Am I finally past my emotional (over)reaction to my dog growling?

Reflections from an oil change, a campground interaction, and other completely normal situations

A few days ago we swung through a Jiffy Lube for an oil change. When the attendant first spoke through my partner’s rolled-down window—his deep, gruff voice a stark contrast against the last hour’s indistinct road noise—Scout barked from the back of the van. Then she started up a low, steady rumble.

I let her come to the front to see what was going on. She growled for a moment more, I sent her back to her crate, and within thirty seconds she quieted. Another minute later she was lying on our bed, eyes soft, not bothered enough to lift her head as strangers opened the driver’s door to pop the hood and circled the van for safety checks and otherwise made a small ruckus. She stayed like that until we drove away.

Scout’s relaxed position for the bulk of our oil change

Good cattle dog, I thought. Per the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association: “[Heelers] were bred to … protect animals and property from thieves, so working dogs are supposed to be suspicious of strangers.” Scout’s behavior made perfect sense. It wasn’t a big deal—the employee, not remotely offended, still offered us a puppy treat—and we moved right on after chuckling about our “guard dog”.

A few years ago? I’d still be stuck on it.

We had a similar experience at Arches National Park last month. A friendly-edging-on-boisterous campground host strode into our site while Scout was sunbathing. “How sweeeeet!” she cooed while stretching a hand towards our cattle dog. In response Scout growled, head down, ears back, eliciting a startled “oh!” from the visitor. While I’ll admit I felt a little bad—the woman wasn’t trying to be anything but kind—I couldn’t help but inwardly laugh. You trotted up to an unfamiliar animal with your limbs extended and voice high. What do you expect? It’s normal for a dog (especially a cattle dog) to be like “woah, check yourself” in this situation.

The host did get props for taking the growl cue and toning down her demeanor. (It’s wild how many people we’ve encountered who still try to give physical affection in the face of a dog’s clear signals.) Scout got props for walking right by this well-meaning stranger to jump inside the van crate (her designated safe space).

Our campground dog keeping casual watch

Afterward I posted a slide to my “close friends” Instagram story saying how funny I found the whole thing. Funny. Who am I? My dog had just growled at someone… and instead of worrying we were failing in our training or this person now hated us or a slew of other spiral-y things, I brushed it off instantly.

A friend with “reactive” dog experience of her own messaged back: “It is big growth on us to not be destroyed by these things. Makes me happy. We’re all growed up! Ok maybe not. Growing up is for losers. 😉”

Jokes aside, she was right. This is big growth.