After a full day of activity our lab will lay by us on the couch but growls kind of aggressively if we touch his feet. We have always made a point to touch his paws because we wanted to be able to clip his nails and he is normally very good about having his paws touched. My question is how to react and stop the growling? I know he is tired but he is only two and we really don't want this kind of behavior to continue especially around others. Do you think it's a paw issue after a day of activity? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thank you!
Few things to consider here. Is this the only time your dog growls? Or are there other scenarios where he may growl. Then is this a relatively new behaviour? Growling is a way our dogs have of telling us they are not happy about something. We don't really want to stop the growling, but instead, explore the cause. I really would take a trip to the vet, to rule out any physical reasons, such as pain due to infection or sore joints. In the meantime, until you get a better understanding of the problem, I would avoid touching his paws, and make sure he has his own quiet area to rest and not be disturbed, such as a crate or dog bed. If you have children, or children visit it would be a good idea to educate them on the best way to interact with dogs. The next step, if still concerned is enlist the help of an accredited clinical behaviourist.
Hi there Anny and welcome to the forum. Great advice from Kate. It's important not to try to stop a dog growling as growling is an warning signal and dogs that are punished for growling may bite without warning. Let us know how you get on and good luck with your vet appointment.
Are you sure it's a bad growl? Our Zeke is a very vocal boy. We have had a lot of growls and whines and vocalizations. Some of which concerned me thinking these were bad. I finally decided that he was just talking to us. He is just over two now and all is just fine. We have never had any aggression or biting or snapping. Here are some of his examples.... Sleeping on couch and you bumped him. He would growl. It was more of a crabby 'I am really tired' noise. 'I have to pee' is sometimes a whiny growl. It just means urgent. 'I want to play fetch' also has a whiny growl. Sometimes he growls at me when I have been gone all day. It's a complaining 'Papa didn't walk us enough' growl. Better to be a little cautious and make sure it's not an aggressive thing. For us it wasn't. Hope it's the same for you.
Our 11 yr old black lab has done this for years, not touching his paws but always in the evening when he's just laying down and if I or our son go and pet him he would do a low growl, at first I was concerned but I don't think his was an aggressive growl just more like we were irritating him because it was his "bedtime". He has done it for at least 9 or more years and nothing has come more of his.Hope it's the same for you.
Thank you all! He did have a double ear infection and we are completing 21 days of antibiotics. He hasn’t growled lately and we are hoping this was an isolated incident.
