# Growling!



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

My Vizsla puppy is 6 months old. He is very sweet and usually submissive, but over the past 2 weeks he has begun growling if he is in our bed and hears someone outside, or if he is sitting on the front porch step and somebody walks by. The growling is not loud, and he hasn't barked, bared teeth, or bitten. Should I still be worried? If so, how do I stop him? We have tried using "watch me" to focus his attention but it's not working. I don't want the growling to escalate!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

In my mind it sounds like a completely natural reaction. Pup is just letting you know that someone or something is getting around your territory. Treat Him!  

I would be more worried should they not alert me.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Why A Growl Is Good? 
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/why-growl-good 

I like to meet well behaved GSDs and today we met one... it growled at Sam and the dumb owner pulled the dog back quite hard. That made the GSD bark aggressively at us. Of course, the dog thought we were the reason he got hurt


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Pup is doing its job for the family...alerting you. Say good boy, thank you, whatever and then train them how to calm down or continue based on your que. I'd only be worried if it continues after the person/dog is welcomed by you. 

Dozer is very much a guard dog and i expect penny will learn from him. So we always say thank you and then call him to us do he knows that we know there's something out there. But if it's s knock at the door, as soon as we welcome he's changed to an excited to meet you state.


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## littlelulu (Jun 21, 2011)

Our girl, Lulu, is also very much a guard dog, although I often wish she wasn't! Like others mentioned, I don't discourage her protective instincts, since in her mind, she's just doing her job and keeping us and our home safe. As soon as I hear her 'sound the alarm', I let her get a bark or two out then say 'thank you' and call her to me for a treat. We've been doing this for so long now that she pretty much runs to me right after she alerts us, looking for her reward or praise . 

That being said, I don't know where you live, but we live in a fairly busy suburban area where people walk by all the time and although I appreciate Lulu's efforts to keep the homestead safe, I also don't need her to bark at every man, woman, child and dog that walks by the house! So sometimes, we just sit on the front step and every time someone goes by she gets a treat. I just want her to know passersby are ok and not a threat. She's getting better and more relaxed with time. 
And like Dozer said about house guests, as soon as Lulu knows we are ok with the guest, she is happy to greet them (although a bit reserved at first). What we do is have a mat close to the door that we have her sit on when someone is coming in. We make sure we are in front of her/the mat so she knows that we've got this covered and she doesn't have to worry. When the guest/stranger comes in, we have them stand quietly and then tell Lulu 'ok, say hello' and let her approach them and have a sniff. If she seems particularly wound up when someone comes to the door, we have a baby gate close to her mat that we put her behind so she can calm down before she greets. This 'procedure' is something we usually only go through with strangers. Once she's met someone once, she's all wiggly excited V. We still make her quickly sit on her mat before running to greet friends though . 

Sorry for the long post but this is something we've worked on a lot with Lulu! Good luck!


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

The protective instinct is definitely something you want to encourage!

I saw a man run by my parents' house last night at full-speed. Riley was in the front yard at the time and she ran up to the fence, put her paws up on it, & let out some of the most vicious barks I have ever heard. The guy was startled & kept clear of the fence on his run past. A few minutes later the cops show up searching up & down the street - he was a robber! It's amazing how they instinctively know friend from foe.


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Thanks everybody! We will try to implement some of the advice so we can get him to calm down after he alerts us!


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