Do rottweilers really growl sometimes when happy?

[Crazy Dog Man]

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A friend of mine had a rottie and I remembered she loved affection and once when I was petting her whilst she was eating her food, she was growling so I stopped because I thought I was getting on her nerves or that she was going to bite me but then recently I saw a few YouTube videos of people who have rotties and they seem to growl when being petted and not attack their human parents.

Can a growl also mean a sign of affection?

 

[JudyN]

The dog in the second vid looks stressed to me - visible whites of his eyes, tongue lick, lip lifting. I'm not sure about the first vid on a quick look. It's true, some dogs make their own characteristic vocalisations which may sound like growls, and their owner may read them correctly as non-aggressive. But if in doubt, I would always treat a growl as a request that you back off. And honestly, I'd never pet a dog while it was eating - if my husband came up and petted me when I was eating, I'd probably bite him! (Your wife might not respond to you in the same way, but you're newly married... give it a few years )

 

[Crazy Dog Man]

The dog in the second vid looks stressed to me - visible whites of his eyes, tongue lick, lip lifting. I'm not sure about the first vid on a quick look. It's true, some dogs make their own characteristic vocalisations which may sound like growls, and their owner may read them correctly as non-aggressive. But if in doubt, I would always treat a growl as a request that you back off. And honestly, I'd never pet a dog while it was eating - if my husband came up and petted me when I was eating, I'd probably bite him! (Your wife might not respond to you in the same way, but you're newly married... give it a few years )

Lol, I try not to do it, it's kind of a force of habit sometimes I like to say hello to pets when walking past in the kitchen but I know it's annoying for them so now I try to remember to back off

My wife would definitely not like being showered with affection whilst eating her food, food is something she really must enjoy in peace, otherwise you get the evil eye for the rest of the evening

Thank you though for explaining to me the behaviours of rottweilers. I guess like us humans, they all have different personalities

 

[RGC]

I think it pays dividends to both parties to exercise common sense and respect.

 

[Rehab Kennels]

No it can't and I don't even need to watch the video's the frozen images of the dogs body language on both video's tell me everything... Rottie is not happy with what is going on!
Hear is what I see just by that:

1. Whale eye - This is when you can see the whites of there eyes in a situation this means the dog is unsure, anxious and uncomfortable.
2. Body posture - The dog is sat tense you can see the front leg held out in front tensed, the dogs ears are flat back and what some probably wouldn't of noticed was the dogs tongue, you can see it in between the dogs lips getting ready to lick his lips. This is a very uncomfortable dog who will in future run out of tolerance and seriously attack who ever is doing it to him at the time!
3. Growling - I haven't heard the growl but I don't need to knowing what I see as a qualified canine behaviourist. Growling is part of a dogs warning system, he's warning him that he is not happy. The next step this dog will take is snap at the bloke by a quick, deep sharp bark with teeth showing and when all the dogs warnings get ignored the next thing is the vicious bite and it will happen I promise that!

The ridiculous stuff like what this guy is doing to this dog is why nearly 85% of all dog attack cases are on people under 30yrs old! Clear example right hear.