How To Stop a Boxer Dog Growling
When many people see a Boxer Dog growling at them, they usually get a little scared. This is typically because Boxers have had a reputation for being an aggressive breed. While there may be slight truths to this, not every Boxer dog out there is just ready for a fight. Most are extremely loveable but if you are experiencing a lot of growling with your dog, you will need to put an end to it. Not only will people jump the gun and assume that your Boxer is anything but nice, but allowing the growling to continue – with any breed of dog – is only asking for trouble later on down the line.
The best thing to do is to have your dog looked over by a vet. An experienced and well educated vet will be able to determine whether or not there are any medical problems that your dog is experiencing that would cause him to growl a lot. There may be a medical problem that is rather easy to fix. In any case, you will want to make sure that your Boxer dog is up to date on his shots.
Even during times of play, it is important to make sure that you are not allowing your dog to growl at you. Avoid aggressive games like tug of war with your dog as these games lead to growling, which will seem like an okay thing to do since you are playing with the Boxer. Since growling is not okay, simply avoid those types of games all together. As soon as you catch your dog growling at you, the other dog in the house, the cat or a fly on the wall – make sure that you are giving a firm “no growl” command. Never hit your dog as a punishment because you cannot correct violence with violence.
You also want to make sure that you are doing your best to socialize your dog as much as possible. The more your dog is exposed to other people, other animals and other environments, the less likely your dog will growl at everyone and everything around him. Take your dog for trips to the local pet store. Many of these stores will allow well trained dogs on leashes to come in. This is a great way to introduce your pet to others.
Also, teaching your Boxer dog that you are the leader of the pack and not him is a great way to get him to curb the growling. Dogs are naturally pack animals and they will respect the leader of the pack. Therefore, you should not have to worry about your dog always growling at you. Make sure that you are teaching your dog to walk beside you or a step or two behind you. When dogs walk in front of their humans, they take it as though they have become the pack leader. This is not something that you want to have happen when you are trying to stop a growling problem.