Think my dog just growled at me?!?!

Okay, my collie is 6 months old today, I just finished giving her a bath.
We went downstairs for a bit then I asked her to come upstairs with me while I put my purse away.
She ran up the stairs and sat at the top, nothing unusual there.
Sometimes I ask her to sit and wait and I go up first and sometimes I let her run up first.

I was near the top when I heard her growling!!!!
Her mouth was closed, no teeth showing but it was a definitely a growl.
She has never done that before.
I pushed her out of my way then told her to sit and wait very crossly at which point she looked quite scared, after a while I let her come downstairs with me.

What just happened?

Her temperament has always been perfect, she's the sweetest, gentlest little soul out.
Her behaviour has really shocked and upset me, she is a big dog already and I have a four year old and we will be trying for another baby soon.

Why did she behave like that and what can I do to make sure it never happens again?!

Please don't punish your dog for growling at you, growling is a communication she will use to tell you she is not happy about something, you punish her ( telling her off) she will stop growling, and her only other option will then be to bite.

There could be a hundred reasons why she growled, you have to try and work out what it is, it could be due to the bath, she may feel uncomfortable for one reason or another, or she may just be growing into that terrible teenager, that is all goby and trying to push their luck.

If the situation happens again, try to ignore the growl and use a distraction.. I.E, she is at the top of the stairs and she growls , instead of getting uptight, distract her with a toy, turn round and call her after you, with something like.....oh ?? Come on, lets go get a biscuit/toy/ treat, Focus her attention on something else, and you will have removed her reason to growl

Never push her into confrontation, You will lose and she will have to defend .



Here is an example...

Millie does not like being pushed of the sofa, or physically being removed from her bed, if you manhandle her, she will give a low growl, as I have more brains than she does, ( honest)I use them to find a solution, it's an easy one.....I just shout......oh come on, look who's here ??? OR , come and get a biscuit....result, she's off the sofa in a shot, without any confrontation.

I wouldn't punish her growling if she was growling because she was scared or hurt but she growled at me for literally no reason, I bath her a lot. She's very used to it.

Would distracting with a toy not be rewarding her for growling...?

I'm so new to this

Hi Laura growling can have a number of meanings from a warning to 'beware' to 'come and play'. A growl should be looked at in the context of the other body language (position of the ears/ eyes /tail/stance) .
My dog growls all the time including when sitting on top of the stairs . This particular growl is in play and means 'come and get me' .
If you were unsure about reading her body language I would have spoken to her in a light hearted way. I would never 'punish' a growl whatever the reason for it.

Well, when she started growling she was sat, staring at me, ears forward very confidently.

She just moved with no fuss when I pushed past.

Only when I told her to sit and wait in a cross tone did the ears go back and she cowered slightly.

No, you are rewarding the " wanted " behaviour .

Never punish a growl.
One of our dogs was punished for growling before we had him, he never growls. this makes reading him or predicting how he will behave very difficult as we have no way of knowing if he is uncomfortable or stressed, he will lunge and snap with very little prior indication, you don't want to end up with a dog like that around youngsters.

How do you know Pen wasn't in pain? I guess she probably wasn't but ya never know.
What do you need to bathe her a lot for? Maybe she doesn't like it and thought you were going to do it again when you went upstairs.
Dont worry that she growled, teach the kids to back off when she growls and you shouldn't have to worry about them getting bit.
My Vic growls, its very useful for learning what he does or doesn't like, I learnt that after repeatedly hugging him one day, despite his growling at me, eventually he bit me on the back of the head. My fault totally and I still don't know why I kept trying to hug him despite him telling me not to, humans are funny
Are you a member of a dog club or go training or anything?

You said she went upstairs in front of you then you followed. Maybe she thought you were going to bring her back down and she didn't want to go. Did you feel a bit afraid when she growled?

It's easy to take growling to heart. I know growling is just a way of communicating they are not happy or uncomfortable with something but its very hard to not see it as a threat and a precursor to an attack...which it isn't necessarily.

Our 9 month old bull lurcher rescue pup is a growler. He'll growl fine doesn't want to move off the sofa or the bed and he thinks either myself, my partner or my children are trying to move him. We taught him 'get off' with treats..or I'll walk out of the room and whistle for him in an excited way.

No I don't think so, I asked her to come with me upstairs.
She always gets excited as she likes racing up and own the stairs, sometimes I let her run off in front like today, other days I ask her to sit and wait and I go first.
This happens many times a day, I take her with me wherever I go as I don't leave her and my son unattended.
She knows the drill, she follows me upstairs while I clean, make beds etc, today I was just putting my purse back.
Then we go downstairs, I've never had to make her come down, she always follows me happily.

Very.
I grew up with a mum terrified of dogs, after a lot of pestering from me, brother and dad we took on a rescue dog who growled and lunged and was very very aggressive to my little brother and tried to bite my dad when he walked past him when he had a bone.
He went bak to the rescue the next day.

Although I like dogs I get nervous if they bark so to have my own one growl at me