Dog Training Basics

Posts Tagged ‘stop your puppy growling’

Growling is to be expected for a puppy or dog, particularly if you are playing tug of war with him. However, it’s also a sign of aggression and can be a sign the dog may attack – so be careful!

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.