Happy growling?

[50fedup]

My 3 year old springer started resource guarding this year. It started after he eat a load of chocolate and we had to administer liquids to make him sick. He was taken to the vets and recovered well from his ‘ overdose’. He started resource guarding his food after that. We now leave him alone during feeding.
Anyway, since that episode, he now does a low level growling during any petting or brushing. He does wag his tail a lot of the time, but he can also bear his teeth. Is this aggressive?
He is very loving, but also very clingy. We tend to ignore him when he’s displaying this behaviour. Not sure if it is a problem or not.

Watching with interest, our cocker does exactly this. Tail wagging throughout.

Tail wagging is not indicative of friendliness; as with all body language, it’s the whole picture that matters, tail wagging is arousal/excitement, combined with the bared teeth and growling, I’d say it’s definitely that your dog is warning you. What happens prior to the growling/tail wagging/teeth baring behaviour? You say you ignore it, are you ignoring it and carrying on the behaviours you were doing prior, (likely to lead to a bite if the dog is trying to get you to stop and eventually decides it has no other option) or are you ignoring it and removing yourself/the behaviours you were doing prior?

Tail wagging, baring teeth and growling are all signs of fear and discomfort - especially when put together.

Please get your dog checked for pain.

Thanks for the replies. If he starts this behaviour we remove ourselves. Usually stay in the room, but move away from him. I hadn’t even considered that he could be in pain, so will get him checked out.

Thinking about it it a bit more, he rarely displays this behaviour with me. I keep well away from him when he’s feeding and he comes up to me for cuddles on the sofa. It happen more (but not all the time) with my husband or sons. They have never hurt him and shower him with love, but they were the ones who tried to get the salt solution down his throat, so it may be linked.
I’ll still get him checked out though. If he is in pain, it’s not all the time as he still whizzes around like a loon on his walks.
Thanks

Dogs can still zoom around and behave perfectly normally despite quite severe levels of pain. Obviously your dog may well be fine, but the body language you describe would concern me enough to get him checked over.

What do you all do when he growls? Do you walk away? Is there anything you do differently?

As a general rule, growling is a warning sign that needs to be listened to. Some dogs (mine included) do growl in play but that's not what it sounds like here.

If you self administered the emetic it is no real surprise that your dog is showing signs of anxiety and discomfort when it feel restricted near the people that did it.

You will very slowly need to build up the trust again. If your dog is a resource guarder they will already be a stressed dog. All RG are stressed dogs, so look at ways to encourage calm and sleep into your dogs live.

Personally I would get a behaviourist in to help with RG it tends to get worse if left untreated.

Get a clinical behaviourist to help with the RG ASAP, left unchecked it can quickly escalate. Vets can usually refer you to a clinical behaviourist ie ABTC or IMDT. Don't use a random one off the Internet as anyone can do an online course and call themselves a behaviourist.
RG will need lifelong management.
Then I would also read up on dog body language, as other have said wagging a tail doesn't just mean happiness. Any growling should be listened to immediately as the dog is warning you, the next step up from growling is biting.

Ok. Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going to monitor the behaviour (I’m a spreadsheet addict) for a few weeks and see if there are any triggers. I’m not convinced he is in pain, but I’ll keep an eye on him. He certainly doesn’t do this all the time. Then it may be a trip to the vets for an assessment. I’m also going to contact his breeder, who is a gun dog trainer, and see what he suggests. Thanks

@50fedup bear in mind a gundog trainer will give you very different advice from a behaviourist. Gundog trainers very rarely have dogs which display RG as they prevent it through training early on. I train mine as working dogs but they are also family pets. Spaniels are very prone to RG because they are a retriever so it is in their nature and we actually spend time teaving them to keep hold of items until we give the release command.
For me a clinical behaviourist would probably be a better idea than a gundog trainer for RG once it is established but whichever you need to take action now, not in a few weeks time. RG takes hold and escalate very quickly if you don't address it.

Then it may be a trip to the vets for an assessment. I’m also going to contact his breeder, who is a gun dog trainer, and see what he suggests

A trainer won't be able to help you - your dog needs to see a vet, and then hopefully they will be able to refer you to a qualified, registered behaviourist who can help you.

At the moment, you have a dog who growls and bears his teeth when he's petted and when he's being groomed. That's a huge sign that something is not right - either your dog is in pain or he's scared and vocalising that in the only way he knows how.

Please don't leave it for another few weeks. If your dog bites someone because his warning signs are being consistently ignored, you could have a big problem on your hands.

I read somewhere that many dogs don’t like full body hugs. It feel threatening to them. It’s how they would be attacked by another dog.

It it possible that your DH and sons cuddle/pet him in this way? It could be tied into the chocolate episode if he had to be held down for the emetic.

Some dogs just don’t like full on heavy handling that makes them feel restrained.

They forced the dog to drink salty water under duress this is way more likely to be a fear issue than a pain issue