Bad dog?

rsalas

I have a 4 year old Golden, Charlotte, who is a great dog. She has never met another dog or person that she didn't love!However, she is not very "social" around her water bowl or food bowl, and will growl when another dog invades her "space" while she is eating or drinking.

rsalas

Charlotte is always more than excited to let another dog smell her out, but there are times when I think she doesn't want another dog jumping and pawing at her face, and she'll let out a little growl.

Let me rephrase those a little bit to put it in perspective. I'll substitute Charlotte's name for your name.

rsalas

I have a dear friend, Rsalas, who is a great friend. She has never met another dog or person that she didn't love! However, she is not very "social" around her drinking glass or plate, and will swat at a hand or glare when another person invades her "space" while she is eating or drinking and tries to pick food from her plate.

rsalas

 Rsala is always more than excited to let another person come up to say hello, but there are times when I think she doesn't want another person groping her and pushing her around, and she'll let out a little comment to warn them.

How does that sound?

Sounds like to me, based on the information provided, you have a very normal dog who simply doesn't like being harassed by other dogs (who would like being assaulted with being jumped on and pawed at all the time??!?!?!), and who prefers to enjoy her own food and drinks in peace.

It sounds like your Cavalier is another normal dog and has good communication skills such that they have reached a peaceful existance where she will not bother Charlotte while Charlotte is drinking and eating. It sounds like the other dog does not have such good skills at understanding her signals, and because her signals go ignored, Charlotte escalates to a more obvious sign - chasing away.

I would monitor the other dog and not let her harass Charlotte while she is drinking and eating. And I wouldn't expect your own dog to *enjoy* every other dog any more than you enjoy every person you meet. It's just not reasonable.

Thanks for that perspective, Kim!  Great example!  My sister reads Charlotte's growling (at her dog) as being mean or agressive. I read it as Char's way of saying "go away, I don't want you drinking out of my bowl at the same time as me" or "I'm trying to nap, stop poking your nose in my eye!" Char and my cavalier, Lucky (who is the same age as my sister's cav) never have these problems. Sometimes, as a puppy will often do, Lucky will be jumping at Char and engaging in play. If Char feels like playing, she'll bow, and the fun begins! If she doesn't feel like playing, she'll let out a little grumpy growl, and ignore him. He, in turn, will leave her alone. But Tessie doesn't... even after Char's "warning" growl, she'll still be right up in her face. But, apparantly, it's my dog being mean for growling in the first place!

Then I think your sister may need a little help in understanding how dog's communicate! Not all growls are aggression, and you might even point out that it is the other Cavalier who is being "passive-aggressive" in totally ignoring another dog's communication signals and pushing its way in anyway. Try to change the perspective, as I did, to help her understand.

Tell her that if she were sleeping, would she want somebody to approach her and start instigating a game of catch or cards? Or how about when she's eating and somebody came up to her and tried to take some of her food. It's kinda rude, no matter your species!! Some dogs tolerate things like that well, and don't really care. But most normal dogs will sometimes have something to say about "breach of social conduct" .

 A growl is the dogs way of saying "back off". You should ask your sister if she would mind if you ate off her plate while shes eating.