We have given advice in previous articles that parents should not punish the dog for growling at a child. Please see these previous articles for additional information and tips:
http://doggonesafe.blogspot.com/search/label/growling
This is not an interrogation or a punishment for the child. Be sure that the child understands that he is being a doggy detective and helping you to figure out why the dog was upset enough to growl. Be matter of fact and not judgmental. The goal here is not to lay blame, but to find out the facts so that you can work with a behavior consultant to prevent this from happening again. If the child is too young to talk, then know that the dog and child cannot be in the same space within contact range even with your direct supervision until this problem is resolved.
If you are at a distance when the dog growls do the following:
Behavior consultant Jennifer Shryock has this advice for her clients: "Its only natural to react if you see your child in danger, so forgive yourself if your automatic first reaction is to admonish the dog. Remember that what you do next is very important. You need to get the dogs tail wagging as soon as possible to defuse the bite risk. The best way to do that is with happy talk that you know he will respond well to".
Of course we are not suggesting that you reward your dog for growling at your child. Once the dog has diverted his attention from the child, the growling is over and the dog is thinking about what is going on right now and not what happened a few seconds before. The growling scenario with subsequent reward for the dog will only happen once, because from now on you are going to make sure that the circumstances cannot exist for it to happen again.
Once you have as much information as you are going to get about what happened, write it all down so that you can share it with the behavior consultant. Use this information to come up with a plan to prevent further incidents while the dog is being retrained. If you have a baby or toddler, this will mean coming up with a way to keep them separate so that the child has no opportunity to antagonize the dog. With older children you may be able to agree on changes to their behavior and also the use of crates and/or gates to help prevent a further incident. These temporary measures will be changed as time goes on and the dog and children learn how to interact safely under the guidance of the behavior consultant. In the meantime it is your job to ensure that the scenario that resulted in growling cannot be repeated. The ultimate goal is to change the dogs feelings about the child so that he can be a full member of the family and not isolated because he poses a threat.
This advice is consistent among dog behavior experts and the reasons are as follows:
It just does not make sense to take away the dog’s warning mechanism. Be grateful that you have a dog that warns and does not go straight to a bite if he is upset or frightened. Your dog is not bad or mean, he is extremely upset or agitated and is letting you know in the only way he can. Because growling represents a serious problem that requires careful handling, we recommend that you hire a professional dog behavior consultant to help you solve the problem. This must be done using positive reinforcement-based training and not with aversive methods (shouting, making aggressive sounds or movements at the dog, physical threats, tossing items at or toward the dog, yanking on the leash etc). The goal of this training is to teach the dog to enjoy the presence and the actions of children so that he does not feel the need to growl at them. We cannot give step by step instructions for this since all dogs are different as are all children and all family dynamics different. It may cost you a few hundred dollars to consult a professional to solve this problem, but it will be money well-spent and will be insignificant compared to the overall cost of dog ownership. The safety of your children and the dog are worth much more than the cost of a professional consultation. Perhaps the only trainers in your area would use punishment-based methods? More and more behavior consultants are using video conferencing to help clients remotely, so this is a potential option if you cant find someone suitable in your area.
Parents have asked us what they should at the time if a growling incident occurs. The purpose of this article is to answer that question.
Before we get into that, be aware that the growling dog may go on to bite before you have a chance to take any action or in spite of any action you may take. There are no guarantees that any of our suggestions below will prevent a bite. The best ways to prevent a bite are to learn and recognize the subtle signs that dogs send long before they get to the point of biting or growling and intervene proactively, supervise all interactions between kids and dogs, teach kids to be respectful of the dog and condition the dog to enjoy the presence and actions of kids.
If you are very close when the dog growls do the following:
- The dog may associate the presence of the child with punishment and may become fearful of the child and thus more likely to act aggressively in the future.
- The punishment may suppress the growl, but will not improve the way the dog feels about the child or the actions of the child which precipitated the growling. The dog may go straight to a bite in a future episode since the inclination to growl has been suppressed through fear of punishment.
Parents have asked us what they should at the time if a growling incident occurs. The purpose of this article is to answer that question.
Before we get into that, be aware that the growling dog may go on to bite before you have a chance to take any action or in spite of any action you may take. There are no guarantees that any of our suggestions below will prevent a bite. The best ways to prevent a bite are to learn and recognize the subtle signs that dogs send long before they get to the point of biting or growling and intervene proactively, supervise all interactions between kids and dogs, teach kids to be respectful of the dog and condition the dog to enjoy the presence and actions of kids.
If you are very close when the dog growls do the following:
- Step in between the dog and child and pick up the child if he is small, or instruct him to move away if he is too big to pick up.
- Do not grab the dog by the collar. This may cause him to lunge and bite the child or turn and bite you.
- Put the child in another room or at a safe distance from the dog. so that the child may engage in a new game.
- Call the dog to you, praise and give him a treat for coming and then put him in his crate with a long lasting chew toy or in some other location away from the child or the site of the incident.
- Invite the child back to talk about what happened. Try to determine what precipitated the growl. For example, Is there a dog toy or food in the area? Is the dog guarding an area (his mat or the couch possibly)? Did the child threaten or injure the dog somehow?
- Write down the who, what, when, why and how while the incident still fresh in your mind.
This is not an interrogation or a punishment for the child. Be sure that the child understands that he is being a doggy detective and helping you to figure out why the dog was upset enough to growl. Be matter of fact and not judgmental. The goal here is not to lay blame, but to find out the facts so that you can work with a behavior consultant to prevent this from happening again. If the child is too young to talk, then know that the dog and child cannot be in the same space within contact range even with your direct supervision until this problem is resolved.
If you are at a distance when the dog growls do the following:
- Call him to you in a happy voice. Use words like “want a cookie” or “go for a walk” or "whos a puppy wuppy" or whatever sure-fire words will get the dog to change his attitude and come to you. Even if you are feeling angry with the child or the dog, use happy talk. The goal is to make the dog wag his tail and thus be in a happy mood as quickly as possible. A happy dog is unlikely to bite your child.
- Be sure to reward him for coming and fulfill whatever promise you made.
- If he is too engrossed to come to attend to your words, try dropping a book, or anything that is close enough to grab and drop or toss a toy or dog treats or other food on the floor to divert his attention. This is an emergency situation and you need to get the dog’s attention before the situation escalates. Any yelling or perceived threats from you (such as rushing over) could result in a bite to the child.
- Once the dog has taken his attention off the child and has moved toward you, remove him from the area.
- Have a fact-finding adventure with the child as discussed above (who, what, when, where and why).
Behavior consultant Jennifer Shryock has this advice for her clients: "Its only natural to react if you see your child in danger, so forgive yourself if your automatic first reaction is to admonish the dog. Remember that what you do next is very important. You need to get the dogs tail wagging as soon as possible to defuse the bite risk. The best way to do that is with happy talk that you know he will respond well to".
Once you have as much information as you are going to get about what happened, write it all down so that you can share it with the behavior consultant. Use this information to come up with a plan to prevent further incidents while the dog is being retrained. If you have a baby or toddler, this will mean coming up with a way to keep them separate so that the child has no opportunity to antagonize the dog. With older children you may be able to agree on changes to their behavior and also the use of crates and/or gates to help prevent a further incident. These temporary measures will be changed as time goes on and the dog and children learn how to interact safely under the guidance of the behavior consultant. In the meantime it is your job to ensure that the scenario that resulted in growling cannot be repeated. The ultimate goal is to change the dogs feelings about the child so that he can be a full member of the family and not isolated because he poses a threat.
Resources for Parents and Kids
Family Paws Parent Education
Doggone Safe online body language course
Doggone Safe wesbite pages on body language
Dog Detective ebook
Body Language Flashcards and ebook
Find a Behavior Consultant
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