How old is your dog? Is he is a rescue dog or puppy. If he is a rescue dog, then he/she might have had previous experience of being hurt by people. This is just my assumption.
When he growls or barks at people, just look into his eyes and firmly say "no, or stop". You might have to say this a few times before he stops. When he stops growling, praise him by gently stroke his head and pet his body, and say "good dog/his name" This gentle stroking also give him assurance that you're there to protect him and he is safe. If after he has stop growling or barking, if the person (he's barking at) feel confident enough, he/she should try and pet the dog and let your dog knows that not everybody will hurt him.
I feel a lot of times they growl or bark when they feel unsafe. This is just a way to protect themselves so others won't hurt them. If you give him a lot of assurance that you will be there to protect and comfort him, he'll be ok.
I notice Spikey will growl only when my youngest daughter put her hands in front of him (like when you want to stroke the dog). He'll give a kind of look (LOL) and then growl and open his mouth at her. When this happens, I'll look into his eyes and say "no". Initially, he didn't get it, but after a few times, he knows this behaviour is unacceptable. He only does the growling or barking at my youngest daughter and not to me, my husband or my eldest daughter.
So, we guess she (11 years old) must have hit him before. We asked her and she said she did hit him when they were playing and he nipped at her. So, I taught her not to hit him but tell him firmly. Now, she has stopped doing and Spikey has learned to love her too. It took about 2 weeks before Spikey gained his trust. |