would you be concerned ?

[thefootofourstairs]

I've recently adopted a little dog from a friend of a friend who is emigrating . He seems fairly chilled out and happy to be with us but although i was assured hes used to children and has a great temperament he has growled at my children a few times now . Yesterday ds1 (16) was being gentle with him, stroking him and when he went to move him he let out quite an angry growl . He wasn't doing anything different to what i have done with the dog . I realise hes probably not fully used to us yet but maybe he doesn't have the temperament i was led to believe he had , what would you think ? I haven't had a dog since i was a child but i don't ever remember being growled at . should i be worried ?

It sounds like he didn't want to be moved. You need to pay attention to a growl - it doesn't mean the dog is aggressive but it's a good warning mechanism and the dog was clearly saying he didn't like something. A growl is obviously preferable to a bite!

yes , glad its only growling ! He only seems to do it to the young ones not me or dh . He is quite happy to be moved or stroked or brushed or whatever by us. I could understand it if he had taken him by surprise or something but he hadn't . Nor had the other children when he did it to them .

How long have you had him?

Has he been to the vet recently? Unexplained, sudden growling - especially when being moved can sometimes indicate the dog is in pain. Is he off colour in any other way?

only had him a couple of weeks . He seems fine, eating well , loves playing , runs for the ball and loves a bit of rough play with dh , cuddles on knee , i've bathed and dried him fine

A growl is not a bad thing.

A growl is a warning. Better to have that warning than for the dog to just snap. This is why you should never punish a growl. It's the dogs way of saying "if you carry on I'm gunna punch you in the face".

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Nor do I think the dog has done anything wrong.

I'm almost 100% sure my dog wouldn't growl if I tried moving her or picking her up however I still wouldn't do it. I tell her 'up!' and say good girl for doing so.
If someone she didn't know very well tried physically moving her and she growled I wouldn't blame her

There's no need to pick a dog up, you should tell them to move
The problem with small dogs is that people tend not to respect their teeth as much as they do with big dogs!
Growling is, as other people have said, not a problem it's a warned me