Does your corgi have a "play growl"

[Cardiguy]

The only time Ruby growls is when we play tug of war. She starts to growl as she tugs harder at the toy and the harder we tug the more the growl. When I yell "drop", she will drop the toy and stop growling. I make sure that I win all tug or war games and use the term "drop" to exert my control over the situation. No owner should ever tolerate any growl from their pooch other than a play growl as unchecked growling can turn into biting- but I think play growls are healthy. Curious if all corgis play growl.

[Chip's Mom]

Well Cardiguy - I would like to know how you teach the drop. I don't play tug of war with Chip (worry about his special tooth) but we play fetch alot and he is very good at it. I will say "are you ready" and he strikes the cutest pose and I throw and away he goes. He brings it right back to me but he will not drop it unless he gets a cookie. This "Nothing in life is free" apparently works both ways in Chip's mind. Anyway, he will drop it when and only when he sees the cookie in my hand. No growling though - not allowed. He will play growl with Maybelle some though.

[Fluffypants]

Jackie play growls too. She does it when we play tug (which we do in the same manner as you Cardiguy), and she also play growls when she is playing with her doggie friends.

She did give me a serious growl a couple of times when she was a puppy, but she knows better now. Mommy doesn't tolerate that stuff!!

[Fluffypants]

Originally Posted by Chip's Mom

Well Cardiguy - I would like to know how you teach the drop. I don't play tug of war with Chip (worry about his special tooth) but we play fetch alot and he is very good at it. I will say "are you ready" and he strikes the cutest pose and I throw and away he goes. He brings it right back to me but he will not drop it unless he gets a cookie. This "Nothing in life is free" apparently works both ways in Chip's mind. Anyway, he will drop it when and only when he sees the cookie in my hand. No growling though - not allowed. He will play growl with Maybelle some though.

Bonnie - do u ever try to take things from Chip oter than when playing fetch? Like maybe taking his bone away when he is chewing on it or something similar? You could give the drop it command, take the thing, GO GET a cookie for him and then give it back. This way he starts to understand that just because the cookie isn't in your hand, doesn't necessarily mean he's not going to get one. If you practice in these situations for awhile, you can start trying it during fetch (right now you probably can't do it during fetch because it seems like he won't cooperate, and you want to set him up to succeed).

[corgimom]

Same here, Cody does the play growl and often his Butt is wiggling at the same time. If Cody picks up a toy, I will grap the end and say "drop it" and then toss it for him to run after.

Bonnie,

when Cody was way younger, and had a toy in his mouth(while we were playing) I would hold onto the toy and say "drop it" while releasing it from his mouth. After practicing this several times, he did get it and does do it on command now.

[Jeni D]

Dudley play growls too, only when we are playing tug. We are still struggling with the drop it command; he's a lot like Chip--only drops it when he gets a treat in return. My favorite thing he does is when we are in the middle of a game of fetch and he hears something outside. Instead of dropping the toy, he keeps it in his mouth and does this muffled bark thing to warn any intruders. He sure looks vicious witha big stuffed toy in his mouth

[Cardiguy]

Originally Posted by Chip's Mom

Well Cardiguy - I would like to know how you teach the drop. I don't play tug of war with Chip (worry about his special tooth) but we play fetch alot and he is very good at it. I will say "are you ready" and he strikes the cutest pose and I throw and away he goes. He brings it right back to me but he will not drop it unless he gets a cookie. This "Nothing in life is free" apparently works both ways in Chip's mind. Anyway, he will drop it when and only when he sees the cookie in my hand. No growling though - not allowed. He will play growl with Maybelle some though.

I taught Ruby to drop when she was a puppy which was about 4 yrs ago. I started out with showing her a treat and said "drop" and she would drop the object so she could get the treat in her mouth. Gradually the treat disappeared but the action continued. Recently I find myself saying drop more than once to get Ruby to drop the toy and I am curious how to get her back to dropping at the first command and not second or third drop.

[Dillydoodle]

I also play tug with Dillon in the same manner as fluffypants and cardiguy. Dillon growls in play also , and the closer i get my face to his face the growl gets deeper and more fierce sounding, then i kiss his nose and he immediately drops his end. It is so cute! My word is "leave it". In the case of the tug game, if i say leave it, he drops his end immediately. this took time and work. I started out with treats in a treat bag when i asked him to leave it and he did he got a treat. I started by gently pulling the object out of his mouth ( ball, or toy) while saying leave it, he got the idea really fast. I started this when he was a small puppy so that he knew when i asked him to leave something he would. I also would routinely reach into his bowl while he was eating, sometimes i would life the whole bowl up, other times I would add kibble to the bowl as he was eating and he never once growled at me for doing this, he only looks sad and pathetic, sometimes he will eat faster to try to get as much as he can before the bowl is lifted. The other thing i do is ask him to leave a bone while he is chewing it. He will leave it on command anytime i ask for a bone, and if i put my hand out he will bring it to me and leave it in my hand ( as much as he doesnt want to give it up). The only time i have ever been growled at by him was as a youngster while he would be half asleep if you touched his butt with your foot he would growl and jump up. I worked on that and now he no longer does a serious growl towards any humans at all.
Emilie

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Jeni D

Dudley play growls too, only when we are playing tug. We are still struggling with the drop it command; he's a lot like Chip--only drops it when he gets a treat in return. My favorite thing he does is when we are in the middle of a game of fetch and he hears something outside. Instead of dropping the toy, he keeps it in his mouth and does this muffled bark thing to warn any intruders. He sure looks vicious witha big stuffed toy in his mouth

Jeni, I know exactly what you are talking about. Cody will have his mouth latched onto this big stuffed toy and he will try and bark or do the arooooooooo with his mouth full and it is very funny.

[milles2]

Bonnie wrote: "This "Nothing in life is free" apparently works both ways in Chip's mind. "

I just spit soda all over my keyboard!!!!!!!!! You are absolutely right! These guys are not dumies, they are training us all the time we train them!

Tucker growls when I am wiping him off with a towel (after bath, after rain, after swim, etc). He thinks it's a big game. I've admitted to finding the awful habit of jumping up to smooch me when I come home endearing, but growling/playing with the towel when I need to wipe him off needs to stop.

It's funny to watch Lu and Tuck play tug. They will both start a low growl, then one will get louder then the other has to drown him/her out. Always good for a laugh.

[Fluffypants]

Originally Posted by Dillydoodle

I also play tug with Dillon in the same manner as fluffypants and cardiguy. Dillon growls in play also , and the closer i get my face to his face the growl gets deeper and more fierce sounding, then i kiss his nose and he immediately drops his end. It is so cute! My word is "leave it". In the case of the tug game, if i say leave it, he drops his end immediately. this took time and work. I started out with treats in a treat bag when i asked him to leave it and he did he got a treat. I started by gently pulling the object out of his mouth ( ball, or toy) while saying leave it, he got the idea really fast. I started this when he was a small puppy so that he knew when i asked him to leave something he would. I also would routinely reach into his bowl while he was eating, sometimes i would life the whole bowl up, other times I would add kibble to the bowl as he was eating and he never once growled at me for doing this, he only looks sad and pathetic, sometimes he will eat faster to try to get as much as he can before the bowl is lifted. The other thing i do is ask him to leave a bone while he is chewing it. He will leave it on command anytime i ask for a bone, and if i put my hand out he will bring it to me and leave it in my hand ( as much as he doesnt want to give it up). The only time i have ever been growled at by him was as a youngster while he would be half asleep if you touched his butt with your foot he would growl and jump up. I worked on that and now he no longer does a serious growl towards any humans at all.
Emilie

WOW EMILIE! Is it just Jackie and Dillon that are related, or are we too? I do the same nose kiss thing during our tug games!!!!

This is one of the things I started from Day One with Jackie (drop it / leave it). I also take her food away routinely, and she obediently sits and looks at me attentively until I tell her she can start eating again. She'd good that way, since we have been working on it so long. I never let her chew on / eat / play with anything without taking it away at least once, just to remind her that I can.

But it's never too late to start teaching your dog to exchange things with you. The point to get across is that, by giving it to you, they will get something better AND they will get the original object back. That last part is very important while training the behavior. They have to know that they will get the thing back, otherwise they may decide they don't want to trade, and would rather keep chewing on what they've got. If you train this consistently, they won't hesitate when you give them the command at a time when it really counts. Once they are releasing consistenly, you don't have to give the object back EVERY time. Make sure to keep practicing in the home with safe objects, to keep it fresh in their minds for the next time you might REALLY need it.