This seems to be a silly question, my 10 month old pup does not growl, even during tug of war games, cleaning ears, cutting nails, play fighting with other dogs. She does a lot of happy "talking" she's very very vocal, she's 3/4 lab 1/4 shepherd, is this normal? I'm with her 24/7, and not once has she ever growled. She greets everyone with a wiggling butt, some she's a little afraid of, so she'll squat down, tuck in her tail, but the back end is still wiggling, and it takes all of maybe two minutes to warm up to them, she's been in puppy classes since she was 7 weeks old and just finished her advance level 5 obedience and the others in there would play growl....she didn't...any idea's? or thoughts?

labman

Many Lab puppies growl very little. Shepherds tend to be more vocal which may be showing. The initial reaction to strangers may be Shepherd too. Of course, dogs never read breed descriptions or things people post to the net. Sounds like you have done a great job with her. It is great you are able to spend so much time with her. Gives her little to growl about if she has you.

In some cases, the play looks and sounds terrible.

fredg

HI,
You have a wonderful dog. I am sure she is full of love for you and others. There may come a time when she has something to "growl" about. But, for now, she really seems to be happy with the way things are.
No, it's not abnormal for a puppy not to growl, but it is sometimes rare.
I do wish you both the very best.

Melinda

Labman, she looks a lot like the one in your picture,minus the snarl *L* , thanks for the information.

FredG, thank you for your answer and compliment, and she sure is full of love, she is so good with my daycare, and thats what I think the problem is, *L* she whines like one of the kids to the point where I do believe she thinks she IS a kid.

fredg

HI,
It's great that she likes your Daycare. I'll bet the kids are overjoyed with her. As you probably already know, Dogs are much, much smarter than many people give them credit for.