You should know if the growling is appropriate or inappropriate. If your puppy or dog is at a meal or playing with a toy and growls as you get near, that isn’t behavior you should allow. Your dog is showing all the signs of dominance over you.

If the growling just starts out of the blue, it’s time for a visit to the vet to to ascertain if there is a medical cause.

Growling can be a signal that your dog is trying to position himself as the alpha dog or pack leader. So, the next thing you need to make sure of is that you position yourself as the alpha dog in your house. This is the foundation of solving many dog behavior problems.

To become the pack leader, the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) method should be taken up. This approach means that you ask your dog to do something before you give him anything. With this approach, you can’t permit your dog to demand attention from you. If you allow him to demand attention, you have lost dominance. Just ignore him when he pushes you for attention. You should choose when to offer him attention. If he presses you even more you must not give in or everything is lost.

With NILIF everyone who comes into contact with your dog needs to be consistent and persistent.

So, for example, you ask your dog to sit quietly before you set his meal down or before take him out for a walk. Don’t allow your dog to offer a behavior before you ask for it – that doesn’t count.

Make sure that when leaving the house, you walk through the door first. You can let your dog see you eating a small snack like a biscuit before you put down his food since the alpha dog eats first. You only need to repeat this for two weeks to set  yourself as the leader of the pack.

Everyone in the family needs to engage in this NILIF activity to set them higher in the hierarchy than your puppy or dog.

The alpha dog makes his bed on higher ground, so do not permit your dog to rest on your bed if you want to be more dominant.

You should do regular training in obedience with your puppy or dog. Every training session should be short and fun. This will start you on the path to a better behaved dog.

Read more about stopping your dog growling and other aggressive dog behavior.

When puppies bark it is for a reason so before any action is taken you should find out why. Puppies can bark because they are lonely, bored, anxious, frustrated or frightened. They could also simply be hungry, need to pee or want to go outside.

However, if your puppy continues barking excessively and inappropriately you should say “quiet” or “enough” in a stern voice. If this command does not work then you need to give your puppy a correction by pulling them away from what they are barking at. It may be a good idea to give a quick tug on the collar.

When your puppy stops barking, it is important to give praise, such as”well done” and “good” in order for puppy to understand this is a correct behavior.

If your puppy is outside and is barking to come in, but you are not ready to let them in, then use a command such as “quiet” or “enough” in a stern voice through the door. Puppies can hear through the door. Remember not to open the door until you are ready to let them in.

If this does not work then you could kick the bottom of the door from the inside. This makes a loud noise which can startle your puppy. This seems to work quite well.

You could also lean out a window and spray water from a bottle or hose. This gives your puppy a reason to stop. If you do this action consistently, your puppy will eventually get a negative reinforcement for barking.

Do remember to give praise when your puppy stops barking. You must be consistent in praising positive behavior and giving a negative reinforcement for unwanted behavior.

It is important to understand the reasons why puppies bark in order for you to take the best action!

Visit the Training Puppy Tips website for more detailed information on stopping your puppy barking. You can use the same techniques for stopping your puppy growling.