then the next second he's growling aggressively. It's a quick change. He is a very vocal dog, and there are clear differences between happy sounds and aggressive sounds.

I'd recommend getting with a trainer or behaviorist who can sort this out for you in person.


----------

