Something Disturbing Happened Last Night

[Guest hplove45]

Hey y'all. I'm pretty worried about something that happened last night with my grey, Neville. I've had him for almost a year. My adoption group informed me that greyhounds can have sleep aggression at first, so I never approached him while he was on his bed and therefore never saw any signs of it. However, for the past month he's been sleeping in bed with me. Things were fine - I LOVE having him sleep with me - until last night. I woke up in the middle of the night because he was barking and snarling right in my face. I was still half asleep and terrified that he was going to bite me, so I just shouted really loudly, "Neville, get down!" He stopped growling and immediately got off the bed. He tried to get back up a few minutes later, but I wouldn't let him. I have never seen this behavior from him before. I might have accidentally bumped him while I was sleeping and startled him, or it could be something more serious. Any thoughts?

[Guest greybookends]

Some greys do a lot a growling in their sleep. Is it possible he was sleeping? I am glad no one got hurt and he responded to your voice.

[Guest BrianRke]

It almost sounds like he was dreaming and got spooked. Im not sure what I would do about the sleeping situation after that

[Batmom]

I would probably encourage him to sleep in his own bed near the foot of yours. If you wanted you could get a chunk of foam to elevate his bed a little so he doesn't seem so far away, and a nice new plush blanky to make the spot feel special to him. Sleep startle can be an odd an intermittent thing -- and scary. Glad no one was physically hurt!

[XTRAWLD]

Scary. I'm afraid I'm not much help to guide you with what to do next. I think he should not sleep on the bed for a few nights perhaps. Im sure others will have more/better suggestions. Kasey has never growled at us like that, what you describe is certainly worrisome. We are boss on our bed, so its good he must think that of you since he got off when you told him to. I wonder if he was still asleep when he did that to you and your voice snapped him out of it.

[Guest WhiteWave]

My first Greyhound Casey did that to me one time. I bumped him in my sleep and he sprung up snarling and growing with his teeth right in my face. Thankfully he never did it again. But he slept on the floor for a long time after that before he was allowed back up on the bed.

 

I would probably make him sleep on the floor for a while. It could be a freak one time thing, but no reason to take a chance.

 

Ronon is growly and grumbly, but never a spring up in your face snarling reaction. If I mess with him and he doesn't like it, he will growl/grumble and get up and move away from me, but not get off the bed. He will turn in circles and flop down and let me know I disturb him!

[Shaysmom]

Seamus has always had issues with aggressive reactions when startled out of sleep. He has never been in our face snarling, but even so, I don't let him sleep up on our bed. It isn't his fault that it happens, and when he snaps out of it and realizes what he is doing, he looks embarrassed and contrite. But for me, it is not worth the risk of something happening--besides, I like my space!

[Greydawg]

You, and Neville, were SO lucky nothing worse happen last night!

 

I don't mean to further scare you, but there have been stories of Greyhounds biting the faces of their owners while they slept. The few tragic articles I have read require multiple surgeries to the person, and euthanization of the dog. Here is one of them, but warning, this is not easy to read

 

I can't imagine a Greyhound, or any other breed of dog, would intentionally harm his/her human. I will bet that "sleep startle" is the cause in EVERY one of these situations. I can see why people blame the dog, but it is not the dog's fault.

 

Neville was probably just as surprised as you were when it happened. I would proceed cautiously from this point.

[MaryJane]

Don't let him sleep on your bed - he may be a hound that was either having a bad dream and woke startled or he might be a hound that has sleep startle (aggression). In either case, he might be more likely to growl and snap when he is awoken without warning so, you need to make sure that he is awake before approaching him.

 

This could be a one-time occurrence or it might happen more frequently. You can gauge this better over the next few months although, if this is the first time that it has happened in a year and it was on the bed then it can probably be solved by having him sleep in his bed and to wake him by calling his name before approaching.

[Guest dee]

My first grey never showed any sign of sleep aggression .....actually no signs of any kind of aggression. He was a gentle, gentle dog. He used to sleep at the foot of our bed and one morning my husband got up daly and Jackson moved into my husband's spot next to me. I might have bumped him....still don't know what happened. He snapped at my face and I ended up in the ER with four sutures along the side of my nose. He never even knew he did it I don't think. He wasn't allowed at the pillow end of the bed when someone else was in the bed. Since sometimes I think the dog does these "aggressive" acts in their sleep I don't know if you could train it out of them. Much easier and safer for all if you avoided the possibility of it happening again to my way of thinking. Glad nothing happened to you.

[BootsyCollins]

My bootsy reacts strongly when he's touched while sleeping. If you bumped him, that could have been the cause. I would not have him sleep in your bed. He will be fine on a bed on the floor.

[Guest DragonflyDM]

Your dog sleeps in your bed because that is the most comfortable place. Make a spot he would rather be sleeping in and he will abandon you in a heart beat. I got Boomer a luv sac. He will come on the bed for a bit but eventually leaves for better pastures once i am asleep.

[GeorgeofNE]

My dog had very bad sleep aggression when I first got him, but what you describe is, I think, simply a dog having a dream in which he was growling and such--which my dog does all the time. It was only a problem because his face was near your face.

 

I think, rather than shouting at him, I would have sat up and spoken in a normal tone and made sure he was fully awake then sent him to the floor.

 

Easy to say as I was not there! I am sure it was very startling. I don't think this would cause ME to permanently ban him from the bed, since this was the first incident after quite a while of no problems, but it might be the most prudent thing--

 

My dog's sleep aggression has all but vanished in his time with me--he does still have very vocal active dreams.

[Guest snakes]

Mine growl and bark in their sleep all the time, maybe he was dreaming?

Doesn't matter if he was or not, if it was terrifying for you then it looks liek it is time to either not have him in the bed or make him sleep away from your face.

Good luck!

[galgrey]

I had the very same experience not long after I adopted my girl, Carly. She had climbed into bed with me while I was asleep and I didn't know she was there. I rolled over and touched her and she jumped up snarling and snapping in my face. Fortunately, she didn't make contact but it scared us both badly. She was in such a panic she fell off the bed. She doesn't get on the bed anymore, but she still has the same reaction if she's startled awake by either noise or a touch after living with me for 6 years. I've accepted that's just how she is and I'm always very careful not to touch her when she may be sleeping. Sometimes it's hard to tell because she often sleeps with her eyes open. You've gotten good advice from everyone else about not letting him on the bed from now on.

[Guest sweetpea]

What I've done with Sweetpea is take little daytime naps with her on my bed.

 

That way nobody is in a really deep sleep, and we can have some cuddle time.

 

At night time though, everybody sleeps in their own bed.

 

Unless Sweetpea feels that I haven't spent enough quality time with her that day.

In which case, she'll go to her kennel, I'll climb in my bed, and then she'll immediately

get up and hop up on my bed for a bit. But we all sleep better in our own space,

so she'll either get off on her own, or I'll send her off. (A couple hours later.)

 

Sorry for the scare, it can be unnerving and upsetting, but you can manage this.

 

Buzzy

Edited April 29, 2012 by sweetpea

[greysmom]

Sounds like classic sleep aggression. It's not his fault. It's not your fault. It's just the way he is. Even though you love to sleep together, it will be safer for everyone if you don't allow him to sleep on your bed.

 

 

[RedHead]

To me, it just sounds like you startled him, he wasn't trying to be aggressive. Greyhounds seem to be prone to this, it is almost like they are not fully conscious or half asleep as it is an involuntary thing. Usually as soon as you speak to them it seems to snap them right out of it. Teague does not have any aggression at all, but for the first year that I had him every so often at night he would get startled by something and make the most ferocious growling sound that literally made me jump out of bed (he sleeps on his bed on the floor next to the bed). He was just very scared, and snapped out of it in a few seconds. If I were you, I wouldn't be too concerned. Growling at something when they are fully conscious is something that would concern me more than sleep growling. I never let Teague sleep in my bed...he is really gentle but I don't know what he would do if I suddently bumped or rolled on him in the night.

 

BTW I found this gradually decreased after the first year of adoption.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

My dog growls all the time in her sleep as well as lifting her lips getting ready to bite - she is just having a nightmare. I just quietly call her name and she wakes up and all is well again. But she is in her dog bed on the floor, not next to my face which could be scary to wake up to. I believe dogs should sleep on the floor in a dog bed near my bed - others feel differently.

[Guest meggera]

I'm probably just echoing what others have said. It really sounds to me to be a case of sleep space aggression. Vanille also has sleep space aggression and for this reason she isn't allowed to sleep on the bed with us. For the first few months she would always try to get on the bed but since we made her bed more comfortable she just stays on her own bed. I'm sorry you had such a nasty scare!

[JAJ2010]

Scary! Rainy used to grumble when anything touched her in her sleep. She's never been comfortable sleeping in bed with humans. She will wake up growling and as soon as she realizes she's growling a human she freaks out and hides.

 

Sunshine is happy sleeping in a puppy pile! LOL sometimes Sunshine will sleep in bed with us but they usually prefer their beds. They have 2 folded in half futon mattresses each. So that's 4 layers of stuff. I would prefer that over our mattress!

 

If either dog ever stood over me growling and snapping all bed privileges would be gone for a very long time. Like years....

[Guest hplove45]

Thanks to all for the replies. As sad as it is, I think I'm gonna have to ban Neville from the bed. He has two dog beds plus he is allowed on the couch, so it shouldn't be too much of a hardship for him. I have noticed when he's asleep he sometimes has very vivid dreams and growls and barks in his sleep, but what freaked me out about this time was that he was sleeping at the foot of the bed, so he actually got up and moved up the bed to bark at me. I know he would never bite anyone when awake, but I just don't want to take another chance

[greysandmollie]

Do not feel bad....I have had four greyhounds in my life...none of them have ever slept in bed with me. They have all been just fine...

[Guest HenryR1st]

One time i was visiting my dad and he was snoring (loudly). I think our greyhound thought my dad was growling at him because he started to growl back at him. We stopped it before it went further.

[Guest SusanP]

One note of hope--We've had sleep aggression in a couple of our hounds, and it disappeared after they'd been with us a few years. For them, it seemed to be part of the adjustment process. I don't know that it works that way in all cases, but sometimes it does.