 During playful interactions, dogs produce a growl which allows them to project their body size to be bigger than it actually is in order to help stimulate their playful behavior and the one they are playing with.This is in contrast to when they produce a growl that accurately projects their body size when guarding food, which is necessary because it will be more dangerous if their opponent thinks they are bigger, as this may result in more injury.Growling in dogs is generally seen as unfavorable, and there are various methods to deal with this behaviour including therapy, training and temperament testing.