Growling / Shoud we be concerned?
Anyway my question for you guys is this. One of the current issues we have been having with Kayla is she sleeps i our room and has spent time on the floor and our bed. However she has gotten too big for the bed so we are really working on getting her to get off but of course she has no interest whatsoever of listening, and if we try to move her she becomes dead weight, and resists. However lately if we try to get her to move she has been growling. Mind you we are not pushing and shoving her off, just trying to nudge her and prod her off. After a few attempts she will growl. Just another thing, but as I mentioned earlier it has not been a lot of fun the past few months. She does not growl around her food or toys or any other time for that matter, it has been isolated to just this thing. Please let me know about the growling. I was not too happy with her last night and am becoming really worried about our long term plans with her. Thank You Jay |
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| Growling is another stage in the DEWS (Dog Early Warning System). Could be that you're prodding a tender spot, or that she's really not interested in being pushed. Maybe try another way to get her off the bed (command, lead with a treat, throw a toy, etc...)?
Our little guy spends more time on the bed now that he's clipped down, in full coat he'd only spend a few minutes on the bed and then retire to a cool tile floor. Does Kayla have a nice warm place to sleep that isn't on the bed? Carpet, a dog bed, etc..? If all you've got in the room is hardwood and ceramic tile, she might just be cold sleeping on the floor. The "off" command works well for us, similar to when your dog is jumping up on people/objects. Then again, it took a fair bit of work and some very consistent training to get that one to be a reliable command. So, that's not a quick solution for you. |
| I think it is time for tough lovin' you will have to decide who is boss you or the hound!
It will start with this then progress to other things if you don't nip it in the bud! Do you have a dog matress/bed in the room? |
| Kayla is doing a form of resource guarding - the bed.
1st she needs to loose bed priveleges - right away. We had a little issue with Maggie at our house. She was a rescue, and decided she loved the bed. To make matters worse, she is Todd's dog and he always goes to bed earlier than me. So she really didn't want to leave Todd and the bed when I came to bed. She lost bed priveleges right away. When we let her on again we used a desirable treat or toy to get her off and rewarded good behavior. We quickly were able to switch to just praise and hugs, because she really craves attention. Plus, we worked on a "off" command for the bed, that we both used, and praised her tons for it. Now she is good, but it took a little work. Check out the Nothing In Life Is Free program - you can search it online (NILIF) and get many good ideas. |
| growling when told to get off the bed is an absolute no! My husband's Irish Setter is usually on the bed when I go up at night. Many times he hears me coming and jumps off - some nights he is feeling full of himself (usually after I have been away) and will occassionally growl at me.
It is an unnacceptable behavior and he is quickly reminded of that - usually by a frim reprimand and demand that he immediately get down which he does. You can't allow this behavior. |
Our Sami did this with Dave. I think you do have to show who's the boss. She never did it to me. David when he came to bed to try and move her Sami thing... But he got her off not to her liking dhe even jumped up on his spot the second he left to go pee at nite. Now he walks in and says down and she does OR she just moves on her own. She still does this to my daughter on the couch(Sami thinks she is higher up then her, some days I wonder if Sami is right  ) But Darion is getting better on being the boss and is slowly winning...slowly. Just keep it up they do learn. |
| If your dog growls at you the best response from you would be to thank your dog for letting you know how he feels.
A growl in itself is not dangerous at all. Quite the contrary. It is a way of communicating with you. A dog cannot talk, so it is a warning. If you take away the warning you can get bitten right away, instead. What you need to do is find the root of the problem and fix that, so that the dog does not growl anymore...Or rather does not feel the need to communicate displeasure at you. In this case it is the bed, and not wanting to get off of it. I would disallow the bed privilges, and find a new spot for sleeping..with treats a positive reinsforcement the dog can find a new place to snooze. |
| I'd try this: Put the leash on before you go up to bed and if she gets on the bed you can use the lead to show her what you want (off).
It's not wise to continue to push and prod a growling dog, and it's not an acceptable behavior. If you want to correct that behavior, you really need a leash on as well. |
| Is it a growl or a grumble? |
| Sophie tried this one: she was guarding my husband and bed from me. Which wasn't remotely acceptable. She was young then--maybe 6 months old and I did what was probably not wise: I told her "Off" as I took her by the collar and moved her off the bed. Very firm voice. Praise when she was down. Did not allow her to approach again. I did not jerk her or hurt her in any way--it was pretty much as Ron suggested with a leash, without the leash, making it not terribly wise as she could have turned and bitten me, which she did NOT even seem to consider doing--good news for all of us. A leash would have been safer.
Personally, I do not sleep with dogs in my bed--I simply cannot and don't feel like changing my preferences, so this was never in the cards for any of them. On the other hand, I don't mind having dogs come up on the bed--at my (or my husband's invitation) when I am simply lying in bed reading. Actually, I do not allow dogs to sleep in my room at night. We all sleep better that way. I do not function well without sleep, so this is very important to me. Because Sophie does resource guard and given half a chance would be a very dominant force, we do the NILF-- nothing in life is free-- approach to her (and have expanded it to the other dogs in order to make it more equitable.) Really, this is simply a stricter form of what I already did: dogs sit quietly for their food and perhaps must perform a few other commands (shake hands, etc.) Dogs only get affection if they are sitting or lying quietly, not if they are pushing at me or jumping and barking. Same with treats (commands mandatory here), same with going outside, same with joining me on the couch--this is invitation only, etc. Sit quietly. Humans decide and grant favors/requests. My other dogs have been much more mellow and I was always able to be more laid back in return. Sophie is one of those dogs who simply needs a stricter set of rules in order to be a good family member. We're all much happier under this system and Sophie is safer. She's better about her resource guarding and less bratty in general. |
| We have the same problem with Chauncey as tgir. He is very protective of Bobby and he ( Bob ) goes to bed earlier. In fact many evenings they go in the bedroom to watch something else on TV. Occasionally Chaunce will be on the floor, if I go in to get something he will get up and jump on the bed beside Bobby as if I'm an axe murderer. If they are cuddling, which is most of the time, he will do everything possible to keep me from him. When he was young he actually bit me twice, it was at this point I became the dominate bitch. This is is only resource guarding behavior.
He doesn't like me in the middle but doesn't challenge me now and will try to wiggle his way in, but no agggressive behaviors. We have a pack order: me, Chauncey and then Bobby The problem is Bob is okay with this and his behavior has been more difficult to change.
I do not mind Chaunce sleeping with us, but I will not be kept from MY bed. |
| Winny did this when we first rescued her. We thought it was harmless until we saw her do it to our other animals and then we realized "we're not in charge." She was trying to be alpha and we were letting her get away with it. In my house dogs no longer come up on the bed or couches because of this. They are perfectly content to sit by our sides/feet instead. Since making this change we have seen a big difference in the groweling. Anytime Winny slips up we simply giver her a sharp verbal "NO" or "AH AH" and she quickly changes her tune. |
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