Tell me one good reason for a dog not liking you?
By Bala
@balasri (26537)
India
34 responses
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
23 Apr 09
well there could be many reasons why a dog would growl at you
it would help if we knew who's dog and what the situation was
it could be aggression, it could just be protecting its owner/territory, it could be anxiety, or it could just be that you are not exuding calm assertive energy establishing a sense of dominance over it
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
23 Apr 09
I have been around dogs all my life and am still learning
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
24 Apr 09
It isn't a simple case of the dog not liking you. There are many factors that enter into the equation. I would believe that first and foremost, it's the case that the dog is very shy and it's growling because of fear (shyness) and anxiety that there is the possibility of someone doing something to it that it might not like.
Was the owner with it? Sometimes dogs are over protective of their owners. It's up to the owner to curb the behavior of their dog growling at a person who is talking to it or wishing to pet the dog. If the owner isn't with it, it's simply either a fear mechanism or a warning to you that it is frightened, lost, or anxious.
From your simple post, I definitely get the feeling that you wouldn't harm an animal and by asking the question you certainly are concerned that you might be doing something that the dog might not like and for both of your safeties you want to know why it would exhibit this kind of behavior. In short, I know full well that contrary to the previous post YOU SURE AS HECK WOULDN'T PUNCH OR HURT A DOG OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL!!!!
@balasri (26537)
• India
26 Apr 09
Sorry to disappoint you Love bear.I am an animal lover and I don't remember any dog growling at me so far.It is not a personal question seeking help to protect me from a growling dog.I just started this discussion expecting some very funny responses .But all I get is very serious responses about the behavior science of the dogs.Well I am enjoying this too.Thanks a lot for the elaborate response.
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
26 Apr 09
Thank you! I just finished mopping my family room where my three mini Dachshunds sleep at night. Unfortunately they are "kennel dogs" who never knew the inside of a house. I had two of the three house broken until I took in Katie. It all flew out the window. She's a regular piss pot! So finding that I got a best response was wonderful!
I get so tired of being serious, there needs to be more fun discussions on the lot. There is so much sadness in the world that if we keep consuming it into our minds without the cure of laughter we will end up some of the saddest people on the face of the earth. I'm in college and there are times that I drive my instructors nuts with my humor. I took a publishing class that we were to put out news letters. There are ares in the new letter that I couldn't believe that I wrote it because I even laughed until tears ran down my face. I was lampooning those "Christmas Brag letters" we would get where people's children were the best and anything they did and no one EVER failed. The instructors use my news letters as models for the students. (I got A's in both classes)
One more hint: If you are over 40 don't go into the grocery store, grab a 20 pound frozen turkey, stuff it up your skirt or down you pants and try to convince the security guard that you are really pregnant! And if you do manage to make it out the door, don't stop and visit ANY dog! Not unless you can run like crazy.
I will interject one fun story that actually happened. One of our neighbors had the sweetest dog you could ever meet. Missy was solid black and part shepard and who knows what else. She was from the pound, and apparently she never had much when she was growing up, so Missy turned out to be the biggest kleptomaniac on the block! No one's shoes were safe if they were left on the front stoop...in the morning there would be a regular parade of people going up to check Missy's dog house and retrieving their shoes. But even with that you had to love the dog. Well one neighbor was thawing a chicken on a tree stump outside his home. Missy couldn't resist! She snuck up and grabbed the chicken just as the man came out the door. Well Orville was a rather rotund man, and he didn't take kindly to having his dinner go into the dog. So the chase was on. They ran down a steep gully beside his house, up the other side, down the road behind his house, across vacant lots, through the brambles and bushes, over fences, through creeks, up more hills and finally ended up at Missy's home. Of course she got there first and was enjoying the fruits of her spoils when Orville came puffing up. The fight ensued. The harder he pulled the harder she growled and pulled in return. Suddenly she let go and he fell a$$ over tea kettle down another hill. He got up, clutching his chicken, which by then looked more like a mutilated mutant bird which was covered in a mixture of dog slobber, dirt, weeds, gravel, and leaves. He went up to the owners who were laughing like crazy (after all living in the country there isn't too much entertainment, and this chase was priceless!). Orville was shaking the mutilated chicken at them demanding that they make things right. Kathy, the wife, took the bird in the house and rinsed it off and handed it back to Orville, stating that the only problem with the chicken was it was missing a wing. Orville sky rocketed and you could hear him yelling a mile away! (I too was laughing my a$$ off by this time) Orville proceeded to throw the chicken at Kathy and storm off, muttering to himself. It worked out well because Kathy cleaned up the chicken thoroughly and she and her husband had chicken for dinner.
Thank you again for the best response. If you ever want to read the newsletters, email me and I will send them to you.
@substance (585)
• India
24 Apr 09
hmmm!there will surely be plenty of reasons. But since i am a dog/cat person, i seriously won't know why a particularly one is growling at me. Dogs have very strong instincts and they can easily makes out our uneasiness/pretentious nature and maybe barks/growls at us.
And a good cared for dogs also have a trustful nature and can easily gets closer to anybody but an uncared for dogs or abused one generally does'nt trust people and tends to growls often at strangers.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
27 Apr 09
Probably because I don't like dogs very much, I guess they sense my fear and you should never show a dog fear otherwise it will growl, bark or even attack you! I much prefer cats I feel more comfortable with them, I did have a dog when I was a child. Also in the UK you have to clear up their dog mess after them, poop and scoop and that puts me off, yuk so dogs don't like me because I could never clean up after them!
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
3 May 09
Because I groom her hehehe She does not like grooming much....but she is getting more accustomed to grooming now as she is getting older.
@dpk262006 (58675)
• Delhi, India
24 Apr 09
Hi! Bala!
Actually, it is possible that he may not identify me then in that case he may not like me. If the dog feels that I do not belong to his breed and I am not behaving like him, he may disapprove me...........LOL!
@dpk262006 (58675)
• Delhi, India
29 Apr 09
Bala! It is the choice of dog whether he likes me or otherwise.
Though I am sure once I show love and affection and little care to a dog, I can also befriend it. 
@runner0369 (641)
• United States
3 May 09
Growling means they feel threatened. Maybe it is because you are a lot taller than them and they find that intimidating? Some dogs are scared of most people. Think about it from their perspective. If some animal twice as tall as you approached you and you could not understand their language you might get nervous too. Also, dogs can sense your emotions so if your stressed out about something it can make them anxious even if your stress is unrelated to them.
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
2 May 09
I wish I knew. My neighbour's horrible little dog growls and barks at me every time I walk down the street. It even chases my car.
I know it's defending it's territoy, but really I have no urge to go sit in it's kennel. I just don't know how to make it understand that!
@acevivx (1566)
• Philippines
29 Apr 09
Because you eat dog meat? They say dogs can smell out those who love to eat dog meat.
However, it is more logical to say that dogs can smell fear and when they smell your fear of them, they have a tendency to be more aggressive and to growl at you. But one good reason for a dog not to like you is when you are cruel to animals and to a dog in particular. It will react in self defense just like human being would react to someone who is cruel or hurts them.
@acevivx (1566)
• Philippines
5 May 09
Actually I was not asking you if you eat dog meat nor was I thinking that your question was why dogs didn't like YOU in particular. The question mark indicates that I was giving you a possible answer which I was at the same time seeking confirmation by asking it in the form of a question if you would confirm that indeed it is a good reason why a dog would not like SOMEONE ( which means anyone not just you or me)
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
24 Apr 09
May be he is barking at me because I am owning his girlfriend and not allowing him to get a hand on her!
Or
May be he doesn't like me meeting my girlfriend who is his owner.
Or
May be I am interupting him when he is dreaming about his girl friend.
and many more !
@doooooooomm (24)
• Lithuania
23 Apr 09
if its your dog you might have punched him at past and he havent forgot that.
if its not yours so it is just protecting his owners or his teritory.
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
23 Apr 09
what?
good people like Bala dont punch animals
anyone that does needs to be showed how that feels
@alokn99 (5717)
• India
24 Apr 09
Probabaly because i tried giving it some tough looks, pulled its tail, or refused to share some of my food with it.
Seriously Bala, i think Dogs go on the basis of thier instincts and may like or dislike a person also based on thier first encounters.
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
25 Apr 09
A dog will growl to protect their food or treats. Dogs do like me but we had one I use to tease by pretending I was taking his bone. I'd reach down and he'd growl. He was a very gentle dog and never did bite anyone but was letting me know the bone was his and not mine. I didn't do it often because I didn't want to drive the dog nuts but it was my way of playing.
@littleowl (7157)
•
27 Apr 09
Fear of them..if you show fear to any animal they sense you as a threat and then will growl, dogs pick up very quickly on your emotions, even if trained as a guard dog...they are more intelligent than you think...littleowl
@gitfiddleplayer (10362)
• United States
24 Apr 09
Hmmm, I guess because I have something it wants and I won't give it to him. My dad was a mailman for a number of years and he gave me some good advice. He said, "Son, don't ever kick at a charging dog". Me: "Why dad?" Him: "Because now you are on one leg and he is still on four." Good advice dad, thanks.
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
25 Apr 09
Dogs seem to be very good judges of human character. My Mum always says she's suspicious of people if her dogs don't like them. I suppose the growling is mostly marking territory - maybe warning you if you are giving the impression you are a threat or staring them down. Also, they are sensitive to smell, and may take offence at certain body/chemical odours.
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
25 Apr 09
Only on Bala? The one that jumps out at me is dogs have an excellent sense of a person isn't on the up and up. They have protective instinces if they feel tention from an owner if they feel a person that is in their house shouldn't be.
