And neutered, online brighter dogs teaching other people if saginaw situation. It is difficult to explain a way people can understand, and I believe this is one of 's biggest hurdles I do not find 's admission of fandom to be at all conflict with her to allow her dog to act as individual and often take charge of her. Personally I disagree with much of what Stillwell says but this does not mean I do not learn anything from her, or consider her important voice the dog behaviour world. Would you believe it possible that I am both a fan of AND Coren? The most significant things I have learnt I've learnt from those two people, both at completely different ends of the spectrum. Is there no room for opinions from across the board? The growl should be treated as a communication expression of feeling from the dog and should most certainly be acknowledged. The tricky bit is being able to figure out what that particular dog meant by it's growl at that specific moment, and then to figure out away of addressing that expression and resolving the matter. Growling is indication of something, quite often discomfort It is a warning signal, used to inform the target that it uncomfortable about what it dislikes and if the situation does not improve it raise the stakes and resort to further distance increasing behaviours, like snapping or biting. The danger stifling a dog's choice of growling without acknowledging and dealing with the reason for the dog's perceived need to growl is that, having been shown growling doesn't work, it move straight on up to snapping or biting, giving the offending dog person LESS warning to move away before being potentially damaged. Showing favoritism can cause more problems that it's worth depending on the personalities play. If you favour the wrong dog you leave the other no option but to continue to compensate with it's own style of warning opinion Parkes has the better idea of how to handle the growler on the sofa I worked for a while for a small dog Charity. I often had to stay overnight caring for about 6 rescued dogs. I did find it useful to establish 'leadership' by their methods, basically, never say hello or goodbye to a dog not their concern what you are doing. And, e..g. when a 12 stone mastiff leaned on me, just moving away without speaking. The key was not speaking. We had a 12 year old lurcher type that had been shut outdoors most of his life. He was reluctant to go out at night to do his business. I just went out first, kept back to him and said nothing, and within a few minutes out he came. Time and agin saw this method work when dealing with dogs with fears Needless to say, when I had own small dog, he was totally charge! I have 8 yr old female, 6 yr old female 2 yr old male ……all chow chows, all fixed, all since 8w weeks old When we got the 6yr old as a pup the rescue told us they excepted her to try to be dominant. The last 6 months we have had to step between the girls a few times....... Twice the last month they have actually fought. …common factor seems to be playtime with the youngest. If the 6yr old gets just a little to rough or aggressive with the 2yr old the 8yr old starts to circle or just attacks her. We give the commands to leave it or walk away, most of the time it works but sadly not all anymore and I 't why. Any thoughts on why now this is