My 5 month Old Female Staffy

Hi all,i have just signed up after reading some other like to like issues that a few other staffy owners are having with their dogs and hoping for some words of advice..my problem seems to be my lovely little Carrie likes to growl at me and at my other dogs,not in a menacing vicious way it tends to be if she is lying on the bed and one of the other dogs walk by her or knock her she lets out a growl as though she is telling them to get out of her space...and with myself carrie will "show her displeasure" sometimes if i pick her up and give her a hug or a kiss on her head she will growl but once again not in a bad growl kind of way.She also always has her ears down making her look soppy when she does growl and will at times give a little wag of her tail which is a little confusing for me as i dont understand why she is doing the growling is this just a passing phase or likely to be her temprement and she is just a grouchy little madam? I would like to add that we had her when she was 6 weeks old and started this behaviour when she was about 8 weeks old..she is and always has played and been fine with my other dogs,people and cats,i really need some encouragement on what i should be doing thank you for any advice given.

Hi & Welcome to the Forum. How old is Cassie now ? I'm guessing still very young. At an early age they don't really know what aggression is. My Flo is an old girl and will growl quiet often when at play and Staffords can be quiet vocal

Sorry just realised the age is in the title

Hi Ian and thank you for the greeting..carrie does have the tendency to bark quite alot but our others are fairly quiet

Im thinking she is just trying to put herself into a place within the group and maybe a place where she doesn't look like a push-over as one of our other girls has a habit of growling in a playful manner and will at times nuzzle carrie then carrie will growl then play as a normal pup would...its the growling when she is being held and cuddled thats more discouraging,maybe im looking at it too much and she is simply as you say more vocal

They will learn from their peers so having read what you've just written I wonder if she's picked it up as a play sound. If you've never experienced any unwanted behaviour I would just keep an eye on the interactions with the others and stop any over playfulness.

Obviously with a young one you'll get the playfull biting which with the growling could be unnerving but if it's kept in context then I wouldn't worry unduly unless you again see any unwanted behaviour in which case you'll need to correct straight away with corrective training