Growling?

Len

Len

Greetings:

Our three year old neutered black male lab is extremely friendly to everyone, energetic and healthy. He has never bitten anyone and hopefully never will. However, when we wake him or bother him when he is with a favorite toy, he will sometimes growl in a menacing way; yet, his tail is wagging and he is not bearing his teeth. In fact, he will lean into us as he does this, often rolling over on his back in a playful, submissive way while his tail continues to wag. He allows us to take the toy.

The growl is annoying but it is not clear how to stop it. Should we be concerned?
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Hi Len and welcome! It’s really tricky to say what’s going on without seeing the behaviour.
I also have a dog who will growl if disturbed when she’s resting; normally by the other dogs, but on occasion has grumbled at one of us, too. It’s easy to say “don’t disturb him when he’s sleeping” but sometimes these things just happen.
A growl is often a vocalisation that the dog doesn’t like something. It’s perfectly normal and (not saying you are) should never be punished. It’s a bit like a safety device - it allows the dog to indicate something is unpleasant to them, without having to escalate to anything worse. It can be surprising when our love-bugs do it, but it’s best to take it as information rather than anything necessarily concerning.
So, with my twins, I know I can manhandle my boy Shadow when he’s draped over my pillow (and he rolls over for a tummy rub - he loves being physical) but if I want to move his sister Willow, I need to be very hands-off and either call her away, or (when I don’t want to expend any of my own mental energy!) just throw a treat on the floor for her to get her out the way.

There’s also the possibility that the growling is done in play, and this is why it’s hard to say without seeing the full picture: some dogs are very growly when playing. Mine are with each other, but not with me - just because we play differently (I don’t tend to zoom around the garden hanging onto their necks with my mouth 😁).

The tail wag is a bit of a weird one as it doesn’t always mean the dog is happy; it can also be an indicator of anxiety or uncertainty. So, it’s possible your boy is worried his toy will be taken away and is guarding it a bit. Or, it may be a playful growl. What does your gut say? Does he bring you toys and other things (eg things he might find and pick up on a walk), or does he tend to play keep-away?

What is his name? We’d love to see pictures of him, if you have any to share :)

Welcome again!
 
M

M.F.

You have great advice from @snowbunny. Just to add that a friend has a Rottweiler who has the scariest growl when you pet him. It’s his way of saying “I love what you’re doing”. It’s so confusing!! I find it frightening. But apparently it’s his friendly noise. Like a purr.

Best of luck working out what your boy is saying. You’ll get great advice here.
 
Kelsey

Kelsey

M.F. said:
You have great advice from @snowbunny. Just to add that a friend has a Rottweiler who has the scariest growl when you pet him. It’s his way of saying “I love what you’re doing”. It’s so confusing!! I find it frightening. But apparently it’s his friendly noise. Like a purr.

Best of luck working out what your boy is saying. You’ll get great advice here.
Click to expand...
My cousins rottie does this as well!
 
Boogie

Boogie

Moderator
Location
Manchester UK
Welcome to you Len from me, Tatze (Six year old Lab) and Echo (15 week old Guide Dog puppy, Golden Retriever) and Zaba, Black lab we look after a lot.

Growling is communication and, a lot like human communication, context is often helpful to work out what they are saying.

Zaba growls at the pup and it very clearly means ‘do not jump on me!’ :)
.
 
Naya

Naya

Moderator
Location
Bristol, UK
Welcome 😀. Harley will growl when she’s playing tug with my hubby as she gets really excited. It’s the only t8ne she does it. Her body language is always relaxed, no hackles etc so we arent worried about it.
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Hi Len and welcome from me, Poppy and Merlin. Merlin is 2 and a half, and honestly if you could hear some of the noises he makes while he is playing, and see some of the pretend biting he does, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's a fearsome beast! Actually he is the softest creature alive.
 
edzbird

edzbird

Location
Isle of Man
Hi Len, welcome to the forum from me & my 2, Coco (5 year old German Shepherd x Lab) & Me(an) Sparkle (3 year old Dalmatian x Lab x Collie). Snowbunny has given some great advice. Dog communication can be quite confusing can't it? I'm watching my 2 right now, wrestling, and biting each other. Meg is very vocal with her growling - I'm glad Coco understands her.
 
Candy

Candy

Biscuit Tin Guardian
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Hello Len and Welcome from me and Joy, small black lab who is now two and a half. Joy is a GoodGirl and a very gentle dog but she does some fierce sounding growling when playing with dogs she knows well and feels comfortable with. If she's playing with a dog she knows less well she tends not to growl. Others here will know more than me but I just wondered if your dog growling at you is because he knows you and feels safe with you. As several people have said it's difficult to know out of context. Nice to have someone new here!:clap:
 
Shaz82

Shaz82

Location
Essex, U.K.
Welcome to this friendly forum Len, from myself and Maisy. Nice to have a newbie, and we do like to see pictures here.
Can't give you any better advice I'm afraid, Maisy usually only growls as a warning that she doesn't like someone, not in the situation you described.
 
Anne123

Anne123

Location
Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
Hi Len, hello and welcome from us too! We live in The Netherlands. Finn is 6 years old and is our third lab. Context would be nice with the growling. We say Finn is moping when he is disturbed or he has got a command he just don’t want to follow, in fact all of our labs did this. It’s like a child is saying I’m doing it for you but don’t want to
 
Len

Len

Toby.JPG

Thank you all for the friendly, welcoming replies. We live in Seal Beach, California with our three year old Toby, our fourth lab over the years.. He is, without a doubt, the craziest of them all. He is extremely friendly to everyone and, for this reason, find the growl peculiar. He never bares his teeth and will lean into us, wagging his tail, as he growls. He will also roll over on his back in a playful, submissive way.

For better context, can short videos be attached to posts? If so, we can provide a 30 sec video clip of the behavior, although it may be difficult to record as Toby does not do this consistently. We'll be out of town for a couple of days but we should be able to post a video by the end of next week.

Thanks again,

Len
 
Shaz82

Shaz82

Location
Essex, U.K.
He is a lovely boy, welcome Toby.

You can attach videos but I think you have to do it via youtube, one of the others will enlighten you on that as I have never done it.
 
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