Dogs are always on the alert when someone new arrives on the scene. Your dog notices new people right away, but sometimes he growls at them and sometimes he doesn’t. Her growl could indicate aggression, defensiveness, or just anxiety.
Why do you have different reactions to people? Does he know something about them that you don’t? No one can summarize the reactions of all dogs and each case is definitely unique.
People have different scents perceived by dogs. Dogs smell much better than humans, in fact they are 10,000-100,000 times better. Because of this disparity, we can’t imagine all the information our dogs can get from someone’s scent.
Surprisingly, trained dogs can even distinguish between the scents of identical twins from the same environment and eating the same diet.
A dog can smell where you have been and who you have been with, perhaps for a long time.
Your dog can smell something so subtle on a person that it makes him growl that his human nose will never notice.
- It doesn’t have to be a concern for you. Your dog may pick up something that it has learned to associate negatively, such as a strange dog or the scent of another dog’s fear.
Some people seem terrifying to certain dogs. Dogs rely on their vision less than their sense of smell. Dogs use facial recognition to communicate with each other and humans may not see facial features the same way dogs do.
When your dog growls at one person and not another, he may see a characteristic that reminds him of a threat in his memory. People differ in size, features, and the way they move as well. Characteristics of certain people or style of movement may remind your dog of a threat or even seem unfamiliar to your dog, making him feel fearful and insecure. We know that even familiar humans can threaten dogs if they move suddenly or wear a hat.
What to do if your dog growls at a friend?
- If you know that the person your dog is growling at means well, try to teach your dog not to feel defensive or protective around them. Arm him/her with a pocket full of the dog’s favorite treats. Make sure your dog has trained behaviors that he knows will get a good response from you. He repeats this training so often that your dog knows what to do without really having to think about it.
- Then, when the newcomer approaches, ask your dog to perform the trained behavior and reward him. Then have your friend do it and reward too.
- Don’t doubt a person’s character just because your dog initially growls. It probably just means they smell like something your dog isn’t sure about and you can build his confidence through training and rewarding.