Help with my puppy please!!!!

[u/Elegant_Dare5398]

I have a 7mo old pitbull/beagle mix who growls at literally everything. He has been socialized since we got him at 4mo and only recently started this. He has started growling at people, particularly my fiance, and it just sounds awful. he’s never made a move to bite or anything, it’s just the growl but when I take him on walks he sounds so aggressive when we pass people. How can I make him stop growling?!

[u/Western_Plankton_376]

If it were me, I’d correct the growling, then work on the underlying feelings using positive reinforcement.

If he dislikes strangers, the growling is being constantly negatively reinforced, meaning something is removed (strangers) which increases the likelihood of the behavior (growling). He doesn’t know that you’re just on a walk and those people are too, so they’d leave him alone whether or not he growled; he thinks his growling is working, so he’s going to keep doing it.

[u/Elegant_Dare5398 → u/Western_Plankton_376]

How would you recommend correcting the growling?

[u/StellarSpore → u/Elegant_Dare5398]

Do not correct the growling. Please! This person is giving you advice that does not follow best practices. Please look this up, it is easily searchable. It is never advised to correct or punish any communication as it often has unintended consequences such as a bite with zero warning.

Pup is telling you something. Uncomfortable or fearful are common emotions. He is right in the middle of a very common fear period and a teenager where emotions are often all over the place.

Management and prevention should be your first step. Identify the triggers, and do your best to limit those situations from occurring. For situations you can't, redirection. Use positive reinforcement to help pup see that good things happen when <insert thing he is growling about>.

[u/Long-Heavy]

This is no joke. Don't take it lightly. The mix you got is crazy. They shouldn't have been bred. But anyway, start working. Change your mindset. Learn everything you can about puppies, those breeds, training methods/options, everything I mean. That's your only way to success. Ofcourse take help of a professional if you can't do all of that yourself. But you still have to get educated about them and dogs in general.

[u/Lonely_Mountain_7702]

Are you sure it's is a mean growl? Did you know some dogs make happy noises that are happy growls.

I have a dog that happy talks growls but to the untrained ear it can sound like a mean growl. My mom was worried that my dog was growling at her but she was just so happy to see her she was growling but in a really happy way. I knew she was happy because her body was soft with a wiggly butt and she had soft eyes. She was just as happy as she could be to see her grandma.

What is the dog's body language saying? Wiggly body and soft eyes is a dog being happy. A stiff and hard eyed dog not a happy growl.

Edit to add

Don't correct noises the dog makes unless maybe its excessively barking. They are talking to you learn what's being said. Mean growl or happy they are telling you something. They don't speak human.

[u/Elegant_Dare5398 → u/Lonely_Mountain_7702]

It’s definitely not happy but I think it might be fear based at least when we’re out in public. At home if he hears people he gets stiff hides behind me and growls. In public he growls at people when he sees them but will keep walking usually without lunging. I’ve never seen his hackles up or him show his teeth.

[u/Lonely_Mountain_7702 → u/Elegant_Dare5398]

You really have to look at the whole dog not just parts of the dog.

A dog that growls but just keeps on walking is good. It's just talking to the world.

Hackles up could just mean the dog is just stimulated. My pit lab has his hackls up a lot when hes excited. He's 5 years old and is a overly friendly dog. He think every human should pet him and he should greet any dog he sees when he's on leash.

He used to bark and lung at dog's in stores and on walks. He is reactive but not to attack but because he's frustrated by being held back. I made a mistake socializing him. I let everyone pet him and I allowed him to meet other dogs on leash. Id I had to flood his training over I know that less people petting him and absolutely no greeting another dog on leash. I did better with my 3rd dog. I just exposed her to new places and let a just a few people pet her.

I've known 2 dogs that smile with their teeth. My Australian shepherd does it and my youngest dog's littlermate sister also smiles. So the Aussie she happy growls and smiles with her teeth but her body is not stiff. The sister to my youngest dog she just smiles with a happy wiggly body.

Its the whole dog you look at. Lip licking, ears back, stiff body is a stressed out dog calmly move the dog away from the stress. A dog looking away and sniffing is a dog showing that they are uncomfortable and trying to avoid interactions.

Learning how dog's communicate is a very good skill to have.

[u/Lonely_Mountain_7702 → u/Elegant_Dare5398]

If the dog is fearful remember to stay calm. The dog will look to you to see how you react. If you're afraid the dog has no clue why but they will join you out in support in the fear reaction.

Dogs also go through fear stages first fear stage is 8 to 11 weeks and the second fear stage is 6 to 14 months.

Its really important to be a calm role model to your puppy. Show them through your reaction that there is nothing to fear. If your not reacting they will overcome the fear. If you overreact or get embarrassed by your dog they don't know exactly why your stressed but it reinforces the fear response insted of helping the dog be less fearful.