# Do you let your dogs growl at each other?



## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

When I first got Maddie she was food aggressive and a resource guarder with toys and bones. When I got Moose I was so freaked out by her growling or snarling at him, but she never hurt him, and soon realized that half the time he didn't even want whatever she had lol. Now she doesn't really guard to the extent that she used to, which is so nice! I also let my dogs squabble though. As long as its nothing serious and one backs down pretty quickly. Since they have been raised that way, nothing ever escalates very far, and they all speak very good dog language (which is important when you are around as many dogs as mine are! lol). So where do you draw the line?


----------



## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

Our two make a LOT of noise when they play. Their playing is mostly wrestling, and it gets very wild sometimes. Dobby is an inside dog, and Oscar is an outside dog, so when Dobby is out and they are together, its like Wrestle-mania. They get a bit rough sometimes, and Oscar is 11 (Dobby is 19 months) so sometimes I feel bad for Oscar, even though he instigates it nearly as much as Dobby, so I make them stop.

Anyway, not really the same I guess haha. They both let each other take their food. Oscar lets Dobby take food out of his mouth, literally. My Mollie back in the states is like the queen bee of the house, and she will do a tiny little growl occasionally, especially with puppies, if they're being obnoxious. I never stopped her.


----------



## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

My dogs are very quiet with each other for the most part. Sargeant (my little doxie mix) is a resource guarder. He mainly just has to raise a lip and look at ...well, its always Dozer...so he just gives Dozer a look. There is hardly ever actual growling. Dozer barks. He barks in frustration or to signal someone is here. He rarely ever growls and I thought he was incapable until I tried him at a new vet and he pretty much let us know how he felt about them. 

Hunter the lab only really growls when he wants to be left alone (from Dozer mainly). 

Their growling is their language. Its a way for them to convey their message. A polite dog will escalate to a growl if their other, more subtle signals are missed or ignored. I see nothing wrong with allowing them to growl at each other. Maybe I am lucky? My dogs get along so well. They each eat their raw food in their own spaces (they know the routine so much they sometimes beat me to it) and they do not steal each other's food. Sarge will look for scraps the bigger dogs might have missed but he is very cautious and courteous to the others. 

I did allow growling when I first brought Dozer home. It took a while for him to "get it" that there were things such as personal space, not everything was his, etc. I think Sarge taught Dozer more than I ever could.


----------



## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

i let the dogs growl at eachother, but i have to keep a close eye on things because Sadie is VERY protective of things, if Cesar has a toy she will take it an attack him for it (and i do mean attack) so ive always gotta keep a close eye on them, Cesar jsut wants to play and keeps it light and happy while Sadie will usually mean serious bussiness, and even though Cesar gets the message quickly i dont want her to think its OK to do.


----------



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

depends on the type of growl, Uno has some resource guarding and I'll allow it when it's within reason (say he's chewing a bone and another dog tries to take it away, they're just setting boundaries), but other times I absolutely will not tolerate it like this one time we went hiking and he wouldnt share a water bowl with another dog.


----------



## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

As soon as I hear a peep of a growl from one dog to the other they get a "knock it off". That usually will stop it between them. One thing I don't want is to let it escalate into something that is way too hard to break up. I have to say these two have never had a major fight but with Cayenne getting older and grumpier in her spayed female ways "never say never"


----------



## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Unosmom said:


> depends on the type of growl, Uno has some resource guarding and I'll allow it when it's within reason (say he's chewing a bone and another dog tries to take it away, they're just setting boundaries), but other times I absolutely will not tolerate it like this one time we went hiking and he wouldnt share a water bowl with another dog.


Gah I know I've said this before but Uno reminds me so much of Finn. He used to guard the water bowl and I did NOT tolerate that. I let my dogs communicate with each other BUT when I see anything that could escalate I intervene and make sure everyone has some time to cool off. We haven't had any squabbles since CJ died back in nov '10 so hopefully it'll stay that way. *knock on wood* my dogs get along really well for the most part. Rambo is actually the peacemaker, he's great at diffusing aggression.


----------



## RedneckCowgirl (Oct 28, 2011)

wolfsnaps88 said:


> I did allow growling when I first brought Dozer home. It took a while for him to "get it" that there were things such as personal space, not everything was his, etc. *I think Sarge taught Dozer more than I ever could.*


I think this is one thing that I love about having multiple dogs when raising a pup, I'm not on my own when teaching it how to behave!


----------



## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

Yes, I do let Aspen growl at other dogs when we are walking, sometimes. Although his is more of a whine/deep growl thing. I also have to take into account his body language and the situation.


----------



## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

I've never corrected my dogs for growling at each other and I don't give them much reason to (no shared toys and separated at feeding time). However if they are growling at each other it's usually time to grab a dog before things get serious, they aren't real big on backing down. I've never actually heard Nero growl so maybe someone corrected him for it in the past? He was a resource guarder when I got him. The girls will growl but Ripley's is so low you pretty much have to be right next to her to notice.


----------

