"My dog, specifically at nighttime, will randomly growl... I was just petting her gently, and she growled. Other nights, we will just simply move, and she will be lying in her crate, and she'll growl.

In most cases, growling is a distance-increasing behavior, meaning that the dog is asking for space or for an interaction to stop. In these cases, the growling acts as a warning. Heeding the warning ...