LottesMama

Our Charlotte is typically the sweetest most affectionate dog in the universe. She hasn't met a person or dog she doesn't love at first sight (besides the terrible pit bull that attacked her a few weeks ago but thats another story altogether).
We started crate training her from day one to sleep in her crate at night as well as go in while we are out of the house during the day. But because of a long strech of her being sick and then recovering from her recent injuries we have given into her sad eyes and let her sleep in our bed, which I love. She is a super snuggle bug all night and its too cute for words. However, once she has turned in circles fifty times, dug at the covers and sheets to make them more comfortable, and pressed herself as close as humanly (bassetly?) possible against me and gone to sleep if I try and move her at all when she is asleep she growls at me and has even snapped at my hands a few times. I don't understand this aggression? She has never growled at me when she is awake. Im afraid to move her once she falls asleep now but sometimes if I don't then I'd be left with the floor because she streches out and takes up the whole bed.
Is there something Im doing wrong? Or is there a way to avoid this situation that im not thinking of besides making her go back to sleeping in her crate?

MollyMcFrecklesMom

I'm interested to hear what the more experienced basset owners have to say on this. Molly has the same routine before she lays down on the sofa. If I get up she moves right into my spot. When I try to gently move her over, she growls at me too, though she hasn't snapped at me for it. I just figured it's part of her ornery streak.

vb3

We have usually responded to that sort of thing with no tolerance, the dogs end up in trouble if they try it.

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LottesMama

In bed in the middle of the night, like 3am, what would you do to stop the behavior? What would "in trouble" be?

Mikey T

let first start with the problem and that it is not unusual. Actual it is a normal adaptive dog behavior. And by normal I do not mean acceptable. When a dog especial a wild dog is sleeping it is most vulnerable. A dog the defends it self when being awoken is more likely to live another day and pass on genes for this hardwired trait. So now you know the origin, it is a natural instinct and quite common hence the classic say "let sleeping dogs lie". Such instincts are typically referred to as Fix action Patterns by ethologist and behaviorist. This is not to say FAP can not be changed but they are some of the more difficult behaviors to change and tend to revert back unless constantly worked on.

Punishment is general highly unsuccesful at changing Fixed Action Patterns. Typical for learning to occur the dog must be conscious, For punishment to work in addition it must be aware that it behavior is what caused the punishment. So typical in such a senario of a sleeping dog that wakes with snaping and biting. That if the dog recieves punishment for a behavior that it was not concious of It is not going to associate that behavior with punishment but rather it will associate the punishment with you in bed at night. and be even perhaps a bit more on edge. Often if not most often the use of punishment in such cases increase the aggressiveness not lessons it.

The typical behaviors model for such behavior is counter conditioning and desensitization, The first step is to stop unintentional reinforcement of the unwanted behavior, In this case the behavior is self reward in that it is a self defense mechanism and every time the dog is not hurt while using it it has the potential to be rewarding. Counter counditioning is basical classical conditioning. It requires no concious learning on the part of the dog. In the sense the dog does not have to rationalize behavior with consequence, In classical conditioning stimulus is always paired with a action and hence the dog will anticipate the action when the stimulus occurs. ie pavlov.s dog salivating in anticipation of food coming when a bell is rung. You can do something similar. However if while you are doing this the dog is snaping and biting every time you touch the dog then you reward him, it is impossible to tell whether the classical conditioning model above, or the operant conditioning model The dogs is rewarded for its behavior will take president . It is therfore advise to practice counter conditioning only under circumstance where it is not likely the dog wilol react with the unwanted behavior. This may be while the dog is still awake or slight drowsy. ie after it has done the circles but before falling asleep. And slow progressing over time as the dog behavior and reactions warrant.

general dog only react this way to physical touch opun being awoken, There are other ways to wake the dog first. i.e. noise, smell etc, Once awake you can then do what you need to do.

That said there are ligitamate reasond not to let the dog sleep in your bed. One that is not ligitamate is the dog will come to think of itself as alpha and become a behavioral problem, This has nothing to do with dominance, and so called "dominance reduction" exercises do not reduce aggression. However a legitamate reason not to let the dog sleep in bed with you is it is intollerant of being jostled while sleeping. Personnallyt I would take a management approach and not have a dog that is touch intollerant while sleeping in the bed with me, but their are other solutions as well. They all have pros and cons.


Guidelines on the Use of Punishment for Dealing with Behavior Problems in Animals
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior

Punishment: How not to do it

jaleely

does she keep trying to growl at you after she's been woken, or is it only when you first move and wake her? the others are right in that it's just her natural reaction to being jostled awake. If she only does it right away when being woken, i would say it's manageable to keep her in the bed still. Our beagle daisy hates being woken up, or getting up at night, and will grumble or growl, but i usually yell no at her, and then speak nicely and sweetly and praise her for being good for moving/getting up. She's very docile after she becomes conscious.
But, if she still growls and after you wake her and continue to move her, then shes a grumpywumpy and you might have to put her in the crate, or at least for a while crate her. She thinks it's HER bed and HER spot and you need to reaffirm that no, it's YOURs and she is not alpha! Bowser sleeps on and off in the bed with us. He pushes me out too, and he's so heavy now that i can't comfortably slide him over without really waking myself up to do it. He did growl at me once ages ago, but that stopped because i put him right back in his crate for growling. He hasn't done it since, but I do think he was VERY tired and really grumpy that day.

Like it was said though, you may not get her out of the habit because it's her instinct. Maybe if she sees being up there s a reward, and it's your bed, and shes safe and alpha is taking care of her she will stop! : )

bubbad

I have great sucess with grabbing the cheeks as fast as humanly possibly and giving a shake then saying ,almost growling back,"NO". If this is not the right solution for you I would put a leash on her and make it a very unhappy walk to the crate. That is where she spends her nights from now on.

bklantz

Ella does that too, if I try to move her when she is sleeping or really comfy she growls, she hasn't actually snapped at me but she definitely growls. I usually just grab her and put her off the bed/couch, do the adjusting or moving blankets around or whatever and then call her back up. Or maybe it would be better to call her off and make her get up herself? Not really sure but you aren't alone with grumpy sleepy dogs!! Good Luck!!

LottesMama

Thanks for all the imput. Im not sure what our solution is going to be because I do really enjoy having her in bed with me, especially this last couple of weeks that my husband has been away on a business trip.
I've been trying to wake her up before actually trying to move her by calling her name, giving her kisses, and rubbing her tummy and ears. She tolerates this and seems to be mostly awake but the second I put my hands under her to adjust her she growls fiercely. I guess i'll just have to be patient with her and try to avoid moving her if at all possible.
I really find it ironic that she puts up such a fuss if I try and adjust her at all when she is asleep but she finds no issue with standing on my back and whinning at 4 or 5am when she is ready to go out for her morning potty break.

rootbeerlove

We have the exact same problem. But, I'm a pretty active sleeper and I move around a lot. I end up kicking her (not like violently, but running my leg into her from under the covers) and she growls. I'm glad to know Harriet isn't a freak. Sadly, we have the addition that if I move her too much, she wakes up and wants to go out. Ugh.