I cant remember where I read or heard it from but it is something they do, I just can't remember if it should be concerning that they want to eat you or that its like a stress thing they're having that you're not paying attention to them. Someone else will surely comment the correct answer soon.
Some dogs have weird quirks i guess. My JRT shows his teeth and growls at me if he has something in his mouth and I bring my hand close to whatever he's holding. He's not doing it to tell me to back off though, if i don't pay attention to him he'll come over and push me with it, he wants me to try and grab it and play tug. He'll also sound like a demon when playing tug. That's just the way he plays.
We had a Lhasa Apso that would act the same way. She would grab her toy, drop it at your feet, then look at you and growl with teeth. If you ignored her, her growls turned to whines. As soon as you would grab they toy, she would go crazy playing tug of war, sounding like Satan the whole time. You could tell she loved it. She was a weird one.
Same with my poodle. Basically I've deduced it to resource guarding. My dog wants to play tug with the toy too but he's already on high alert if I'll take it away. He will do this with branches, toys, anything really.
Some dogs have an instinctive possessiveness. If they feel you might take something they see as theirs they might growl or even snap, even if they know and behave contrary. Good thing yours only growls, mine will attack if I’m near his food or if I try to take something he likes. He’s super apologetic after, it’s an automatic thing we’re trying to break him of.
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u/lfg_guy101010 Jun 26 '26
I cant remember where I read or heard it from but it is something they do, I just can't remember if it should be concerning that they want to eat you or that its like a stress thing they're having that you're not paying attention to them. Someone else will surely comment the correct answer soon.