Your Golden Retriever can make a lot of noise to have you hear and meet their needs. This is their way of communicating back to you without being able to talk with words. Your Golden Retriever can make many different sounds, from grunting, grumbling, groaning, and moaning.
Your Golden Retriever may grunt, Grumble, Groan or Moan for a number of reasons. They may grunt to show their excitement, to ask for attention, to show they are fearful about a situation, out of boredom, or to show possession over their food. Paying attention to the timing of the grunt can help you determine what is causing the noise.
Your Golden Retriever will use the grunting to get your attention. Knowing the cause and paying attention to your dog will help you to take care of the grunting and give your Golden Retriever the attention and love they need.
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Why Does My Golden Retriever Grunt, Grumble Groan, and Moan?
While grunting may sound strange and unusual, there are several different reasons why your Golden Retriever may start to grunt, including:
Excitement
One of the reasons why your dog may grunt or even groan is because they are excited. If there is something that seems to make them excited at the time you hear the grunting, then this is the reason why you hear the sound.
Pay attention to when you hear the grunting. Is it right after you walk in the door after work? Do you notice it when you are getting ready to take your dog on a walk or are going to play with them? Then the reason for the grunting is that your dog is excited.
Your Golden Retriever Wants Your Attention
You may notice your dog is grunting because they would like to get more attention from you. This is the most likely cause if you have been gone or busy a lot and have not been able to give your dog a lot of attention. If this is the mean reason your dog grunts, you should notice the grunting decreases when you take the time to play and pay attention to your Golden Retriever.
Not only does this mean your Golden Retriever wants your attention for playing, but they may also try to get attention for things like a walk or food. Pay attention to whether the grunting happens at a specific time, including when you normally walk or feed the dog, especially if you are a few minutes late finishing the task.
It is important to give your dog plenty of attention each day. While you do not need to do this all day long, you will be able to spend a little time each day providing a little attention. Taking them on a walk, playing with them, brushing their hair, or doing something else will help give your Golden Retriever the attention they need.
Injury or Illness
You may need to check whether your Golden Retriever is sick or has been injured if you hear a lot of grunting from them. This is something to be concerned about if your Golden Retriever has just started to grunt and never did it before. Look for other signs of being injured or sick, such as vomiting and limping.
If you do see some of these signs, then you need to take them seriously. Take your Golden Retriever into the vet for a good checkup so you can get the injury fixed and the illness stopped so your Golden Retriever can get back to their good health.
They are Warning You About Something
It is possible that your Golden Retriever is grunting and groaning at you because they want to warn you about something. This is likely to happen when the Golden Retriever notices that others are trying to intimidate them or that someone else is trying to enter its space. You should also see some signs of aggression if this is the case.
Look around to see whether there is something that may make your dog feel worried and upset. Did someone new come into the area, and they feel threatened? Is there something in the environment that makes your dog feel nervous and upset? These may be the source of the grunting.
Your Golden Retriever is Protecting Their Possessions
The cause of the grunting and groaning could be as simple as your Golden Retriever trying to protect their own food or possessions. They may be possessive of these things and want to control who else gets near them. This is the most likely reason if this grunting happens more when the dog is eating or when you try to sit down in the spot that your Golden Retriever usually reserves for themselves.
Remember that while your Golden Retriever is normally going to be friendly to you and others, they may become aggressive when they start being possessive of their food. You may need to address this behavior. A professional dog trainer is a good option here to help your dog stop the aggression.
Boredom
Your Golden Retriever may be grunting because they are bored. Your dog will need to get a lot of exercise each day. If you are gone most of the day without playing with your Golden Retriever, they may not get the amount of exercise and attention they need, and you will hear this noise.
Your Golden Retriever will need a lot of activity and exercise each day to help them feel good. If they do not get enough, then they may behave abnormally, and you will hear all of this noise. This is the likely cause if you start to hear the grunting when you are busy and have not provided your dog with a walk or played with them for a little bit.
If you have a Golden Retriever as a pet, then you need to give them at least an hour of exercise each day, though more is often preferable. If your dog has not been getting that much, it is time to change your routine a little bit to make sure that they stay healthy and to stop all of the grunting.
Fear
It is possible that the reason you hear a little bit of the grunting when they are scared or afraid of something else. Your Golden Retriever can get scared, whether it is from a storm or even being worried that you will leave them. If you notice the grunting happens when the dog seems scared, such as when there are a lot of big noises outside, then this is the main thing to fix to stop the noise.
Aggression
While most Golden Retrievers are friendly and warm to others, it is possible that they may become aggressive. And when they are aggressive, it could be the reason that your dog is making noises like grunting and groaning.
Take a look at your Golden Retriever when they are grunting and see if their demeanor has changed. This would be more likely if it shows its teeth when it starts to grumble, it the ears are erect on the dog, and when they start to move stiffly from one side to another. These are big signs of aggression and could be why you hear your dog grunting as well.
If this only happens once or twice, there is likely something nearby that is making your Golden Retriever scared or nervous and the dog is trying to scare that away. However, if you notice your Golden Retriever is becoming aggressive more often, then you may need to talk to a professional dog trainer right away to help put a stop to this behavior.
Things to Consider When Your Dog Grunts
Not only is it important to consider the reason behind the grunt, but there are a few different characteristics about the grunt that you need to think about as well. Some of the other things that you need to consider when you try to figure out why your dog is grunting includes:
Listen to the Way Your Dog Grunts
You may need to consider the way that your Golden Retriever has been doing. This will give you a good sign on what you can do to make the grunting stop. For example, if your dog shows their teeth and stands more erect, then this shows they are aggressive. You may need to remove the item that makes the dog aggressive or talk to a professional dog trainer.
When the Grunting Starts
Another thing to consider is the timing of when your dog first started to make the grunting noise because this can help you figure out what event caused the grunting in the first place. Think about when this grunting happened and then consider whether anything else happened to change around that same time.
For example, if you noticed that your Golden Retriever started to make the grunting suddenly, then this may be a sign of a sudden change in the daily routine of the dog, that there is something that caused them to be fearful, or when the dog is injured or ill.
The Timing of the Grunting
You should also check out the timing of the grunting as well since this may be indicative of what the problem is. For example, if you notice that your Golden Retriever is grunting when it is normally time to take a walk, then this could simply be a reminder that you need to walk your dog.
How to Get Your Dog to Stop Grunting
One of the best ways to help your Golden Retriever stop grunting is to pay attention to what is causing the grunting in the first place. If this is not enough, then working with positive reinforcement training. This is when you work with positive rewards and encouragement to help your Golden Retriever use the behaviors that you want.
To help you get that grunting to stop, you may use some of the following steps:
- Stop giving any attention to the noise when your dog starts to grunt.
- When the dog does stop making the noise, you can give them a lot of praise and attention.
- Stop giving the attention if your dog starts to grunt again.
- Repeat this over and over again, adding in some treats when your dog doesn’t make the noise until the grunting stops for good.
Some Golden Retrievers will stop this right away and you will not have to work with positive reinforcement for too long. However, some dogs will take a little bit longer. just keep up with the positive reinforcement until your Golden Retriever starts to behave in properly.
Other Ways to Stop the Grunting
Some of the other options that you can try to make sure your Golden Retriever will stop grunting includes:
- Avoid negative reinforcement training: This is when you give the dog things they want when they misbehave, which encourages them to do it more.
- Make sure your dog is not injured or ill: If this grunting is something they have just started with, then you should check out for signs of injury or illness.
- Give your Golden Retriever attention through the whole day: You may need to give your dog attention throughout the day to encourage them to feel loved and not always seek attention from you.
- Try a professional dog trainer: if you have tried the other steps but your dog will not stop grunting, then taking to a professional dog trainer is a great option to work with. This can provide your Golden Retriever with the specialized attention and care they need so they will behave the way you want.
Conclusion
There are several different reasons why your Golden Retriever will start to grunt and groan around you. Paying attention to what is happening along with the grunting will make it easier to figure out the cause of the grunting so you can solve the problem. Often it is a simple problem, like needing to give your Golden Retriever more attention, that you can easily fix and help stop the noise.