Dog Starting To Growl When Trying To Get Picked Up. However, she recently began growling a low, gutteral growl whenever we were going to pick her up. Dogs subjected to abuse in the past often growl as a defense mechanism out of fear.
Finally, some dogs will growl when they are picked up because other dogs are around. All you are doing is teaching the dog to bypass the warning phase (the growl) and leap right to the next level of response to a perceived threat (lunging, snapping and/or biting). Schnauzer started growling when picked up.