# My dog growled at me for the first time...



## webjawns.com (Jan 5, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I had a strange experience yesterday that kind of made me sad. My dog, Daisy, who is a mix between a Jack Russell and Dachshund, is just about two years old. She was sitting in my parents' room on their bed with my stepmom, and when I walked to the door she started this low growl. I stopped and didn't really believe what I was hearing, then she barked (about 10-12 feet away). I walked towards her cautiously, and it was like it never happened... tail wagging, happy to see me.

Just to give some background - Daisy has never bit anyone or another dog. She did growl at a male pit bull puppy once, and was a bit skittish during a family reunion we had with a lot of people. Other than that she is the most cuddly dog I've ever owned, and is very friendly toward kids and strangers alike, meeting them with plenty of licks and wagging.

Any ideas on why this would happen? Could it be that she just got spooked and didn't recognize me?

Thanks!

-Chris


----------



## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Well, it could be one of 2 things.

1. Just a random vocalization "Hey, how are ya?" (having Shepherds I've heard the gamut from "growls" to *growls*)
2. She had decided for the moment it was her bed and then all of a sudden she was over it being "her bed".

Without having seen it I really can't say which it was.

Has anything else like this ever happened?


----------



## tboss (Jan 2, 2010)

my jack russell talks to me, (no im not crazy, just insane lol) and when she does its a mix of growls and barks with her tail wagging the whole time.


----------



## webjawns.com (Jan 5, 2010)

Xeph said:


> Well, it could be one of 2 things.
> 
> 1. Just a random vocalization "Hey, how are ya?" (having Shepherds I've heard the gamut from "growls" to *growls*)
> 2. She had decided for the moment it was her bed and then all of a sudden she was over it being "her bed".
> ...


Hey Xeph,

Not even once! I didn't believe it at first, and thought it was our other dog for a second.

Thanks for the response!

-Chris



tboss said:


> my jack russell talks to me, (no im not crazy, just insane lol) and when she does its a mix of growls and barks with her tail wagging the whole time.


Did she always do that or did it start later on? Daisy's never done anything like this so that's why it has me all off-guard. Thanks for the reply!

-Chris


----------



## tboss (Jan 2, 2010)

hi Chris

When she first started it was a growl now and then and more barks now its about even. She is 5 now and very very vocal!!!! But I think thats my fault i encouraged her to do it. I think she was a few months old when it started.


----------



## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Take Daisy to see the veterinarian. It could be the onset of vision problems, or it could be some other medical condition. From what you described, my first suspicion would be that she didn't recognize you when you first entered, and was happy/relieved when you came into focus or she recognized your scent/sound. Regardless, any change in behavior like that calls for a complete exam.


----------



## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

I'm with marsh on this one. Daschunds are prone to eye problems... here's a list:
Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), a series of inherited disorders affecting the retina of the eyes, causes visual impairment that is slow but progressive. *Night blindness can be the first sign of trouble. *There is no known way to stop onset. 

Other eye conditions have also been known to occur in Dachshunds. This list is by no means complete, but is included here to make new owners aware of possible problems in the breed: corneal dystrophy, congenital night blindness, entropion, tear duct anomalies, wall eye, keratoconjunctivitis, microphthalmia and ectasia syndrome.
jacks are also prone to PRA as well as a host of other eye issues... here's a link... it was too much to type 

http://www.therealjackrussell.com/breed/eye.php


----------



## tboss (Jan 2, 2010)

thanks dog shrink for the link that is very interesting and helpful.


----------



## Mako (Jan 5, 2010)

eye problem or not, I'll bet she just didn't recognize you at that distance right away.


----------



## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

You're welcome. Hope the little one is ok... let us know how this goes ok. Remember you gotta rule out the medical before you can say that it's behavioral alone.


----------



## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Indeed. BTW web, when you do the medical, I'd ask if they do CERF testing specifically so you can send in the eye tests and get the results.


----------



## webjawns.com (Jan 5, 2010)

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for your insightful responses. It's been many month since this incident, and it has only happened once since my original post; however, this time it was because she was stressed out due to the large number of people at a family party we hosted. I learned a lot from the replies.

Thanks again,
Chris


----------



## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Marsh Muppet said:


> Take Daisy to see the veterinarian. It could be the onset of vision problems, or it could be some other medical condition. From what you described, my first suspicion would be that she didn't recognize you when you first entered, and was happy/relieved when you came into focus or she recognized your scent/sound. Regardless, any change in behavior like that calls for a complete exam.


Moms dog has pinpoint cataracts in the dead center of both eyes. When he looks at you, he'll turn his head slightly, and sometimtes stares like he's not sure if it's who he thinks it is. He barks at people he knows until they talk to him.


----------



## Bart (Jul 15, 2010)

Interesting. I would say you should ask yourself whether or not the response was aggressive, defensive or something else. Growling can mean different things from different dogs, but it seems like you believe your dog's response was aggressive whereas most people responding to you here perceived the response as defensive. A defensive response would come when the dog feels threatened and growls to make the threat go away. If the threat doesn't go away, the dog responds either by stopping its counterthreat because it's not working, running away or biting. Your dog obviously stopped the counterthreat because it no longer felt threatened. You wonder what would happen if it wasn't you and the dog continued to feel threatened. Would it stop, run or bite? A vision problem notwithstanding, you might want to try exploring the dog's defensive threshold and seeing if you can raise it. This can be tricky though because you might get a bite response and then it will prove to be counterproductive. The idea would be to put carefully put your dog in more stressful situations beginning with ones like the one you described and slowing increasing in stress levels, but it is essential that the dog learns that those stressors ultimately amount to nothing to worry about, thus raising the dog's defensive threshold by teaching the dog to respond to those circumstances as if there's no worries, it's just someone coming in the room or whatever and it only means that they get to play or whatever. A mistake would be to stress the dog to the point where it learns to respond badly and you would have a lot of work to undo the results. If you don't think you can avoid that, then don't do what I suggest, but recognize that your dog's defensive threshold will remain where it is and the dog presents a risk if it encounters a similarly stressful situation.


----------



## anjolina (Sep 30, 2010)

It may happen that she does not recognize you from distance. May be she have vision problem. Why not you go to vet for her checkup?


----------



## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I check on my sister's dogs when they are away. Mikey, their Shih Tzu x Maltese knows me very well and has always been friendly. One day when I went to check on them, I had just had a perm to my hair. As soon as he saw me, he started to growl and even though I talked to him he would not let me near him. Whether it was the different look or the smell of the perm, I do not know. The next day I wore a touque and he was fine. Maybe there was some little thing that was different about you that day and he just thought it was not you.


----------

