Dog growling at my 6 yr old

My 6 yr old can be laying on the floor or just sitting on the couch watching tv and the dog goes up to her and growls at her . We correct him every time but he still keeps doing it. like i said she has never done anything to him. any suggestions to get him to quit? i can't have a dog in the house that may actually one day bite her.

Mmmm, well you don't want to be correcting it because a growl is an important warning signal. There are lots of questions that could be asked about it body language etc but as its a case of you being worried the dog could bite the child I would get a qualified behaviourist out to do a full assessment and then help you from there on. At least you would then know what issues you are dealing with. Not just go with anyone though, the methods have to be positive. Www.apbc.co.uk or www.apbt.co.uk and find one in your area.

The poster lives in the USA

Thanks. he jut walks up to her and growls, its a low growl but still one at that! he doesn't growl at my 4,9 or 10 yr old at all just the 6 yr old. off to see if i can find a bahaviorist.

It's www.apdt.com then

www.happytailsfamilydogtraining.com

I just found that one, she is APDT accredited.

Also there seem to be a few in Victoria stillwells website,

Hi My step daughters little JR Branston,has just started barking at her 18mth old,but what she has been doing is using a water pistol,because the incessant barking is causing the little one to cry all the ime,what the dog does is sit in front of the baby barking,upstairs on the landing,dont know what has triggered it,but the water pistol seems to be helping,you really have to catch the dog at the beginning,because once he starts,it just go on and on,crystalgirl

Do ensure they use modern methods based on kind reward based systems. If you find someone who talks about how pack leader stuff can help, avoid their advice as they may cause more problems and obviously with kids involved you do have to take care and get good advice

This can work but it can also cause a risk if the dog starts to associate the baby with being sprayed.... best thing is to find out why the dog is barking and try to solve the problem from the root