If you’ve ever been growled at by your dog, you know it’s a feeling somewhere between confusion, guilt, and “Did I just offend a small, four-legged tyrant?” Recently, I had the chance to work with a couple whose Basset Hound had decided to make growling a regular part of his vocabulary. What started as a phone call with the husband describing a few incidents quickly turned into a full-on behavioral investigation once I arrived at their home.
As it turns out, the husband and wife were reading entirely different storybooks about their dog. What one considered “cute warning growl” was, to the other, “an act of canine rebellion.” And here’s the kicker: their dog seemed to be acting differently toward each of them. Different people = different relationships = different growls.
During the initial consultation, we spent half our time just figuring out when and how often their Basset Hound was growling—and under what circumstances. It’s harder than it sounds! Behavior fluctuates, triggers can be subtle, and sometimes what you think is a pattern… isn’t really a pattern at all.
Here’s where the “semi-private eyes” method comes in. I asked the couple to keep a detailed diary for ten days. Every growl, every circumstance, every human reaction had to be logged. This wasn’t about shaming anyone or overthinking the situation—it was about getting real data.
We identified the main triggers: hovering over the dog, certain types of petting, and touching or lifting his paws. The couple agreed to avoid these triggers while recording everything else. Each of them had their own identical form, because experiences were, unsurprisingly, not the same.
Here’s what they were tracking:
- What happened just before the growl? Approaching the dog, playing rough, cleaning ears, waking him from a nap?
- Where did it happen? On the couch, by the food bowl, in the hallway?
- What did they do afterward? Did they freeze, scold, or walk away?
- How often did the growl occur?
- How did they feel? Frustrated, scared, guilty?
This simple act of writing things down is more powerful than it seems. Our brains love patterns—even imaginary ones—and memory is far less reliable than we like to think. Recording events as they happen gives us a factual map of the territory we’re navigating.
For this couple, the added bonus was insight into their own emotional reactions. By logging feelings, they could step back, see the situation more clearly, and reduce knee-jerk responses. And that, in turn, allows me to create a behavior modification plan that respects both the dog’s perspective and theirs.
The lesson? Growls aren’t just about the dog—they’re a conversation between human and canine. And like any good conversation, the first step is listening carefully. Grab a notebook, pay attention, and you might just discover that the key to harmony is hidden in plain sight… or in a growl.