# Sleep startle… growling and biting



## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

*I have a 13 week old puppy and she is so sweet and amazing! We love her so much but there is one thing I’m concerned about and want to address and not sure how. She is only aggressive when she is sleeping and anyone disturbs her. Which I get, I’m probably similar haha! However I can’t have her growling and biting and today my husband tried to VERY gently move her to her bed (she had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor and he wanted to move her to her bed where he could watch her while he took a conference call for work) he gently tried to wake her slightly and carry her but she growled aggressively and lunged to bite him. He was so upset and just didn’t know what to do. We have small kids. I never leave the kids alone with her so they are closely monitored and know not to bother her while she is sleeping but I want to try to work on this behavior as I can’t have her biting people. Is this a common behavior? My previous dogs didn’t do this so this is new to me. Any suggestions? Thanks! *


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

My best recommendation is "to let sleeping dogs lie". If you let me know where you are located I can provide you with some recommendations for trainers.


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## Ontariodogsitter (Feb 23, 2020)

Possibly where the "Let sleeping dogs lie" comes from..
She was startled and reacted in a very natural way.


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

jennretz said:


> My best recommendation is "to let sleeping dogs lie". If you let me know where you are located I can provide you with some recommendations for trainers.


North texas


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

jennretz said:


> My best recommendation is "to let sleeping dogs lie". If you let me know where you are located I can provide you with some recommendations for trainers.


McKinney, specifically


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

Any chance she is hearing impaired?


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

Linzliz23 said:


> McKinney, specifically





Hildae said:


> Any chance she is hearing impaired?


no, her hearing seems great!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

ETA: Sorry, just saw you gave the town. No this is not common. Can you be more specific than NOrth Texas? Such a huge state.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I would make sure she is crated or gated away from your children when you're not actively playing with her till you figure out what's going on.


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

nolefan said:


> ETA: Sorry, just saw you gave the town. No this is not common. Can you be more specific than NOrth Texas? Such a huge state.


McKinney texas


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

I see the replies about "let sleeping dogs lie..." but this is not normal in my personal experience. I don't usually wake my deeply sleeping dog on purpose, but when I have, she doesn't react aggressively (and my last one didn't either). 

What happens if you wake her with a subtle sound rather than by touching her? If my dog is having a bad dream, I often will click my tongue in the way I do when I am snuggling her (so it is a positive, comforting sound to her) so that I am not startling her awake from a deep sleep. And then when she is awake, I will touch her. If your pup is still aggressive if woken by a sound, I would also worry about pain or hearing impairment. It seems something is making her feel vulnerable or scared upon waking. Good advice to make sure she is never woken by your kids.


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

Sweet Girl said:


> I see the replies about "let sleeping dogs lie..." but this is not normal in my personal experience. I don't usually wake my deeply sleeping dog on purpose, but when I have, she doesn't react aggressively (and my last one didn't either).
> 
> What happens if you wake her with a subtle sound rather than by touching her? If my dog is having a bad dream, I often will click my tongue in the way I do when I am snuggling her (so it is a positive, comforting sound to her) so that I am not startling her awake from a deep sleep. And then when she is awake, I will touch her. If your pup is still aggressive if woken by a sound, I would also worry about pain or hearing impairment. It seems something is making her feel vulnerable or scared upon waking. Good advice to make sure she is never woken by your kids.


Yes my husband just started gently and very sweetly talking to her to wake her gently before touching her to make sure she wasn’t startled or scared. He is very gentle with her always. Yes I keep my kids away from her when she sleeps


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Linzliz23 said:


> Yes my husband just started gently and very sweetly talking to her to wake her gently before touching her to make sure she wasn’t startled or scared. He is very gentle with her always. Yes I keep my kids away from her when she sleeps


And so are you saying that if she is woken with a sound - without being touched - she is fine? It is only if she is woken by being touched or move that makes her react?


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

Sweet Girl said:


> And so are you saying that if she is woken with a sound - without being touched - she is fine? It is only if she is woken by being touched or move that makes her react?


She started growling as soon as he started trying to wake her. Then he was petting her gently and sweetly to comfort her and he tried to gently pick her up (he needed to move her to a different room because he was having someone can and do work on the room she was in, right where she was laying) and that is when she snapped at him


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Okay. Thanks for the extra information. That does sound concerning, because she was clearly awake when he tried to move her. So it seems to have been less of a startle reaction. 

Did your pup come from an experienced breeder who does a lot of socialization and exposure to different sounds and experiences with the pups? If so, I would talk to your breeder about what you are experiencing and see what he or she says. If you don't have a strong breeder resource, an experienced and certified trainer could be helpful to consult with. It might be worth trying to get what happens on video because it might be impossible to replicate with a trainer.


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

Sweet Girl said:


> Okay. Thanks for the extra information. That does sound concerning, because she was clearly awake when he tried to move her. So it seems to have been less of a startle reaction.
> 
> Did your pup come from an experienced breeder who does a lot of socialization and exposure to different sounds and experiences with the pups? If so, I would talk to your breeder about what you are experiencing and see what he or she says. If you don't have a strong breeder resource, an experienced and certified trainer could be helpful to consult with. It might be worth trying to get what happens on video because it might be impossible to replicate with a trainer.


Yes excellent breeder, but as actually found from referral on this group. I love the breeder and her breeding approach. I think the puppy was still sort of asleep. She acted VERY apologetic after and was licking my husband and trying to cuddle with him a lot after, almost like she felt so badly


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Definitely get in touch with your breeder then. Talk to them about exactly what happened and see if they have some insight or advice. They will care. They want your puppy to be in the right home and have a happy and healthy life. Has it happened more than once? Always then same circumstances and reaction?


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## green branch (Oct 24, 2020)

I know a sweetest dog that did this as a puppy. Does she normally feel insecure when being touched? If yes, work on desensitization with her while awake. Eventually she will feel safe in your home. I am in no way expert so take that in consideration. All answers you got said this is no normal. I hope my answer gives you hope that she will turn out good. Work with her and make sure your kids do not touch her when you are not there.


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## Linzliz23 (Jan 14, 2022)

green branch said:


> I know a sweetest dog that did this as a puppy. Does she normally feel insecure when being touched? If yes, work on desensitization with her while awake. Eventually she will feel safe in your home. I am in no way expert so take that in consideration. All answers you got said this is no normal. I hope my answer gives you hope that she will turn out good. Work with her and make sure your kids do not touch her when you are not there.


Thank you! No she LOVES to snuggle, she loves to sleep right next to me in my bed, she loves to be pet everywhere, not at all insecure. She loves. Everyone, all people and all dogs. So sweet and affectionate and always wanting to be with us and do everything with us. It is the strangest most out of character thing that she does while sleeping and I’m not even sure how to address it but I’m encouraged you know a dog who did this as a pup and grew out of it ?


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## green branch (Oct 24, 2020)

I feel she will grew out of it. Maybe this has something to do with their dreams. Little kids can have night terrors and they outgrow them.

I am sure that you are aware that until you resolve this, you will have to manage this issue because of the kids. The dog that I know outgrew it quickly. It only happened few times during puppyhood.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

I just sent you a PM.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Talk to the breeder and also contact Dog Training Club of Dallas County for a referral to someone good in your area. They should be able to help you find someone good to work with.


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## Jasmyne (Dec 28, 2021)

Was it just once or has this happened multiple times? 
If it was just once I wouldn’t ring any alarm bells. Maybe she was mid dream and the touch at that exact moment startled her and she reacted as we all would. Considering your comments of her seemingly apologetic behaviour afterwards it doesn’t seem that concerning to me. 
Now if it happens again or has happened multiple times then that is a completely different story.


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## scritch (Sep 6, 2021)

I'll share my story. I am in no way a behavior/training expert, and I know I did a million things wrong, but hopefully it might help you not make the same mistakes.

We got a puppy from a breeder last February. The breeder insists the puppies go to their new homes at 7 weeks old, which should have been my first red flag. 

She was very confident, beautiful, and sweet. But she didn't really want to cuddle with us, or be held. She would growl when my husband or kids picked her up and held her. 

Then, she started growling/snapping when she was woken up from sleeping. I knew about the 'startle' reaction, and chalked this up to that. I told the kids(they are big teenagers, so I wasn't overly worried about them being around her) not to disturb her when sleeping. I told the vet about the growling/snapping, and he told me to take her to the behaviorist at their office. I SHOULD HAVE GONE, BUT I DIDN'T. Instead, I tried reading up myself on her bad behaviors, and trying to work on things myself.

Then, she started resource guarding toys & bones. I was handfeeding her, and there was no problem with her food. I took away all 'high value' toys/treats unless she was confined and out of reach of our other dog & all people. I worked on 'trading' and holding the high value treat while she was chewing. This seemed to help a bit. But the problem was that we never knew what she would decide was 'high value'. One day she could have a toy with no problems, and the next she would growl and snap at someone who was close when she had the same toy.

Next, she started growling/snapping when she was laying on the ground and someone sat next to her to pet her. I could see at this point that it wasn't a 'startle reaction' from being woken up - it was that she didn't want to be touched/moved when she was laying down. If we even stood over her, she would growl/snap. 

Then, on July 4th, she was spooked by some fireworks outside, and jumped on the couch - her 'safe space'. My husband sat down next to her to comfort her, and she bit him. 

At that point, everyone in my household, except me, were scared to pet her. I contacted her breeder, who was (or pretended to be) very surprised at her behavior, and suggested we bring her back. I was feeling awful about my decision to do so, but on the morning we took her, she bit one of my sons completely out of the blue when he sat next to her on the floor and pet her.

We returned her, sobbing the whole way. It was awful. Looking back, her behavior got incrementally worse over time, and I just kept trying to deal with each problem on my own, instead of reaching out for help. I wish I had taken her to the behaviorist. I wish I had contacted the breeder earlier. But in the end, I think maybe her behavior could have been managed if we had gotten help, but my guess is that she could never be completely trusted. I know people say that any dog can snap at any time, but there is clearly a big difference between a dog that has those tendencies and a dog that doesn't.

So, I guess I would say that you should pay close attention to if it's a 'startle from sleep' reflex, or if she's fully awake and displaying her dislike at being touched. I think there's a big difference. Also, if it continues, or other problems pop up, don't hesitate to get help asap. I wish I had


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## green branch (Oct 24, 2020)

Hello, scritch. Sorry to hear about your experience. It must have been very hard for your family to return this puppy. People are surprised when a Golden puppy does something like that, but even human youngsters will sometimes bite out of frustration. Both puppies and kids need to be taught that this is not appropriate behavior. Dogs don't necessarily like to be hugged and touched. Over time they will learn to tolerate it and even enjoy it.


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## goldielynn (Sep 5, 2020)

For her prior vet visits and examinations, has the vet cleared her of all medical issues? The only thing incredibly surprising about this thread is that a puppy would need to be awakened by touch. When ours was your age, I couldn't even move or change sleeping positions for fear that my puppy would hear me and wake up, and at times he would be in another room completely. I'm sure if I got within three feet of him when he was napping, he'd already be awake by the time I got to him.


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