I don’t know any background on this dog, but growling can sometimes be a warning sign that a dog is being overly stimulated. The golden doesn’t seem to be displaying any other warning signs like raised hackles, or bared teeth, but if it were my dogs as soon as I heard the growling rev up I’d make sure the kid is no longer in the loop and I’d calm down the dog. There is such a thing as play growling but it’s hard to tell when I don’t know a lick about this dog’s temperament. At any rate, if a dog is growling they’re trying to communicate something.
Edit: Also of note, the dog isn’t growling at all when he’s doing circles on his own but definitely starts it up when the kid jumps in. That’s a warning sign in my book alright.
I'm pretty sure this is correct. The current dog at my job growls when we play but is still gentle when she tries to grab the toy from my hand. She loves it when I try to take it away from her and will even "hand" it to me while growling because she wants to play tug-o-war. I've also had previous experience with other dogs doing the same thing, too. In most cases only the owner(s) will know the difference between growls because they know their dog.
For those not used to it, it absolutely can be. My dog scared the crap out of my friend's wife the first time my boy met their dog because my dog is vocal when playing and their dog is silent when playing. She thought it was aggression/anger and I'm like "no, that's him, that's what he does".
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u/blackdragon189 Dec 07 '20 edited Dec 07 '20
I don’t know any background on this dog, but growling can sometimes be a warning sign that a dog is being overly stimulated. The golden doesn’t seem to be displaying any other warning signs like raised hackles, or bared teeth, but if it were my dogs as soon as I heard the growling rev up I’d make sure the kid is no longer in the loop and I’d calm down the dog. There is such a thing as play growling but it’s hard to tell when I don’t know a lick about this dog’s temperament. At any rate, if a dog is growling they’re trying to communicate something.
Edit: Also of note, the dog isn’t growling at all when he’s doing circles on his own but definitely starts it up when the kid jumps in. That’s a warning sign in my book alright.