My dog growls a lot but never bites. Is he anxious or just talking?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. This sounds like fear anxiety. Spend a lot of time counter-conditioning. This means basically re-training him to associate you all with positive things. Treats are the easiest. Sit on the floor and slowly feed him tiny treats. Then reach out to him (palm up, under the chin OR the side/back). Then give treats. Keep slowly doing more and more, giving tiny treats all the while. Eventually he learns “hey, when this person pets me, I get food!”. Also a dog brain that is eating food is much less capable of anxiety and fear. When Curry is completely comfortable with you doing this, start having the younger kids calmly join you and have them offer treats slowly too. Obviously safety is priority so if you need to hold or leash Curry while you do this, please do so. If you’d like this process to go faster and easier, talk to your vet about anti-anxiety medication which can lower the fear threshold and promote this learning. Best of luck to you and Curry!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! These types of behavior can improve though this does require in person training with the help of a qualified dog trainer. I would encourage you to contact a dog trainer that can work with you and her in person to really take care of this behavior. The sooner these behaviors are dealt with, the more likely it is that you can improve and resolve them. Good luck and have a good night!

Anxiety can lead to aggression, and it may be Skye's anxiety has gotten so great that she is now acting aggressive. I'd have her seen by a vet for this to discuss putting her on anti-anxiety medication.

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach! For food aggression problems, I typically direct clients to the ASPCA website for a detailed write up on dealing with food aggression. If these measures do not work, then I typically recommend using a service such as Bark Busters to come to your house and help correct this behavior. This can be frustrating to overcome but with persistence and patience, Buddy will likely improve. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. https:// www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/common-dog-behavior-issues/food-guarding

What you are describing may be normal puppy behavior for Bear because some puppies respond very poorly to dominance type of behavioral training. However, I would be concerned with the behaviors that you are describing. I would recommend contacting your veterinarian or the foster organization for a recommendation on a trainer to work with to have someone else observe Bear's behavior to help you decide where to go from here. The longer this behavior continues, the more serious it will be become, so this needs to be dealt with immediately. In the meantime, I would not reprimand or challenge Bear since that seems to escalate the situation. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. My advice is to get professional help sooner rather than later. This type of behavior is often due to anxiety. I would strongly recommend talking to your vet about anti-anxiety/ behavior modification medication which can make a huge difference! Once the medication is on board, the fear-threshold is lowered, and learning can occur. At that point, working with a reputable trainer in your area is a must. Best wishes to you and Cooper.

For the barking you can use a Sonic Egg which is a portable anti bark device. I would discipline him with a deep no when growling so you don't encourage this behavior. He's at a protective stage in his development so I recommend obedience training in a group setting to improve his confidence and his bonding and listening to you. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Teddy.