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codmaster · 03-09-2013, 11:01 AM

I was thinking about my dog last night and I realized that I have heard him growl only VERY rarely! He is a male GSD 5+ yo and has had a history of a little DA toward certain aggressive male dogs and sometimes has reacted very suspiciously toward a very few individuals. He is usually very friendly to both dogs and people.

My question is this - has anyone seen much information between a dog growling or a dog barking at something? I.E. is there much of a difference identified in what the doggy language means?

About the only time that I have heard my guy do much if any growling was during a session with a pro trainer when we were attempting to teach him that he had to be able to co-exist with another male GSD in our small social group. A very impressive series of ferocious sounding growls came out of him when he was made to down!

Only other growls I have ever heard from him have been one or two maybe mixed in with barking at something he might consider a threat (hard to tell if these were really growls however).

Just interested in what a growl vs a bark might mean in doggy language?

Now I do realize that there are a variety of different barks that dogs (mine too) will do - from the excited "Whoof" = I want to go out!" to the staccato deep Big Boy bark that is a warning to those targeted by it (i.e. the one toward the ScH helper).

03-09-2013, 11:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
codmaster Banned Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: California, US Posts: 5,928	Bark vs Growl I was thinking about my dog last night and I realized that I have heard him growl only VERY rarely! He is a male GSD 5+ yo and has had a history of a little DA toward certain aggressive male dogs and sometimes has reacted very suspiciously toward a very few individuals. He is usually very friendly to both dogs and people. My question is this - has anyone seen much information between a dog growling or a dog barking at something? I.E. is there much of a difference identified in what the doggy language means? About the only time that I have heard my guy do much if any growling was during a session with a pro trainer when we were attempting to teach him that he had to be able to co-exist with another male GSD in our small social group. A very impressive series of ferocious sounding growls came out of him when he was made to down! Only other growls I have ever heard from him have been one or two maybe mixed in with barking at something he might consider a threat (hard to tell if these were really growls however). Just interested in what a growl vs a bark might mean in doggy language? Now I do realize that there are a variety of different barks that dogs (mine too) will do - from the excited "Whoof" = I want to go out!" to the staccato deep Big Boy bark that is a warning to those targeted by it (i.e. the one toward the ScH helper).