As I sat down to write an article about this, a photo popped up that covered just about everything that I wanted to mention.  Growls are an important warning mechanism.  It tells you that your dog is uncomfortable and afraid and needs to be removed from a situation. 

Taking away the growl takes away the warning and prevents an opportunity to stop a bite from ever happening! Please don’t punish your dog when they growl.  They are doing you a favor by giving you a heads up!