a playful growl?

I'm pretty sure whenever I play with any of the dogs they always growl when we are playing tug of war with the toys.  I never think twice about it because I know they aren't being aggressive.  I always just assume it's something they naturally do?!

Some dogs growl when they play - with you and with other dogs. Nothing to worry about in and of itself.

Yea thats what I kind of thought. I heard somewhere they if they growl while playing tug of war you need to take the tug of war toy away and never let them win the game. It seemed soft of silly to me because the growl does not sound mean it just sound like "let keep playing this is fun!" sheesh would they take a toy from a baby because he/she laughed while they played?

It depends on the type of growl and body language. My dogs growl constantly during play but it's by no means aggressive.  Their "stay out of my yard" growl is much throatier and their body language is unmistakeable.

Yeah, you can tell the difference between the play growl and the I'm not liking what's going on growl. 

A playful growl is completely normal.... and as everyone has said, you can/will learn to tell the difference between a playful growl and an aggressive growl.
 
Seems to me like you have no worries.

i agree with the other posts, there is a difference between a mean growl and a play growl. my husbands rottweiler would growl when someone came near her bone, it was a mean, im gonna eat you if you touch that, growl. our dog we have now, berserker, will bring his toy up to you and grunt-growl to let you know its play time. its not hard to tell what is a warning and what is just noise. i wouldnt worry about it too much unless she gets nippy about you or others touching her toys.

I think growling is half the fun of playing tug. My dog gets growly when she's really enjoying herself and getting into the game. She also growls playfully when I act like I'm about to steal her toy off her. She lies low and growls and when my hand gets too close, picks it up and runs away with it. It's all part of the game. When I decide to take the toy and throw it again, I say "give" or "can I have it please?" and she instantly releases it so I can throw it and we can start again. It sounds kinda scary to people who don't know my dog, but I know it's certainly not a mean growl.

She also growls when she doesn't like me doing something. She gets grumbly, but it's just her telling me she's less than impressed with my latest crazy idea that involves her being brushed up the wrong way or pushed along a slippery floor on her side. My housemates were always surprised that she never ever made any attempt to nip and were convinced she'd bite them if they did the same thing, but if it's something she REALLY doesn't like, she just sooks and whines and doesn't grumble at all. The bottom line being that she can be very vocal, but growling in her is rarely associated with aggression. She's not an aggressive dog and if she really means business, she snarls before she takes any physical action, and I've never seen her snarl at me or any other human for that matter.

My dog growls quite a bit when playing. I think it is perfectly ok as long as it is a play growl and not a mean growl. Maggie is very vocal and if I didn't let her growl when she played then she probably wouldn't play.

April and I just got done playing and she growls a lot, it makes me laugh, it's the only time she does it, it is just play and she loves it as do I.

Try having a corgi. She growls when she plays by herself and oh boy, does she ever when she talks to me. People have commented "why is she growling?", shes not its all talk.

Yes!  Pepper does this too.  She'll put the rope toy in your lap, then bark/howl/growl at you to play.  Then she grabs it and runs off.  If you get it first and toss it down the hall, she'll run after it and bring it back.  We usually play with 2 toys at a time.  One to throw in trade for letting the other one go!

ORIGINAL: tiffy

Try having a corgi. She growls when she plays by herself and oh boy, does she ever when she talks to me. People have commented "why is she growling?", shes not its all talk.

Tiffy, that's exactly what I get from my corgi. Does Tootsie also grumble to herself when she doesn't like something? It's kind of amusing watching Penny grumble when one of the other dogs walks on her or gets in her way. The grumbles escalate the more annoyed she gets, but it takes something pretty seriously grating before she'll do anything more than just grumble.

LOL The way my english bulldog growled, complete with fake vicious snarling was funny.  A stranger would think she was about to take my hand off.   Not a problem.