Why does my dog growl so much?

Question

I have a long-haired daschund (sorry if I spelled it wrong) and he gets in these growling fits for no reason. He is absolutely the sweetest dog outside of these growling spells. It happens when I pet him, hold him, when his brother comes around (he is the sweetest thing), when he eats, and when he gets woken up. I know, when DOESN'T he growl, right? It gets really irratating, and I have tried many things to get him to stop. I talked sweet to him in the beggining and reassured him with petting, but he snapped at me twice. I have tried a squirt bottle of water, pinning him down (he pees when I do this), Yelling "no" forcefully, and many other things. My dad makes me put him in his cage now. He is fed up with the behavior. If anyone can tell me why he does this or how to make it stop, I would really appreciate the help. Thanks

Okay, this answer is very helpful. I think my dog doesn't quiet match the dominant dog profile. He is very submissive to me and my family, for example, he quickly darts to the side when we walk by, if he is runnning outside and I walk up to him, he immidiatly turns on his back and wags his tail. I do believe he is dominant to his brother though, he shows food agression towards him, he protects toys from him, and a majority of his growling fits occur when his brother approaches. Sometimes they get along and play, but if my dog has a toy or is in a bed, he will growl and push the other one away. He has never been violent, really. Just loud. I am having trouble understanding why he growls at me when I am petting him, he rolls over and wags his tail for a while, then the evil comes out...he starts to growl and I can't touch him. He'll just get louder. It really makes no sense because he seemed so happy not 5 seconds ago.

Answer 1

it sounds like a dominance issue and the petting/talking sweetly reinforced the behavior. once you get this under control you will have to be diligent and consistent his whole life : no "he's just a little guy and so cute so i'll let slide this time"

one way to get back your dominance is to not feed him in his bowl. take his daily ration (if ur using kibble) and feed it to him throughout the day (the whole family) AFTER he does something (a sit, down, come - basic obedience commands, one of the best is a stay as you can do it while your watching TV and dole out a treat every couple minutes) and DO NOT let him snap it out of your fingers. if it needs to be a 2 person job so be it - to teach him to be gentle you can put 1 hand around his muzzle (to prevent him from opening his jaw enough to snap - this is where a second person can come in handy) and feed him the treat. this teaches him that you (and the family) are the food providers aka alpha from him. You can ease back into bowl feeding portions at a time, once you are back to bowl feeding occaisionally take the bowl away - not giving into growling or protecting of it. Allowing food dominance is the quickest way for someone to get bit.

you (and the entire family) need to be alpha which means:
-you eat first, all the time - once you've reasserted dominance, only feed him after you have eaten. Ie. you eat breakfast then feed him morning ration, or eat dinner, then feed him.
-you exit and enter the house first
-you determine when affection will be given (ie. dont let him push you around for attention - if he nudges you for a pet make him sit before you pet him)
-if you can get eye contact when he is growling at you -stare him down but make sure you can win the staring contest. Look him in the eyes sternly and watch for any sign he breaks the contact (you can blink but DO NOT look away until he does). As soon as he breaks the contact praise him.
-the other correction you can do is when he growls, QUIETLY put him in his crate and ignore him for 10-15min making sure the crate is somewhere somewhat isolated. no need to correct here as the isolation is the correction. dogs are social and he will learn growling gets him nothing.

the peeing when u Alpha roll him (on his back, legs away from you, hand on his neck and hip) is a sign of subordination, however it can also be a sign of fear. i would stay away from the alpha roll and only use it as a last resort.



from doganswers.com:
You May Have A Dominance Issue With Your Dog If:

* Defies and refuses to perform commands he knows well.
* Crowds you, blocks you and won't move out of your way.
* Makes you try to obey him or her.
* Defends the food bowl, toys or other objects from you.
* Growls or shows teeth at you, under any circumstances.
* Gets on furniture without permission and won't get down.
* Snaps at you.
* Barks at you.

Good luck


edit: I would still work on reinforcing your (and families) Alpha status as growling at you (your family) is still attacking your alpha status. And make sure you are using the same set of rules for both dogs - you and your family need to be Alpha over both of them
How does the other dog react? Is he submissive?
Is it his own bed? Your bed?
Is your dog submissive only to you? or to everyone in the family?
Does he growl at you no matter where you are petting him or only the head?
His growling at you when you are petting him, is him dictating attention *provided there is nothing physically wrong with him causing him pain* He is telling you, I'm done now go away, except your Alpha and thats your job. I think your best bet would be to call him/ask him to sit and pet him for 1 min (or less if his threshold is less than that) and then stop, even if he wants more, stop for a minute then ask him to do something else. This way you are dictating the attention, not him. If you happen to get to the growling while he's being petted - don't take ur hand off him and either stare him down until he looks away (remove your hand when he looks away) and then ignore him.

The food dominance might just be easier to feed them in seperate rooms until you can get the rest of the issues worked out.

If you dog is acting dominant (to you or the other) in your bed (or furniture) then you need to reclaim your furniture. Only allow him up when you say it's ok, and at the first sign of growling at his brother, on the ground he goes.
Same with the toys, except take them away at the first sign of growling.

Once the pack order is established you should begin to have peace.

Remember Alpha doesn't equal Ogre

Good luck!

edit 2: " like he has rabies, foaming at the mouth, biting, growling...just so precious " this is NOT appropriate behavior, nor is it adorable - regardless of the size of the dog. How would you react to a lab, great dane, rottie doing those same actions. You should NEVER allow your dog to bite humans whether its a dachsund or a rottie, and whether it's a puppy or not. IT IS NOT CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit 3: you should avoid rapping him on the top of his nose as you risk damaging the sinus cavities, instead a short rap on the bottom of the jaw (similar to how they are reprimanded by canine superiors)

Answer 2

Your Dachshund doesn't see you as the pack leader. He also does not have respect for you. Your dog should never ever growl at you. Saying no forcefully and holding him down don;t do anything. Your dog knows that you are not the pack leader. Also, your dog does not need to match a "dominant" or "aggressive" dog criteria to be either.
I would suggest that you do not allow him on your lap, furniture or any other place that might suggest he is the boss. You lead at all times.
Do not "be nice" by giving him affection or talking sweetly to him. When he growls redirect his attention (how best to do this as well as correctly contact a behaviourist) by snapping your fingers, also never challenge a dog head on, do not look him in the eye this only makes him more "aggressive" (by this I mean more likely to not give up his ground). Dachshunds are badger hunting dogs, thus they are more forward and more likely to be fighty.
Also, never use the cage as punishment.
Increase his exercise by taking him for runs a couple times daily and do some research on dog behaviourism and how to properly deal with them.
Good luck and I hope you and your cutie figure things out.

Answer 3

dogs generally growl while they play, and in addition they growl while they're disillusioned. in spite of the undeniable fact that the sounds are comparable, they are not the same. the ultimate element to look for to make certain no count if your dogs is enjoying or not is its physique language, incredibly the ears, eyes, mouth, and tail. If enjoying, your dogs’s ears would be perked forward or comfortable, its eyes would be open, its mouth would be slightly open in spite of the undeniable fact that its tooth will nonetheless be lined, and its tail will maximum probable be wagging. no count if it incredibly is aggression/worry, its ears would be flat and coffee on its head, the eyes would be narrowed, avoided, or giving a problematical stare, and the tooth would be uncovered. The tail can the two be between legs or fluffed up from the physique. dogs stepped forward growling for a thank you to talk. while given in a frightened/aggressive state, the growl surely means "pass away in the different case!" A frightened dogs will growl as a warning through fact it needs you to pass away and pass away it on my own. An aggressive dogs will growl as a warning through fact it feels as once you're problematical its dominance. What the growl means in the time of play is a little greater good to interpret. The play growl generally in basic terms occurs in the time of tough play, which incorporate wrestling or tug of conflict. It incredibly indicators the dogs's delight in the play it incredibly is going on and is doubtlessly linked with a prey instinct. while you're uncomfortable with the play growl, attempt a greater calm approach of enjoying inclusive of your dogs. dogs generally growl while fiddling with one yet another, despite if.

Answer 4

I have 2 long haired dachshunds, and I have got to say they do have their own special personalitys. Oscar is 4 years old now, and is sweet as pie when he wants to be but when he doesn't want to be he looks like he has rabies, foaming at the mouth, biting, growling...just so precious (LOL)
One thing that has worked for us when Oscar barks at things, is to show him our electric fly swatter, he hates it and immediately stops barking (he got zapped accidentally once)
Is your dog neutered?
You could also try a tin can with some pennies in it, shake it at the dog when he is doing something you don't want him to do while saying NO.
Good Luck with your furbaby!
Oh by the way, I was being sarcastic when I said Oscar was so precious!! Of course I don't like when he acts that way!! And I would not tolerate him biting a person, I am not a moron!!

Answer 5

"
edit 2: " like he has rabies, foaming at the mouth, biting, growling...just so precious " this is NOT appropriate behavior, nor is it adorable - regardless of the size of the dog. How would you react to a lab, great dane, rottie doing those same actions. You should NEVER allow your dog to bite humans whether its a dachsund or a rottie, and whether it's a puppy or not. IT IS NOT CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"
QFT

Answer 6

every time he growles tap hin on the top of nose in about 1 or 2 months he should stop.

Answer 7

he's most likely insecure but you might want to go see a dog trainer I heard they are pretty good.

Answer 8

ask the dog whisperer he would know

Answer 9

he might be angry