Tulip

Thanks everyone for your replies! I’m taking her to the vet on Monday. I’ve also asked to speak with the adoption group. I did speak with the group a couple months ago after the first two times I described, and they initially told me they thought it was typical and workable. I backed off from approaching her space and she seemed to be doing a lot better... but it definitely feels as if something has shifted now.

Hi there, I could really use some perspective! I adopted my girl about three and a half months ago. In the first couple of weeks after bringing her home, I was careful to let her come to me, and she initially spent a lot of time in her crate (with the door open). After those first couple of weeks though, she would come lay down next to me on the floor or put her head in my lap. She seemed not to mind if I was close to her and would fall asleep next to me. She even didn’t mind if I approached her crate to pet her and would roll on her back for me. Since adopting her, I’ve learned that she’s prone to resource guarding as well as sleep startle. A few times now though, she’s growled and snapped at me without an obvious (to me) trigger. The first time it happened, she had laid down for me to pet her as I approached her bed, and I made the mistake of leaning over to kiss her face. I now know that this was definitely my mistake and she perceived my body language as threatening, and I’ve been careful not to do it again. She snapped at me again about a week later when I sat down next to her bed after I had given her a new toy that evening. It definitely took me aback, as I didn’t touch her this time or make any move toward her, but I understood this as resource guarding her new toy and that I got too close to her. Since these two initial incidences, we hadn’t experienced any other problems and it seemed that she was really starting to trust me more until recently. About 10 weeks after her adoption, we had to move. It was a difficult trip for her (2 days) and she took nearly two weeks just to settle down in the new place. Within the last couple of weeks since then, there’s been several incidences of snarling/snapping at me when she’s lying down and I’m next to her. Knowing that she is sensitive, I’ve tried to be really careful about watching her body language, but the change seems to happen within a second. She’ll be completely content to be petted and close to me, and then suddenly jump up, bark, and snap. The most recent time, I was sitting an arm’s length away from her. She was definitely fully awake. Since then, I’ve stopped sitting with her or petting her at all unless she’s standing. It’s very confusing since she also seems to give me mixed signals. She’ll look at me and whine while on her bed as if she wants me to come pet her. She even started demand barking for pets and attention (which I’ve been careful not to reinforce). I want to be affectionate with her, but I’m very wary of her snapping at me again. It’s frightening when she does. My questions are: Is this normal? How concerned should I be that it's happened more and not less? I thought we were building up a trusting relationship between us. Could it be the change of environment that set everything back? How should I respond? I know I’m not supposed to punish a growl. Should I just move and ignore? Leave the room? Perhaps most importantly… will this stop? I’m new to greyhounds. I’ve never had a dog react this way to affection. I love her dearly, but I certainly imagined being able to snuggle and its disappointing that we can’t. I eventually hope to invite her up on the couch or the bed, but I can’t imagine giving her those privileges anytime soon. All in all it’s been really disheartening, and I’m concerned that she may never be a dog I’m able to cuddle with. I really want her to feel safe and not push her past her limits, but its certainly disappointing to not be able to be close to my dog. Thanks so much for reading.