# Growling when awoken



## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

My dogs don't, but my cat Melanie sure does and so do I!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

She is resource guarding. Claiming the space as her own.
JMHO....her highness needs to be sleeping in her crate and working/earning her keep around the house ;-) 
There are some dogs that need to be kindly reminded who pays the mortgage.
Guarding space can get out of hand and can be much harder to predict then other guarding behaviors...because 'her space' is so hard to define. <compared to food or toys where it is easier to remove the object>


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

What LibertyME said! Get the little darlin' out of your bed; she doesn't get to think it belongs to her.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

LibertyME said:


> She is resource guarding. Claiming the space as her own.
> JMHO....her highness needs to be sleeping in her crate and working/earning her keep around the house ;-)
> There are some dogs that need to be kindly reminded who pays the mortgage.
> Guarding space can get out of hand and can be much harder to predict then other guarding behaviors...because 'her space' is so hard to define. <compared to food or toys where it is easier to remove the object>


LOL, Jasmine used to do that when she slept with my son. She got demoted to the floor post haste! And she never growled at him again. Her highness is the perfect description.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Oh man, if Flora did that to me she'd be on the floor faster than she could blink!

That said, Flora used to do this with the couch. If my parents or brother... basically anyone besides myself tried to move Flora off the couch, she would growl and sometimes bare her teeth. We restricted her from the couch after that, no exceptions, and haven't had any problems since. She doesn't even get on couches anymore, just my bed, and while she's an awful bed hog :doh:, she's a polite bed hog.


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

I'm usually the one doing the growling. Especially now that there are TWO pups on the bed LOL



EmmaDube said:


> If I go to move my 9 month old, Emma when she is sleeping (I need part of the bed too!), she sometimes growls/snarls at me when she awakes and sees what I'm doing.
> 
> Does anybody else's dog do that?
> 
> Thanks!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

as a practical matter......I would not grab her collar to get her off the bed...but make a slip lead from her leash that you can slip over her head to matter-of-factly guide her off the bed. 
Some dogs take a collar grab as an insult/assault....you dont need to add to your trouble.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

Never had an issue with any of the dogs growling at me but when I first had Willow Diesel would growl at her if she was on the bed. I wasn't having any of that so neither of them came on the bed for about a month. No problems at all now.

Good luck with Emma.


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## awilkens (Jan 7, 2009)

Good timing with this question because Butter just did that to my guest this weekend. Butter was on the guest bed and my friend tried to move him and he growled. I really like that slip lead idea. I'm going to try that. Honestly, Butter has gotten a little cocky lately and I need to remind him who is the alpha. But I want to cuddle with him too! So do you recommend (LibertyME) that I made him sleep on the floor and not allow him on the couch for awhile?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Prevention is a great thing. I approach my dogs and toss them a treat lots and lots of times. My approach is never seen as a potential annoying situation. Yay. Sometimes we follow this with asking the dogs off, and then they get a snack. Sometimes they have to get off before getting a snack. I'm not too worried about a dog that growls when abruptly woken up...I'm like that! But those are not good candidates for sleeping on a bed when people are. 

If you want dogs off the furniture...be sure you have appropriate rest spots available (....one of mine prefers my bed...the other loves to jump on it but likes hard floors to sleep on!).


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

A noisy Diesel is never a good thing 



Lisa_and_Willow. said:


> Never had an issue with any of the dogs growling at me but when I first had Willow Diesel would growl at her if she was on the bed. I wasn't having any of that so neither of them came on the bed for about a month. No problems at all now.
> 
> Good luck with Emma.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

LibertyME said:


> She is resource guarding. Claiming the space as her own.
> JMHO....her highness needs to be sleeping in her crate and working/earning her keep around the house ;-)
> There are some dogs that need to be kindly reminded who pays the mortgage.
> Guarding space can get out of hand and can be much harder to predict then other guarding behaviors...because 'her space' is so hard to define. <compared to food or toys where it is easier to remove the object>


ditto.....


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

awilkens said:


> Good timing with this question because Butter just did that to my guest this weekend. Butter was on the guest bed and my friend tried to move him and he growled. I really like that slip lead idea. I'm going to try that. Honestly, Butter has gotten a little cocky lately and I need to remind him who is the alpha. But I want to cuddle with him too! So do you recommend (LibertyME) that I made him sleep on the floor and not allow him on the couch for awhile?


I would give him a "time out" of a couple of weeks where he isn't allowed on the furniture, then you can start inviting him back up. If he has been grumbly, I wouldn't let him up without permission. You can sit on the floor and cuddle with him for that time period!

If you have an easy dog, you don't have to follow this, only with the pushy ones. My two goldens don't have to ask permission to get into bed or on the sofa because they would* never *dream of growling at me. They just don't have it in them. My lab/golden can be a pushy broad, so she is required to ask permission, though I never tell her no. It's just as a reminder that she isn't the boss of me. LOL


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

Merlin wouldn't dream of growling at me when we make him get off the bed, but my cat will...and then he'll BITE me. Dang cat. I wish I could train him like a dog.  Tried, but it just doesn't work! LOL!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

fostermom said:


> I would give him a "time out" of a couple of weeks where he isn't allowed on the furniture, then you can start inviting him back up. If he has been grumbly, I wouldn't let him up without permission. You can sit on the floor and cuddle with him for that time period!
> 
> If you have an easy dog, you don't have to follow this, only with the pushy ones. My two goldens don't have to ask permission to get into bed or on the sofa because they would* never *dream of growling at me. They just don't have it in them. My lab/golden can be a pushy broad, so she is required to ask permission, though I never tell her no. It's just as a reminder that she isn't the boss of me. LOL


Agreed if you dont have a pushy dog...then it really isnt an issue. 

At _least_ a couple of weeks of no furniture privileges..... 

You can start teaching 'on' (hup-hup) and 'off' with a short, sturdy container...like a 10" rubbermaid container...then after a couple of weeks if you want to try the bed again...transfer the 'on and off' behaviors to the bed...then 'on and off' with you in the bed...

If the dog is young....be careful as jumping on and off the bed is hard on the joints...


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I didn't let Ranger up on the bed/couches until 6 months after I had him. We spent the 6 months establishing rules/boundaries and who's in charge. Now that Ranger and I are more "comfortable" with one another, and he knows his place in the household, he gets invited up to sleep on my bed.

It's funny though, Ranger always slept on the floor when my boyfriend was living me then boyfriend and I broke up and within a week, I had let Ranger sleep in my bed. When the (ex) boyfriend came back a week ago to pick up his stuff, Ranger was thrilled to see him but wasn't listening to him like he used to. Like Ranger knows we've shuffled the pack around so with boyfriend gone, Ranger is second in command.

Anyway, Ranger also knows he's not allowed up on couches/beds unless he's invited. Even if someone else invites him up, he always looks at me first for me to allow it, no matter who's house were in.


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## scottbldr (Aug 29, 2009)

I'm curious...how do your dogs ask permission? Could you also go into a little more detail on how you train this?

Our dogs are all allowed on the furniture but they do understand "off" and will leave when asked.

Thanks,

Robert



fostermom said:


> I would give him a "time out" of a couple of weeks where he isn't allowed on the furniture, then you can start inviting him back up. If he has been grumbly, I wouldn't let him up without permission. You can sit on the floor and cuddle with him for that time period!
> 
> If you have an easy dog, you don't have to follow this, only with the pushy ones. My two goldens don't have to ask permission to get into bed or on the sofa because they would* never *dream of growling at me. They just don't have it in them. My lab/golden can be a pushy broad, so she is required to ask permission, though I never tell her no. It's just as a reminder that she isn't the boss of me. LOL


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Flora asks permission to get on my bed by... staring intently at my bed and then staring at me, back and forth from bed to me until I say, "All right!" and she'll jump up.

I think it was kind of natural for her, I never really had to teach her that. I might have done the "uh uh!" thing when she was younger and trying to jump on my bed without asking, and that could have taught her she needed to ask permission before getting on.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

scottbldr said:


> I'm curious...how do your dogs ask permission? Could you also go into a little more detail on how you train this?
> 
> Our dogs are all allowed on the furniture but they do understand "off" and will leave when asked.
> 
> ...


Jasmine will come up and bump her chin on the sofa and look at me. She doesn't jump up until I tell her okay. Which I always do, but she's expected to ask. Trust me, when they want up, they'll tell you they want up with no training other not allowing them on the sofa unless you say so.


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## Makino82 (Oct 23, 2009)

I'd be careful with that / make sure it's taken care of asap. I had a friend growing up who's family let their golden get away with that. One day they brought home a kitten and the kitten was no more when it crawled on the golden in it's sleep....

Everyone had great suggestions to follow such as the only letting them onto things with permission, etc.


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## kaysy (Jan 9, 2010)

Yep, out of the bed.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger asks by getting out of his bed, coming over to the side of my bed and either looking at me expectantly or resting his chin on the mattress while lifting his eyebrows. It's like he's saying "what are you waiting for...?"


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