# Growling When Petting His Head



## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

Hi guys, I posted something in similar in the puppy thread but thought it would be good to share here for any help. 

My 8 month male golden is the most friendly, sweet and intelligent dog. He's a big gentle giant and loves people and always been a mummy's boy. But in the past week or so he's suddenly had really weird mood swings, and particularly when we pet his head. He usually loves being petted on the head and all sorts of affection, but in the last few days, when we go to pet his head, he goes really stiff, does a low growl, and bares his teeth. It is really frightening and jarring because he's never shown aggression in his life. Even with other dogs when he plays, he always immediately goes on his back and shows his belly.

The weird thing is though that he keeps showing mixed signals. Even though he growls when we pet his head, if we stop, he comes to us for attention/to play. But as soon as we touch his head, he growls again and goes stiff. This is happening no matter where he is, and there is no food involved so he's not guarding anything. 

The past few days, actually, we've noticed that he's been quite lethargic.. almost looks depressed. He just sleeps a lot and doesn't wanna do anything. Still eating normally, but otherwise tired.

He is intact, but his testes also have never dropped. He'll be getting neutered soon as we were told he could develop tumors on his testes if they stay inside, so don't know if this may have some contribution? Perhaps producing too much testosterone etc? I heard about some issues of golden's having low thyroid, but Maximus is only 8 months old so don't know. We've had him since he was a baby, he is extremely well socialised and friendly, very confident, and he's had obedience training, and is just the best dog. Never shown this behaviour before.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I would take him to the vet immediately for a check up. I'm thinking maybe and ear infection, something hurting around his head. With the sudden change in temperament and the lethargy it's a definite signal something could be wrong.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

This definitely sounds like pain to me, too. And the fatigue/lethargy is a red flag on top of it. Vet for sure.


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

I agree, a vet visit, complete blood work... especially the thyroid, or tick dieases... doesn't sound like normal behavior.. good luck...


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

Sweet Girl said:


> This definitely sounds like pain to me, too. And the fatigue/lethargy is a red flag on top of it. Vet for sure.





DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I would take him to the vet immediately for a check up. I'm thinking maybe and ear infection, something hurting around his head. With the sudden change in temperament and the lethargy it's a definite signal something could be wrong.





Neeko13 said:


> I agree, a vet visit, complete blood work... especially the thyroid, or tick dieases... doesn't sound like normal behavior.. good luck...


Thank you guys. It definitely seems like a medical thing to me the more I think about it. I didn't realise these could be such big signs - I will take him to the vet. Will keep you posted. :frown2:


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

Good Luck....let us know how you make out with the visit. Its a shame they cant tell us what is wrong with them...:frown2:


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## Champ (Jun 10, 2006)

I agree that health issues and pain should be ruled out first. But if nothing is found, then maybe he is just trying to tell you that he doesn't like being pet on the head. Not all dogs like it. He is only 8 months old and his likes/dislikes are still developing based on past experiences. Does he growl if you pet him somewhere else like the chest? Dogs are typically more accepting of petting on the chest.


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## goldiemom93 (Apr 16, 2019)

He's such a handsome boy!! Good luck getting everything figured out!


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## jomiel (Feb 15, 2019)

Any updates? I hope he is alright!


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

Hi guys

Just wanted to update. Sorry it has been so long, the last month has been hectic. 

Maximus was seen by the vet and he decided to go ahead and do the neutering anyway. Maximus was similar for a day or 2 while recovering and but then he just started going back to being his normal self. It was pretty quick. Within a week or so he was just back to being his goofy self, happy, loves being petted, not lethargic, and wagging his tail. Nothing changed in the way we treated him or anything, just same as always. So that’s good news.

In terms of his neutering - since he had that condition where both his testes remained inside his body, we were worried it would be hard to find and quite complicated. The vet informed us it acrually went really great. He had a big cut on his tummy for a couple of weeks and we had to keep him on leash for all those 2 weeks, but he healed amazingly well. Surprisingly, this period wasn’t so bad either. I expected he might get destructive because he hadn’t had a good run etc, but he was fine. 

I’m not sure what the change was. Maybe it was the hormones of being neutered, maybe it was something else and it just went away coincidentally at that time. Either way I’m happy to have the goof back. Thanks for your help guys ?


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