Growling Dog.

lovetruly06

Ok here's the deal, my husband got a dog six months ago while I was at work. I'm not mad we had talked about getting one and I didn't mind that it was a surprise. The thing is she's about a year and six months and she's a shelter dog so we don't really know her background. She's doesn't seam to like women very much so it took some time for her to get used to me. Now she's love to play and wrestle with me, she'll sit by my feet and lay next to me in bed, but every time I try to be nice and just pet her she growls at me. Which is weird. Has anyone else had a problem like this, and if so what did you do to address it?

formerlyGDaisy09

I would suggest that you find a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, or a behavior modification consultant to help you.  It could be that she just doesn't like to be touched that much.  I was actually at a dog behavior class yesterday and someone had noted that they thought their dog didn't like women, but after working with a CPDT it became more clear the dog just wasn't that into people touching it and women were more persistent with wanting to touch it. 

Under no circumstances should you try to train the growling out of your dog. that is her signal that enough is enough and she wants to be left alone, if you train it our of her she's lost that signal and could go straight to biting when she's had enough. Growling is good.

aggiebug

Totally agree with pp. To add to that I would highly recommend not wrestling with her and limit play to tug or retrieving. There is potential for mixed signals while playing and can elevate quickly if not careful

Caz1221

In addition to contacting a behaviorist, I would take her for a thorough vet check to make sure there isn't anything physically/medically wrong.  And I completely agree with halting any wrestling or other rough/aggressive play.  Build a positive, trusting relationship with her through feeding, training, structured games (depending on what she likes to do, you could try fetch, agility, nose-work, flyball, etc.).