"grumpy" lab grumbles

[thbarnett]

We have a 4 year old lab male that is about 80 Lbs. We've been following the training programs to address his aggression with mixed results. He does much bettter around family, never been threatening, but just uncomfortable and over-excited. With strangers he is still aggressive...has never offered to bite, but growls a low deep growl and the hair on his back stands up.

Also, he has responded very well to everyone one in the family in training...my wife, my 7 year old and my 10 year old can all get him to sit, stay and generally walk on leash well. He does all this for me as well, but seems very uneasy when I feed him. We have him sit to wait for his food and if I don't "release" him quick enough he starts to grumble at me. He does not show teeth, just the deep chested growl.

Any thoughts on breaking this habit?

I've tried using "no" or "stop" in a stern voice and even tried some of the techniques practiced on the "Dog Whisperer," but those just seem to make him escalate. He does not do this to any other family members, just me...is he challenging my Alpha role or is this a fear response of some sort? I've never struck him or even yelled at him...ocassionally I will raise my voice, but not yelling.

[KOPsBecks]

I would like to think that these grumbles are just your dogs way of protesting to the training. I think the best way to deal with them is to ignore them, especially since saying"NO!" just makes the growling worse. Hopefully if you are persistent with your training and ignore his bad behaviour then eventually it will stop.
Good luck with everything,

Becks