Dog Behavior Explained - Growling, Barking

Growling over food.

Many people think that dogs are entitled to be protective of their food and that growling is a natural response.

However, a dog growling at a person over food can escalate into much larger issues, especially if growling is just one of many other behavioral problems.

Place several small bowls of food next to each other. As your dog goes to eat one of the bowls, move one of the other bowls to the other side, but still within the dog’s reach.

Keep up this repetition until the dog realizes that a human hand is no threat to his food.

Barking.

Each time your dog barks, go see why the dog is barking.

If it’s for a good reason, like a stranger near your property, praise the dog and then tell him to be quiet. If it’s for another reason, like a squirrel in a tree, tell the dog to be quiet and immediately go back into the house.

The dog will soon see that sometimes barking is acceptable, but not always. The dog will learn to bark for the ‘good’ reasons.

If the dog sees a squirrel in a tree, he will still bark, but not continually. Instead, he will bark once or twice to scare the squirrel and be satisfied.