Don’t let your dog do this
A Youtube short of a dog growling over a watermelon was recently pushed to me by the gods of Youtube:
Folks, never let your dog growl at you, playfully or not, and this particular clip isn’t playful. The dog wants the watermelon, probably because it looks like a big ball, and he won’t let the two guys in the video take it from him. Here’s what they did wrong:
- Do not touch your dog when it’s growling at you. The next step in this sequence is the dog biting you. Instead, throw something large enough at them to displace them but that won’t hurt them such as a pillow and then take the item.
- Next, your dog should be wearing a collar so you have something to grab on to – no collar present in this video. If they are not growling but still disobeying, grab by the collar and the scruff of the neck and sit them down, telling them no to whatever behavior you are wanting to stop.
- You need to work on teaching your dog that good things come from you but do not necessarily belong to them. Practice making them wait to eat, wait to go outside until you say, etc. Your dog must know that you are the boss. In this clip, the dog definitely has already learned through repetition that standing its ground and growling gets it what it wants.
