Hello all, I haven't posted in a while, you know how life gets in the way . Anyway, yesterday I had surgery and was resting on my couch. Otis ~8 months now was completely overtired and acting a bit crazy around my living room. We usually can tell he's overtired because he's trying to grab pillows, couch cushions and really everything he's not supposed to . All of a sudden he tried to bite and pull the blanket that I was using..stopped when I wouldn't allow him to take it, and then laid himself directly on top of me and decided it was time for a snuggle. Knowing that I was in some pain and having a 25kg dog on top of me probably wasn't the best idea, my husband went to lift him off of me. Immediately Otis growled at him, to which my husband (stupidly) tried to pick him up again and got growled at again. Otis hasn't growled at either one of us in a long time. He went through a bit of a phase around 4-5 months where when he was very tired and one of us tried to move him he growled, but we haven't dealt with that in months. Anyway, I instructed my husband to lure him off the couch with a cookie, which worked, and Otis immediately fell asleep on the floor. My husband does pick him up pretty regularly and has never been growled at, but maybe it bothers Otis more than we think it does. Also, not sure if it's worth mentioning but he's very vocal and growls pretty often.... when something makes him nervous, a branch blowing the wrong way outside, a new car parked in my neighbors yard, when someone knocks on the door, etc. Hes still leery of strangers and definitely takes more warming up to then your "typical" lab, but he's gotten much much better. I feel like he is so sensitive, and I don't know how to handle these types of situations. Could he sense that I didn't feel well after surgery, resource guarding, just an overtired response? Any suggestions/comments would be welcomed!!
Mine does something similiar when i tell him No when he's nipping at my cloth, he starts to growl and bark but i guess he's just... a boisterous teenager! In your case i have no idea but soon someone will reply for sure
I don't think it was a response to trying to steal my blanket because when he growled at my hubby he was already settled on top of me. The teenage stage is a real game changer for sure
I don't really have any experience in this area, only Casper started growling back in summer, when he on the sofa and we wanted him to budge up so one of us could also sit down. We found out later that it was probably due to his back pain, which we didn't know at the time. Could Otis have a sore leg/hip? Just thinking aloud as it also seems when he is overtired and possibly a little stiff?
I would keep an eye on that and, honestly, no matter what the reason for the growling I would not allow him back up on that couch. It might have been a bit of guarding behaviour because our pets for sure know when we are ailing. I believe. And I believe some are quite capable of showing empathy. Or taking advantage. If, as a good suggestion is, that Otis has a hurt somewhere then he probably should just stay on the floor anyway. I hope you are feeling better quickly and there are no repeat growlings but if there are I would try to find out what is prompting them so you can fix the trigger. Not the growl, it's a sign of something that you might need to find out.
It sounds as if last nights growling could have been a combination of over tiredness and a response to your pain. That said growling is not a good response to be getting from your dog as it is the dog giving a warning. Might be worth making an appointment with a behaviourist if Otis is growling at various stimuli. Also worth having a check up with the vet to make sure there is no physical problems.
We've done a couple of rounds of puppy classes with Otis as well as individual training at home. We've worked a lot on "look at that" clicker training with him. Keeping him off the couch is of course a good suggestion, it just saddens me because he cuddles with me and my husband nearly every night while I relax and watch tv.
Could it be simply him being protective? Dogs do behave protectively to their owners after surgery. Mind you. Lilly constantly growls at us if we dare move and nudge her when in bed at night We excuse her on the grounds of her HD.
My Willow is a grumpy girl when she's settled in for a snooze. She will growl at her brother if he jumps up and stands on her. Of course, she jumps all over him and it's fine, but you know how us girls can be... I manhandle Shadow a bit to get him into a position that's comfortable for me, because he's a soppy thing, but I wouldn't do this to Miss Grumpy Pants. If I need her to move, I cue her to get off the sofa and she gets a treat for that. I think you should teach the "off" (or whatever word you want) cue, or "on your bed" etc. Some dogs just don't like being shoved around. Personally, I wouldn't discourage the growling - it's the dog's way of saying you're doing something he doesn't like. It's not aggressive, it's just a request to stop doing what you're doing. If you take away their growl, they may feel they have to escalate to the next level, which is a snap - obviously a lot worse for everyone.
my dogs grow at each other and me during play and its very different from the aggresive growl. I want them to express themselves naturally and have learnt to understand the different growls barks and asorted weird noises. Most of ther serous stuff has been worked through with bribes and encouragement and modifying behaviour both theirs and mine. It just takes time and they are allowed to say no don't do that, but then I have to work on a way of moving through the barrier? Does that make sense?
A lot of adult dogs don't liked to be picked up - I'd say Otis is telling you this. You might want to do a bit of work on it, after all you do need to be able to pick a dog up if you need to do so, but you should really pick a dog up quite carefully in a way that's comfortable for him. Possibly he was resource guarding....but just from what you say here, it seems likely Otis is telling your husband not to be so casual about picking him up.
Good point from Julie (she's too sensible for her own good, that one. One of these days I'll find something that means I'll be able to say "I disagree with Julie".... one day....) Grumpy pants as Willow is, she does need picking up from time to time, so it's important that she accepts this. We've found that she doesn't like an arm around her tummy when she's picked up and the most comfortable way for her is from outside her legs, a bit like this:
Yes - get your husband to use treats to distract him and move him, physically moving dogs is never a good idea imo. Get well soon, it must be difficult for you x .
Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice and comments, as usual! We will definitely be much more sensitive to moving him around and/or pick him up. Last night we made sure we had treats available for luring and we'll definitely start some handling clicker training. I do need to work on and "off" cue for the couch as he freely goes where he wants right now. When he jumps on our counters we use "off" for our right now so maybe we can come up with something different for the couch. It's funny because just recently I was talking about how much better behaved he's become over the last few weeks. To me it seems like he's starting to mature a little more and lose some of his puppy craziness. Up until now, when he was bored he would literally roam the perimeter of my house looking for naughty things to do. Now he's become much better at finding something nice that he's allowed to do. We've also made some good progress with strangers which I was very excited about. Of course, as soon as you think all is well
@snowbunny , that's how I was shown by my Vet to pick up Jet when her back went. Except my front arm goes between her front legs. Vet said it was critical to keep her back as straight and level as possible. Jet didn't like to be picked up either but she tolerated that in order to go for a drive in the car. I still use that hold on Oban.
If I need to do so, I lift Charlie with one hand between his front legs, and he other under his tummy.
