Urgent advice needed on dog growling

[mandymeans]

We've had our rescue about 4 weeks - I know they say that's early days BUT he has been completely settled from about 2 days in. No issues at all. It's like he had always been here

He is really good with my nutty son, who has hyperactivity and non verbal autism.

However, tonight he growled at my little one, who's 2.

She was being a bit silly rolling around next to the sofa (where the dog was relaxing). And he did this growl bark thing at her. It looked really aggressive. I removed her straight away

I know I am probably at fault here as he was relaxing but I genuinely didn't think she was close enough to annoy him

Now, my son can be annoying (he's loud), but he's never snapped or anything at him. A little while ago he stepped on him by mistake walking by and the dog let out a small yelp and then carried on as usual.

The usual common sense applies - The kids are not allowed near him when he's eating or sleeping in his bed.

I have actually provided calm spaces he can choose to relax in where I would not allow the kids to follow. But it doesn't work because he wants to be with us

What's gone on here? I'm getting conflicting advice from Google. Some people seem to say growling is fine as it's just their way of saying 'back off'

Other sources seem to say it's a huge red flag.

I will also add that he isn't a reactive dog

He doesn't bark at other dogs and generally just ignores them if they start giving it the big I am on a walk

He has no interest in cats etc

He's otherwise a really good dog

What breed is your boy @mandymeans ?

Call the dogs trust behaviour support line. 0303 003 6666. They can advise on appropriate management and next steps. You can also fill in an online form on the website and they will call you. It's free, and the helpline is staffed by qualified trainers and behaviourists.

I'm not an expert but our rescue did this to my son a few times. We took it as a warning as I know he could have bitten if he intended to. It just stopped without explanation.

Greyhound. I think he looks like a cross because of the ears but apparently not. He has pedigree papers etc

It sounds like the dog was relaxing on the sofa and didn't appreciate having an excitable child rolling around near him. Maybe the noise or motion scared him somehow.

But this is one the reasons why people say not to get rescues with toddlers or small children - did he come from an official rescue or was he a private re-home?

Greyhounds will not appreciate little kids invading their personal space - ours certainly wouldn't. And they can sometimes be snoozing with their eyes open too.

I'd say it'll be a few months yet before they'll be fully comfortable around every family member, when people say it takes time - it takes time.

Growling is not a bad thing either and not something to get worked up about. It's the dog telling you they're unhappy with something which gives you the opportunity to correct it.

It's incredibly early days. Your dog wasn't 'settled' in two days, OP. It takes at least three months for a dog to settle (and that's a dog that doesn't have a bad history, like abuse, living on the streets etc). Your dog might look content and like he's always been there - but he's not on the inside.

No one can say for sure if this behaviour is an inherent part of the dog or if it was done because the dog is unsettled. What we can say is that young children need to be kept away from dogs in their home, particularly when dogs are relaxing or dozing and the child is being disruptive/loud/noisy. Dogs can be annoyed by anything nearby because our 'not that close' is actually 'very close' for a dog.

That being said, the dog did not make contact. It was a very clear warning; back off and leave me alone when I want to relax. It's up to you to decide what to do with that - your dog has set a clear boundary and now you either need to adhere to it (as your children do) or you need to surrender the dog. Ultimately though, a growl is a growl. If the dog wanted to hurt your child, he could. But from now on I would be very clear to your children that a dog is a living creature and being silly nearby is not a good idea (ditto with trying to force it to play games all the time, bothering it when it's sleeping etc etc).

But, to be completely honest, and I am sorry to say it, no good rescue would have rehomed any dog with two young children to start with.

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone I agree with you but rescues can't win. The amount of threads I've seen on here over the years from people being outraged about age restrictions for families with children. Many of them end up with farmed puppies because their desire to have a dog is more important than anything else. So I've noticed more rescues trying to be open minded to families but then we end up with threads like this one...

You need to give the dog much much longer to settle in, train him not to be on the sofa, the dog has its own bed to relax in and when he’s there the kids need to learn to leave him be.

A growl is actually a way of communicating he wasn’t happy in the situation, and tbh I do think dogs are allowed to communicate in that way and people need to listen to those signals.

Where did you get a rescue with a 2yo?

Greyhounds like a quiet life. A burst of activity and uninterrupted sleep. They're not really an obvious breed for a family with small children.

If it's any help my old big dog (best dog in the world) growled once or twice at small children (not in the family but visitors). He just didn't know what to expect from them, as all my kids were older. All he ever did was offer a growl, then took himself off behind the sofa, where he stayed until the children were gone. That dog was a saint and never bared a tooth in anger to anyone, he just let us know that he wasn't comfortable with young, unpredictable children.

We made sure that if we had small visitors, big dog was able to put himself away out of their reach, which he did, and we never had an incident of any kind of aggression after that.

I was wondering also how you managed to get a rescue with small children. The dog needs space, peace and quiet for months as other folk have said. I have had rescues,3 ,2 were aggressive, returned. They were not allowed on the sofas. I have had dogs since I was a kid myself. Lost our doggo last year almost 18. I tried a huge amount of rescues all over the UK. I had a few criteria, not staff,or brachial,DH didnt want a male. Every single one was, large garden,I have 200 ft that wasn't enough. 6ft fence, mine is 5.5 and pretty new. No other pets,we have a dog, rural home,we live on the edge of a village, not good enough. Reactive to: people,other dogs,cars,bikes. No visiting children, youngest DGD is a Toddler. We ended up buying a puppy.

Growling is not a bad thing either and not something to get worked up about. It's the dog telling you they're unhappy with something which gives you the opportunity to correct it.

That's what I thought. But there's some conflicting advice out there

The dog will be getting to the point where he’s starting to relax and realise he’s not moving on again so he will start to settle in. It doesn’t sound like he likes your children very much especially since they sound boisterous. He’s giving warning growls now - but if they keep roughhousing near him and stepping on him then don’t be surprised if he escalates. I think you need to look at ways you can keep the dog and the children seperate. Greyhounds are big dogs, and maybe the case is that he can’t go on the sofa because you can’t separate the kids and dog.

You could get a room divider and he can relax on one side and your kids are on the other. When they go to bed he can come and sit with you. you need to keep them apart for everyone’s sake though. I bet if you watch him he will be showing signs of stress - licking his lips, yawning, a tense body, whale eye, moving away if he gets the chance. A happy dog doesn’t growl at people. I’d be rethinking if I was the right home for the dog

The dog isn't 'settled' after a few days or weeks. We have a rescue dog we got as a young pup and after 2 years she's still learning to trust us.

A greyhound should never have been re homed with a hyperactive young child.

They like peace and quiet indoors.

Unless you can secure a safe room for the greyhound to keep your child away from them, there's going to be an incident and it will be the dog that has to be rehomed or worse, put to sleep.

I despair at the amount of rescue dogs I've encountered who have been given over to a new home that is completely the wrong environment for that breed.

Surely all dogs are different though? I'm not saying he is definitely settled already, but 2 years is surely quite a long time? For a dog without a traumatic past anyway

I bet if you watch him he will be showing signs of stress - licking his lips, yawning, a tense body, whale eye, moving away if he gets the chance. A happy dog doesn’t growl at people. I’d be rethinking if I was the right home for the dog

No. He is incredibly enthusiastic about my son for example and seeks him out, a lot. He wags his tail and seems relaxed and curious around them, never looking stressed.

He sleeps quite a bit because of his breed but it's never been an issue - like I say, they are kept away when he's in his bed asleep or relaxing etc

He doesn't like going in a separate room despite access to it to take himself off if it got a bit much

As I say, this is the first incident

Get that dog off your furniture immediately and forever. He needs a relaxing space where he can know that he will be undisturbed, and that isn't the sofa that your kids sit on. The kids are also entitled to their relaxing space.

Get him his own dog bed and use a pen to keep him separate when your children are around or he’s eating. Sharing a sofa isn’t a good idea with such a large dog and bound to cause conflict.

He wags his tail and seems relaxed and curious around them, never looking stressed.

A wagging tail can be a sign of stress in itself though. Your dog has only been with you a matter of weeks - many dogs come from shelters completely shut down and won't express their natural behaviour for a while.

You still haven't said which rescue decided to let you have a dog with a toddler and an older SEN child - did this dog come from somewhere dodgy?

@fieldsofbutterflies yes, I know that. But you have to go by their overall body language, which is calm and happy

The rescue I got him from is a registered charity number. They only rehome these breeds (and I think sometimes Whippets)

Not all wags are good wags. If the tail is low, it could be a cautious wag.

I'm genuinely surprised that you managed to get a dog from a reputable rescue centre with a toddler in the house. That shocks me tbh.

There's good reasons why people don't recommend rescue dogs or puppies with small children - and this is one of them. Children are noisy and unpredictable and just don't understand the consequences of their actions.

Greyhounds are also a breed that is very, very prone to sleep startle - which means if their sleep is disturbed, they can lash out without really realising what they're doing - again, really not a good idea around young children.

I know you keep saying he's relaxed and settled and happy but the reality is that that is incredibly unlikely after such a short amount of time in your home - it takes months.