Thread: Growing When I'm In His Space

A little more info, he was in foster for 3 months before I adopted him. He is the most un-grey-like grey, everyone who knows him says he's like a black lab dressed up as a greyhound. Even though he definitely is still settling in, he acts like he's been here forever. He's roaching, comfortable in his crate, and generally shows no signs of stress or fear about anything. Great with stairs, loud noises, my cats, slippery floors,...

Give him his space any time he's lying down. Don't hug him or cuddle him. Don't let him on your bed. Some greys, like my Gracie, eventually grew out of the space aggression (took her 2 years). Some dogs may always be that way. Two weeks is actually a very short time and your dog is still overwhelmed by his new world. Give him time to really relax and adjust to his new environment and you will see him come to you more often for...

You'll get a wide range of opinions I'm sure. For me, I fall more on the second option side of the spectrum, though I don't believe in the "alpha dog" concept. My dogs all know that it is NOT ok to growl at me. They get a sharp verbal correction, and I stay in their space until they relax. I will sometimes remove them from the bed/chair/couch depending on the situation. They can growl at each other on a case...

QUOTE(macoduck @ Nov 8 2009, 05:32 PM) Give him his space any time he's lying down. Don't hug him or cuddle him. Don't let him on your bed. Some greys, like my Gracie, eventually grew out of the space aggression (took her 2 years). Some dogs may always be that way. Two weeks is actually a very short time and your dog is still overwhelmed by his new world. Give him time to really relax and adjust to his new...

We feel that all space in the house is ours, snarky dogs get removed from the space. Guarding dog beds can lead to guarding couches, people beds, etc. Like someone else mentioned, you will get replies on both sides of the fence..

Yep, what RobinM said. Dogs don't have many options to tell us they are uncomfortable it's actually a good thing to know that he's giving you a little growl right now. Respect that so you will always have the warning. If you say no to the growl he'll learn you don't listen to the growl so he won't bother and go straight to the snap. I'll also be up front that I'm not a fan of the alpha concept. We...

Certainly differing opinions on this topic and that is to be expected - no two hounds or people are alike and experiences, good and bad, influence peoples' reactions to their dogs in these situations. I'm with greysmom and do not accept / tolerate growling from our dogs. They're both really good, don't get me wrong, but they're still dogs. But I am not inclined to be growled at in my house so they get corrected. It...

I also agree with Greymom and BrucieDad, I will not have my dogs growling at me in my home, it has only happened once or twice when adding a new boy to our pack and I always make the correction. I do however allow for a little snarkyness among my hounds when they are getting to know a new pack member. One thing we do not do though is invade their sleeping space even though they are constantly invading ours (LOL).

QUOTE(lolo @ Nov 8 2009, 10:10 PM) I'm obviously provoking him. The situations in which when he growls/snaps are always the same, and it can be easily avoided by me just being more careful. So my initial thought is to just back off and not get in his face. He's totally sweet and non-aggressive otherwise. Don't provoke the dog. When the dog is lying down, eating, grooming himself, taking care of business ......