Punishing The Growl
I hear it all—the—time! You should never punish a growl because that’s how dogs communicate they are uncomfortable. This argument is complete nonsense, and in this episode I break down why and what we have seen with the hundreds of dogs we have addressed growling with.
By putting more emphasis on why something is happening than on how to change what is happening, people stay stuck. The whole ‘root cause’ argument is generally not helpful and sends people down a rabbit hole that goes nowhere.
Dogs do lots of things that communicate discomfort. That doesn’t mean we should allow it. Allowing your dog to do such things will generally just continue to strengthen the intensity and frequency of the behavior, often resulting in eventual escalation.
That being said, there are lots of things to consider when it comes to addressing growling, and I’m going to break them down in this episode. Things like the general personality type of your dog and the nature of your relationship, etc. Most of the time dogs are growling at dogs or noises or strangers, but if your dog is growling at you, you need to build something new, my friend. Just attacking the growl is probably not the best plan of action.
But that being said, we never give the advice “ignore it” or “respect it”. Those are the words of fools who don’t know how to fix it.
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Minute-by-Minute Breakdown
- 00:00 – Kati opens the episode and asks listeners to subscribe before the training discussion begins.
- 02:00 – She introduces the claim that growling should never be punished because it communicates discomfort.
- 03:00 – Kati argues growling and biting both communicate discomfort, so the issue is not black and white.
- 04:00 – She defines punishment as a tangible consequence that decreases behavior by changing neurological patterns.
- 05:00 – Kati says addressing unwanted behavior early is usually the most effective training approach.
- 06:00 – She questions why owners would wait for growling to escalate before intervening.
- 08:00 – Kati describes Esme growling when people made eye contact, illustrating confrontational behavior.
- 10:00 – She says she would teach a dog to release high-value items instead of grabbing them.
- 11:00 – Kati says a strong relationship helps owners know whether their dog respects them.
- 12:00 – She rejects the idea that trainers can directly fix a dog’s emotions with a magic wand.
- 16:00 – Kati says correcting early behavior can help change both actions and feelings over time.
- 17:00 – She distinguishes common growling scenarios from extreme face-to-face aggression situations.
- 19:00 – Kati recommends commands, structure, and corrections to build a relationship with standards.
- 22:00 – She says dogs that threaten owners need relationship work, especially if naturally dominant.
- 25:00 – Kati says some dog-to-dog growls may be allowed depending on the context.
- 27:00 – She rejects letting dogs growl from kennels at cats or other household dogs.
- 30:00 – Kati disputes the claim that punishing growling inevitably creates biting without warning.