Dislike this behavior: Max growling at other dogs? Normal for his age?
 

Max is 11 months old. Max goes to class at least twice a week. He goes on socialization outings almost everyday. He is generally nuetral toward other dogs. He may "stare", but I always avert his attention to a command.."heel, sit, whatever " to get his attention off. He never barks at another dog.

So, this weekend I had him in a down stay at Uncle Bill's by the front door. People came and went, no problem. Dogs in and out , no problem. Then, I hear a low rumble and think.."what was that?", I hear it again and its Max growling at a dog about 20 feet from him. I gave him a quick collar pop and "quiet!" and it was over.

Last night we attended a new class. It is a open floor time to work on AKC Obedience. Poodles, goldens, schnauzers...we stuck out like a sore thumb. (I realized how gnarly Max looks..lol.) Anyway, he was on a down stay again and growls at another dog that popped its head out of another room and looked at Max. I gave a quick pop and "Quiet" and it was over.

I dont like it! Is this normal for his age ? Will it go away with consistency? I will def be talking to my trainer on Wednesday, but wanting to get some feedback from what others have experienced at this age. Thanks!

could be age, but it also could be he is in a down position, (which is a vulnerable position) and dogs can get intimidated / don't like it when another dog (or person) stares at them. I know Masi does not appreciate other dogs giving her the 'stare' or 'stink eye'..

growling is a catch 22, I would rather have a growl as an alert to me that something is 'off', vs no growl and go in for an unexpected attack.

With that, again, a catch 22, you don't want them growling but you don't want them to not alert YOU that something is off, If mine does something like this, I tend to go with a "leave it"..and "leave it' to my dogs mean, stop, ignore, "I got it covered", mind your own business.

Personally, I would not pop him for this. I would instead do a quick round of LAT and reward him for looking and looking away without a reaction. This has worked for me much better than a correction.

Frank started at about 8 mos doing the same thing, especially with intact males that would stare at him, I used LAT at first, and then trained the "leave it" command.
Both have been very useful with new situations.

I use Leave It it initially and as soon as she does, I then start LAT. You have to break their concentration first and then work on the behavior.

I agree with Michelle, redirect for this instead of correct...some dogs see that correction as coming from what they are reacting to...backfiring and then ramping up the dog even more.

Correcting Jax with a prong definitely ramped her up, dramatically so.

If she's 100% into her reaction and I can't break the concentration there, I turn her and walk away until she's reached a distance that she is no longer behaving like a lunatic. Then I do LAT. If I can break her concentration with Leave It, I do LAT at that spot.

I will have to read up on the LAT. Max did not get amped up, and when corrected he just looked at me and said " Oops..sorry ,,my bad".

I would not categorize him as "reactive".. at least , he has not been, and I sure hope he does not become that way.

The growling only has occurred when he was laying down. So, I will watch that..and interestingly, both other dogs were intact males.

Just want to make sure I nip this in the bud.

Then what you did sounds fine, just stay proactive and if you see him start to zone in, redirect his attention to you.

Why are you surprised? He is growing up....he has an extremely strong pedigree full of dogs known for aggression and strength....he is not a Lab or a Golden

If you are planning on neutering him, do so.....

Personally, I would not tolerate this behavior.....I believe in positive training, but also in consequences. This is behavior you do not want to tolerate....yes, a prong correction could ramp him up. But I am a firm believer that redirection and reward can backfire as we really do not know if the distinction between unwanted behavior and desired behavior is crystal clear to the dog. Even a verbal reprimand helps - but not a quick glance away and reward....I have seen it backfire on people.

Do not put him in a position to fail....only to win. Do some private set ups and corrections without being in a big AKC class - get control over him before letting this happen again.

Probably not the most popular answer here.....

Lee