Sleep Aggression In Older Rescue Greyhound

[alison]

Has anyone any experience of sleep aggression when a dog is roused from sleep by another dog moving close to it and attacks whilst still not properly awake?

Our 8 year old rescue who we have had for 2 months has now attacked our dogs twice but it is only ever from sleep. He was from a pound before the rescue took him in so no history.

In all other ways he is a brilliant greyhound and we all love him. We hope to be able to resolve this rather than put him back up for rehoming in a sinlge dog household. Night-time and while we are out is easy - we can crate him and he likes the crate. It is when we are in - 4 greyhounds spend a lot of their time sleeping - that it will be a problem. I am going to buy a new bed where only he is allowed to sleep and discourage him from sleeping anywhere else than here or the crate.

Alison

[mychip1]

My Jack had a horrible sleep disorder where he would attack unprovoked from a deep sleep. Are you sure he is responding to something awakening him - or is the attack occurring from him still in a deep sleep? PM me if you think it's coming from a deep sleep. I have worked w/Dr. Dodman before Jackie passed. We were having success.

[alison]

My Jack had a horrible sleep disorder where he would attack unprovoked from a deep sleep. Are you sure he is responding to something awakening him - or is the attack occurring from him still in a deep sleep? PM me if you think it's coming from a deep sleep. I have worked w/Dr. Dodman before Jackie passed. We were having success.

 

I am reasonably sure it is because he is being touched - it never seems to happen otherwise but I will keep an eye out to see.

[TheFullHouse]

Pick a bed and put it out of the pathway, like in a corner somewhere where the other dogs won't be walking past if you want him to sleep out of the crate. Is his crate in the bedroom? If so, I'd see about getting another one for the general living area and leave the door open, my guess is that he will go into the crate to sleep where the other dogs won't be able to lay next to him. I have a couple who are space/sleep aggressive and I make sure that their beds are out of the way and I don't allow any dogs to go and try to share beds with them. Mine are slowly coming out of it.

 

You may find the longer he is with you, the better he gets about this. Since he's been in the home such a short time, he's still adjusting and since you have no history on him, you don't know if he's ever been in a home before so I would start with him like you would any dog straight from the track. You'll have to teach him house manners and it may take a while but the goal is to keep everyone safe until he adjusts.

[alison]

The crate is currently downstairs but we are getting another for the bedroom. He doesn't actually avoid the other dogs when he is awake. He is not full greyhound so was probably not raced. Our other girl was said to be sleep aggressive but was fine once she felt safe in the home although she is a very slow waker. We plan to have a bed just for him plus the crate. It is totally out of character becasue he is sociable except when not fully awake - obviously something may have happened to him previously. I did feel he would settle into things but after the 2nd quite serious attack I have to be more proactive.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Put a muzzle on him when he sleeps. That will solve the possibility of your other hounds being harmed. Then work on desensitization with him. I would bet that this is related to his change in home environement. There are many desensitization techniques, do a search here on GT and you should find many ideas.

 

Chad

[Guest GryffinSong]

I have an Italian greyhound who freaks out when she's startled awake. She's never bitten, but she'll start growling and fussing and snapping towards the other dogs. In her case, it seems to be a reaction to fright. It happens most often when she's asleep underneath a blanket. If I talk with her and pull the blanket off so she can see what's going on, she calms right down.

 

Good luck helping him with it. He may or may not get over it, but hopefully you can find a way to manage it effectively.

[Guest LindsaySF]

It is totally out of character becasue he is sociable except when not fully awake - obviously something may have happened to him previously. I did feel he would settle into things but after the 2nd quite serious attack I have to be more proactive.

He may settle in as he gets more comfortable, or he may always be that way. Honestly sometimes it's just genetic. Let him settle in some more, then you can try to work on desensitizing him.

 

I would put his bed in the corner, away from the other dogs. If he likes the crate, another crate would be even better.

 

Teagan has bad space and sleep aggression. His bed in the living room is in the corner in an ex-pen. Sometimes I leave the door open, sometimes closed. The other dogs have for the most part figured out not to bother him. At night he sleeps loose in my bedroom, but he is muzzled.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

Edited August 26, 2010 by LindsaySF