I have two boxers, a 3 year old girl called Ruby and an 18 month old boy called Archie. Ruby, from as early as I can remember has always been incredibly vocal when she plays, always growling whether it be with another dog or with me (tug of war etc). Now I was fully aware when she was a puppy that what people perceived as 'cute' back then would definitely not be what they perceived when she got older, so I tried for many years to stop the behaviour. I usually did this by not allowing play to get out of hand i.e too excitable and when it did (which never took too long for her) I would remove her from play and make her sit until she had calmed down. FAIL!! Ruby could go from being fast asleep to play growling within seconds.
Now the problem arises whenever other dogs are around my two when they are playing. They play like typical boxers, bumping chests etc etc but both growl at each other. Other dogs often mistake the growling as aggression and get involved or other dog owners panic thinking they are fighting.
WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THIS as everything i've tried has failed. I often think, why bother changing it, my dogs are definitely not being aggressive towards each other and I know they are just having a great time, however I don't like other people being nervous around them as they are absolute pussy cats really.
Has anybody else got a dog/dogs that do this and if so, have you ever managed to stop it?