Can anyone explain

Took Duke for his walk today when i got him out of the car we walked about 30 yards and came across a couple they had 2 pug puppys with them , they allowed them to sniff Duke and the first one approached Duke shocked me by growling at it, he has never done that before i pulled him back and scolded him, the second one approached and he was fine he licked it's face and did not show any Aggression at all , halfway round the walk we bumped into someone with a Westy Pup about Duke's age he was great and they played chase for 5 mins , i just wonder what made him growl at the pug pup ?.

It could be that the pug did something he didn't like or feel comfortable with. There are dogs they simple will not like for whatever reason.

Strange thing is though jstaff these pups were like twins almost identical why just growl at one or did the scolding have an effect .

Try as we might, we can't always interpret all the dog language that passes between dogs. My guess is that the the first pug puppy "said" something to Duke that he didn't like. Who knows - I'll bet it was embarrassing and worrying for you though. It would be interesting to see what happens when and if Duke and the pug puppies meet again.

What might sound nasty to us not realy the case with dogs. more likley the situation went "oh no bouncy puppies i cant be botherd" we hear growl, your dog is just saying "please no i cant be botherd" then he licks face wich is a welcome gesture to one that approaches more likley saying thanks for listening to me or else the growl would have got worse. As humans we have to understand dogs dont have our vocab. Tbh he sounds like a perfect gent in the dog world.

I can't tell you the number of dogs Loki has annoyed, even the friendly ones. Literally every dog he's ever met except for about five, and it's all because he was too friendly, too excitable. Mostly dogs will give puppies lenience, but sometimes they can't be bothered. Perhaps Duke was being a bit grumpy

Could it be that one of them was make one female

Wendy and Mark wrote:Could it be that one of them was make one female

I wondered the same , my 2 (mainly Tommy) have been a bit tetchy lately , I always have them clipped on when they meet others and I just hope they don't growl at the little dogs as generally the owners of the little dogs are the first to make a judgement (sorry if that sounds doggist ) but generally no explanation other than you can't like em all. I know 9 times out of ten it's the lead that's the problem and promoting insecurities but at the same time you can't take the chance top let them off lead without confidence and I wouldn't trust Tommy not to go looney and grab the other owner by the jumper or something (generally not well received)