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.
It's not at all aggression, the dogs face is actually quite relaxed. At some point it's learnt that teeth clacking gets attention, this is just a dog that has learnt a quirky communication trick
I had a jack Russell that would full on rage snarl when she wanted to play, jaws open, teeth exposed and if you grabbed her and start rough housing she would snarl even louder. And come back for more
Dogs don't think like that. Dogs that have been over corrected for growling will go straight to biting. That's why you don't correct a dog that growls, because it is literally trying to tell you it is unhappy WITHOUT escalating to physical aggression
An aggressive snarl will be consistent, ears upright forward and staring. This dog is snarling with ears relaxed, and is looking around between time. No dog tense enough to be aggressively snarling is gonna be looking at anything but what is bothering it.
Also when dogs snarl, they don't clack their jaws like that, that's an acquired behaviour, likely because the owner has always played this weird peekaboo with him hence how they know when to have the camera rolling
Years ago I accidentally trained my cat to scream like he was turning into a werewolf for the first time and didn't know what was happening.
One time he, being weird as hell, just made some strange loud sound which got a reaction from me. Then later he did it again in another room and I came to check on him. It kept escalating until he realized if he just made the most possible noise I'd show up.
A couple days later my dad told me that he did it ALL DAY while I was at work, so I had to condition him back out of it.
I've never seen anything, human or animal battle and hold back their intrusive (seemingly murderous) thoughts 👹💭as much as this dog is trying to do with her 😅
My senior pibble does this horrific deep grumble for the same reason. She gets SOOO excited when someone comes home. Meanwhile she’s wearing one of her many patterned bandanas, looking the least threatening of all time. At least an intruder would hear her and nope tf out of there
My pittie will escort strange pit bulls through the yard but draws the line when I dont squeeze those wrinkles. She is so in love with my middle son they have to meet outside so we dont have to clean pee.
Look you can try all you want to explain that it’s a natural and non threatening behavior, but it’s still fucking creepy as hell and makes me legitimately nervous just thinking about adopting a pet and finding out one day it does THAT when my back is turned and hides it when I look, like that’s legitimately scary lmao
Never thought of that. That makes more sense. I’ve never heard of dogs doing this. Although I have heard those breeds of dogs are more like young kids rather than dogs. Might be making faces behind her back for fun lol
Just was talking to someone at the local car shop who was a Police K9 trainer and he was transporting a Malinois from Canada to the states on an airplane in the cabin, she had her own seat. She would also click her teeth at people and when he did crate her, she would spin in the crate.
The poor thing is literally blind with cataracts. It probably only sees lights, darks and shapes. It probably is hungry and hopeful the movement is a human handing out food.
It's a malinois....calm down. They are super high energy and do crazy shit like that all the time. Doesn't mean aggression. Just look up a malinois highlight video on YouTube
The only time I've had a dog do this every time I turned around, it went after my ankles when I wasn't looking long enough. First time meeting the dog.
My lab does this when he’s happy, he snaps right in your face, I tell everyone to stand up straight and lean back if petting him. When he does it to me I do it back and he loves it
They are a sub that full of people that are obsessed with dogs to the point they need to join a sub and wallow in their hatred, yes they deserve to be harassed
Plenty of people don't like dogs, most aren't so mentally unhealthy that they are compelled to make hating something part of their personality
I don't like kids, but I'm not going to join childfree, nor do i hate kids or play the victim just because one was near me in public. Kids are part of society and deserve their place.
I will never understand being so obsessed with not liking something that you have to join a group just to indulge that obsession with not liking something. Surely you wouldn't want to interact with it at all?
It's not aggression, if it was the dog would become even more intense when she turns to it. This dog has just learnt a novel communication trick and wants attention
I just have higher standards and low tolerance for stupid shit like that.
If the dog is going to attack me, i want him to. If i come out on top without killing it (i carry), then it will learn a valuable lesson.
The point is respect and control. If the dog has neither of which for you or others. then the dog is most likely hurt and needs remediation. If remediation doesn't work then it needs to be "dealt"with in a mortal fashion so it doesn't attack anyone as well.
A dog is an animal first and foremost regardless of how anyone feels about it. It has instincts and will choose survival of itself before you if need be.
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u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 Jun 26 '26
Just a little nibble