There are multiple reasons that a dog may exhibit aggression toward family members. The most common causes include conflict aggression, fear-based, defensive aggression, status related aggression, possessive aggression, food guarding aggression and redirected aggression.
Dogs bark at people for a variety of different reasons, whether because they are excited, frustrated that they can't greet the person, or even worried or uncomfortable about another's presence. If your dog is barking while in your front yard, they may feel protective of their home or be warning others to stay away.
Dogs were found to prioritize the scent of humans over other scents. Typically when a dog sniffs a person they are uncomfortable with, it's due to the pheromones that person is giving off. To the dog, those pheromones may signal a threat or an alarm telling the dog to beware.
Many breeds are very protective, and many dogs have “their person” – so they will have a tendency to growl when someone else is approaching as a way to ensure that their special person stays safe. You may also see the behavior if they are friendly with other dogs and a new, unknown pet comes around.
The likely reason why your dog growls or barks at some people and not others is because of their body language, the way they look or smell, how they interact with the dog or behave towards you or because the person reminds the dog of someone who previously mistreated them.
More often than not, the reason a dog reacts aggressively toward a family member is due to poor socialization or fear from a past experience.
There is a possibility that your pet considers your husband as a resource. Seeing you (or anybody for that matter) near your husband may make your dog feel insecure or uncomfortable, as they might think that their precious resource might just get exhausted or is under threat.
If your dog growls at your child he is sending a clear warning that he is very uncomfortable with the actions or proximity of the child. Be grateful that your dog chose to warn with a growl rather than going straight to a bite.
In a nutshell, this is resource guarding. Your dog sees you as a valuable resource (i.e. you provide food, water and shelter) and wants to keep it that way.
Most dogs assume a neutral or submissive role toward people, but some dogs will challenge their owners for dominance. A dominant dog may stare, bark, growl, snap, or even bite when you give him a command or ask him to give up a toy, treat, or resting place.
Dogs can sense when someone is a bad or good person. Your dog may not know the moral decisions a person has made, but he can pick up on signs of nervousness, fear, anger, and danger. Dogs notice specific things about humans that even other humans are not aware of.
Reasons Dogs Bark
If your dog doesn't see Grandma very often, she may fit the stranger category to them and their instinctive need to protect you and your shared space will kick in. The closer Grandma gets to the house, the more they will bark and the louder and more demonstrative their protest will become.
Nipping the kids can mean a few different things. Some dogs might nip at kids who are running by because they're overly excited in the situation. There's also fear-based nipping. And dogs might also nip or bite when they're guarding resources or territory.
This type of barking occurs because your dog is fearful and sees strangers as a potential threat. Dogs are wired to defend their territory, so they will use their bark when they detect unknown people in familiar places like their homes and their yards.
Don't push your dog over his tolerance threshold. Whatever you're doing, just stop. If your dog's growl threshold is near his bite threshold – that is, if there's not much time between his growl and his bite, get safe. If his growl doesn't mean a bite is imminent, stop what you're doing but stay where you are.
If you punish a growl with a reprimand, you are adding something unpleasant on top of an already unpleasant feeling, which will only make your dog feel worse. If instead, you teach your dog to look forward to the things he was previously afraid of, your dog will stop needing to growl! Happy Training!
Don't Punish Growling
You won't have done anything to address the underlying issue. For example, punishing your dog for growling in the presence of other dogs will stop the growling. However, your dog will still feel uncomfortable around other dogs.
If your child plays rough with your puppy, then your puppy is more likely to bark at your child. Respect your puppy's boundaries. Most dogs do not like to be hugged, picked up, or kissed. If your child is doing these things, your pup might be telling your child that they are uncomfortable.
Another tip is to sit with your dog outside a fenced-in children's play area, again at a distance your dog can cope with, and feed him generously for calm behaviour. Keep the sessions short, and move away on a good note.
A lack of early socialization: Dogs who aren't exposed to children as puppies may become fearful when they meet them later in life. When they encounter children for the first time as adult dogs, they may be extremely frightened by the unfamiliar size, smells, noises, and movements of children.
Although there are many reasons that a dog could bark or act aggressively with men, I find that fear is the most common one, followed by the feeling that they need to protect their owner. No matter the cause of the aggression, the most important thing is to implement leadership techniques.
This is because the dog sees that just one person if correcting them, enforcing the commands, doing all the pack leadership things that are built into the training, etc. So, the dog simply learns, “I have to listen to and respect this person; however, not so much this other person.”
If your dog's jumping turns into barking, growling, or standing stiffly when you hug, you should definitely see a trainer. This is guarding behavior and can escalate quickly. Your dog might be protecting you, but clearly, you like the person you are hugging and this could be a tough spot for them.