# Growling when hugging



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Bumping up


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I would have to see it. If you believe it is a warning growl I would stop provoking the behavior and figure out a plan to deal with it. If it were me, and I’m understanding what your describing, I may just stop intruding on her space.

That said I have a 3 year old that has always had a “happy growl”. If you don’t know him, or dog behavior, you would easily mistake it for aggression. He scares the crap out of non dog visitors to my home. He even does snarly lips. My dog trainer calls it a Chessie smile. I think it’s something they see in Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. He will greet me when I come in by growling in a low constant growl and walking around me tail wagging the entire time. He will then sit and do his little “smile” while growling a low rumble. He would do this if he was laying alone and saw me coming toward him out of excitement. My boy does not have a mean or aggressive bone in his body. I was worried that other people may think it was an aggressive behavior but so far every trainer that has been near him (he’s had a few) know immediately that it’s a happy, excited invitation to love on him. 

if your dog is doing this while tensing up in body posture, backing away, you may have a real issue. It’s hard to know without seeing.


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

Most dogs do not like being hugged or having someone in their face! 

Just because most human's like this behavior, does not mean that a dogs instinct is to feel threatened by this behavior. Most dog do not like being picked up off of all four legs either...all of these acts can produce a fear bite or just pure, I hate this bite! Listen to your pup, training cannot always overcome some reaction that are pure instinct! Beware, and respect your dogs warnings and space...


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## Howler (Feb 4, 2021)

3goldens2keep said:


> Most dog do not like being picked up off of all four legs either..


I thought this, which is why I picked mine up when he misbehaved. I then tried lifting him into the air, and spinning around, as surely something would put him off biting me. After that his tail is wagging and he jumps for more 

Jumping up is not very clear in meaning, but if he can he will put his paws on my shoulders and stare at me until I lift him. Dogs naturally chase their own tails and are highly resistant to becoming dizzy, so it's not a game humans can win.

Thankfully I found a way to solve the biting problem, and the game of being lifted and spun has stuck as a side-effect of a failed experiment.


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## Moose’s mom! (Feb 16, 2021)

My oldest dog, who’s a blue heeler (his name is Solider), has a happy growl much like dbltrblgolden2.
He is very aggressive though... He growls when he’s angry, and he growls when he’s happy. 
I work at a doggy daycare and there are plenty of dogs with happy growls-
And with dogs like these the body language is what I pay attention to! If he’s tense, face is stiff, I can see the whites of his eyes, I know that it’s not a welcoming growl. But if he’s growling and wagging his tail, moving freely, and if he’s laying down and doesn’t seem tense at all, then I’ll know I can love on him and that his growl is just excitement. 
Sometimes he will even get into the chair with you and then growl at you for touching him. 
I just call him my grumpy old man!


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## goldielynn (Sep 5, 2020)

I saw a dog training series on Disney+ regarding specifically aggressive dogs or dogs that had behavior issues -- was just watching it casually before we got our puppy trying to soak up all the knowledge. The trainer suggested to the owners to go to your dog to receive consent for pets/touching so as to not rile up your dog needlessly when the dog did not want to be touched. And the way he did it was to go up to your dog and place your hand palm side up in front the dog's face, and if the dog doesn't move, then that was an "okay" for pet and other touching. But if the dog moved/turned the head away, that was a "no" and to not pet them.

The lesson was that in order to teach your dog not to inappropriately touch you when you don't want it (e.g., biting, lunging, other unwanted behavior), you have to reciprocate this to your dog and not touch your dog when he/she doesn't want to be touched.

Of course, 99% of goldens want pets all the time. I tried this with my puppy in the beginning just as a way of respecting his boundaries and establishing communication and our relationship, and just to generally test it out. Now he literally just plops his head on me for head scratches and massages when he wants pets.


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## Dunmar (Apr 15, 2020)

Dogs in general will not like to be hugged. I would stop the hugging and try just nice pets.


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## Ontariodogsitter (Feb 23, 2020)

Interesting, our dog has never growled at anybody, although there is a happy growly sound comparable to a cat purring, when she is exited about people ready to play with her.
The only time there was anything resembling a growl out of her, was a warning there was a deer looking at her from the other side of the window, low grumbling sound, very obviously a "heads up" for which she was complimented


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## Brianm627 (Jul 29, 2020)

goldielynn said:


> I saw a dog training series on Disney+ regarding specifically aggressive dogs or dogs that had behavior issues -- was just watching it casually before we got our puppy trying to soak up all the knowledge. The trainer suggested to the owners to go to your dog to receive consent for pets/touching so as to not rile up your dog needlessly when the dog did not want to be touched. And the way he did it was to go up to your dog and place your hand palm side up in front the dog's face, and if the dog doesn't move, then that was an "okay" for pet and other touching. But if the dog moved/turned the head away, that was a "no" and to not pet them.
> 
> The lesson was that in order to teach your dog not to inappropriately touch you when you don't want it (e.g., biting, lunging, other unwanted behavior), you have to reciprocate this to your dog and not touch your dog when he/she doesn't want to be touched.
> 
> Of course, 99% of goldens want pets all the time. I tried this with my puppy in the beginning just as a way of respecting his boundaries and establishing communication and our relationship, and just to generally test it out. Now he literally just plops his head on me for head scratches and massages when he wants pets.


Very interesting thank you!


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