noisy pup

hello....i have a mutt who's mom is a lab/shepard and who's dad is a boxer/pitt....she is VERY vocal when playing, espicially when she wants attention she isnt getting...she growls(but is not angry), snarls(but is not mad), and barks(which is normal in playwith some dogs) She is so loud but this only happens during play....will she grow out of it..anyone have this problem? Im scared she will grow up and intimidate other dogs by mistake and unintentionally provoke an attack...thanks

 

Hi Winnie. Your dog may just be a vocal doggie. My husky "talks" all the time. I know its a trait in huskys but I have seen other dogs do this as well. She talkes when she is happy, mad, sad whatever. Hopefully your pup will grow out of this!

 

It's hard to determind whether a dog is posturing for a fight or for just a good time. They will fight if there is a dominance issue. PLAY: the dogs will go into a play bow and their tails will be wagging hard. The dogs may or may not be barking, ears will be pricked. FIGHT: The dog wil posture to look as big as possible.It will stand on toes, muscles flexed, ears procked, cold stare, tail still and held slightly abovr dog's topline, hackles raised and dog may or may not be growling.

 

winnie i saw some of the negative replies to your post about this in the dogs section. ignore them. shes not being aggressive at all and doesnt need any punishment. my dog does this, and the harder she plays, the louder she gets. everyone at the park is use to it now. sometimes her growling does make other dogs very defensive and can cause fights, but ultimately there is nothing you can do except for finding a dog she can play with who accepts the noise. we have tried over and over again to get kuma to stop making noise but nothing ever works. she might grow out of it but if she is anything like kuma she will just get noisier lol!

p.s the noises kuma makes are these weird open mouth growling noises [sounds like a heavy smoker saying 'ahh'] , little whimpers, high pitched barks and really soft barks.

 

It's really quite easy to tell the two apart if you know what you are looking for.

An angry dog "posturing" for a fight will wag tail side to side rhythmically and tail will be stiff and will be staring intently at dog he will direct his aggressions at... Before the dog makes his move the tail will go straight (either back or over his back depending on the breed) and his ears will be erect...he'll be standing squarely at the offending dog...chest square to other dog...hackles can be up or down at this point...hackles up is less of a threatening behavior and more of a fearfull/defensive behavior... If you're dog is the aggressive dog in play the other dog could become defensive (very possible and likely) in this case the said dog (fearfull dog)will not have much movement at all and hackles will go up...they don't cower, they don't play bow, and they actually try to leave the situation before they take a bite (APBT's are a bit different)

Play bows ALWAYS indicate play. A happy tail wagging is one that includes some butt wag as well...a lazy tail rather than the stiff tail of an angry dog... Generally a dog playing won't make eye contact for any period of time.

Some play is for play only and some play is for dominance... Some dogs "play" and in reality they are vieing for dominance, the alpha role. Often this is when no play bow is seen, the dog isn't wagging a tail, and the dog is "mounting" the other dog...making himself/herself larger than the dog they want to dominate.

Vocalizations are different but there's really no way to describe what the difference is... Basically if your dog growls and means it...you'll know the difference....and most likely a well socialized dog that has been around and knows pack dynamics will know the difference too.

 

Thank you all for the replies...I know she is just playing...she is so hyper and loves playing with every dog, even the ones that dont want to...I dont want to punish her like others were saying because I dont want her to link that with playing....I was just hoping maybe she will grow out of it, but even if she doesnt, its ok, i just get worried cause at the dog park when a agressive sounding dog plays with my other dog Winnie, sometimes winnies gets mad b/c she is confused or feels intimidated, I guess I will just have to keep a real close eye on them...thanks agian

 

HI Winnie, Nice to see you over here as well.

Don't worry one little bit about the noise. She is havign a great time beign a puppy! Besides, you have another dog that's older and that will help her a lot to learn proper doggie language for when she gets older. She will most likely calm down, but being so young,she has a lot of energy to get out of her first. :lol:

 

Is she doing this with you or another dog? Just curious. No big deal really. Mine would do this with me or my husband when she wanted to play or want MORE attention. As far as other dogs, they can tell what is play and what isn't as far as my own experience. I have never had a male/male fight before, since I separate them after a certain age, but I have had more than my share of female/female fights. Females are harder to figure out if you are new to it. They almost never give warning. No hackles. They will run up to the other dog, tail waggin', sniff-sniff - BAM! Males will do the 'hackle thing', stare each other down as they circle each other. Well, that is as far as my experience with the male thing. That was warning enough for me and they were separated from that point on. Needless to say, I do not let same sex dogs interact with each other ever. It is a rule over here that after the age of 6 mns, they are separated. Male/female are fine. They never go into anything more than a minor dispute over a toy. I'm lucky enough to have enough male/female ratio that I can have them out in twos. Only accidents happen when someone isn't paying close attention to locked kennels, house doors, etc. (NOT FROM ME~!) I'm hoping this year will be 'accident' free. lol... We've been averaging 1 per year. The key to less damage is being there monitoring them when loose. Oh man, I'm rambling about something that isn't even the topic. sorry.... LOL