Sleeping Hounds

[Guest Zizi]

After readin the post seven staples in my head, I have to ask a question. I did not want to hijack her post.

 

Ok people have stated dont pet,touch,startle etc a dog that is in there bed. Respect there space. I get all that thanks to this forum because I was never told any of this.

 

My question is when I am in the kitchen Jerzi lays on the kitchen rug in front of the sink. Which is right where I am always working doing something. Now I have been walking over her, next to her have accidentally bummed her paw, should I not be doing this? She seems ok and has not done anything, but now I am worried that if she is sleeping there and I walk over or around her that she may react!

 

I have hard wood floors in there and that is why I think she lays in front of sink area because of big rug there.

 

Should I be doing anything differently? If so what?

[Guest kkaiser104]

After readin the post seven staples in my head, I have to ask a question. I did not want to hijack her post.

 

Ok people have stated dont pet,touch,startle etc a dog that is in there bed. Respect there space. I get all that thanks to this forum because I was never told any of this.

 

My question is when I am in the kitchen Jerzi lays on the kitchen rug in front of the sink. Which is right where I am always working doing something. Now I have been walking over her, next to her have accidentally bummed her paw, should I not be doing this? She seems ok and has not done anything, but now I am worried that if she is sleeping there and I walk over or around her that she may react!

 

I have hard wood floors in there and that is why I think she lays in front of sink area because of big rug there.

 

Should I be doing anything differently? If so what?

 

I would make Teddi move if I was at all concern for my safety. I've made him move many times at my parents house because he's a little more on edge around people he doesn't know as well. "Move" and "off" are two of the most important things to teach our greys when they come into the home, IMHO. Respect comes by knowing boundaries. I'd rather make a dog move then have my dog have a bite record.

[Batmom]

I usually teach them "Out of the kitchen" so I don't trip over them .

 

Most dogs aren't all that touchy when they're lying down. It's just, some dogs (all breeds) are. And greyhounds spend a particular lot of time that way. The bigger danger zone, apart from tripping, is if you're down on the floor with the dog and the dog startles or feels threatened when a person bends over them, especially at the head end -- person's face and dog's face are in close proximity, and unintended things can happen.

[JustSnoozing]

Dippy lies on a rug which is under the kitchen table - that way she can be with me but not get in my way.

 

Edited for typos!

Edited July 4, 2013 by JustSnoozing

[Guest Zizi]

I usually teach them "Out of the kitchen" so I don't trip over them .

 

Most dogs aren't all that touchy when they're lying down. It's just, some dogs (all breeds) are. And greyhounds spend a particular lot of time that way. The bigger danger zone, apart from tripping, is if you're down on the floor with the dog and the dog startles or feels threatened when a person bends over them, especially at the head end -- person's face and dog's face are in close proximity, and unintended things can happen.

 

Well we don't have to worry about me getting down on the kitchen floor with her. LOL guess I could put another rug n there for her to lie on when I'm in there. She won't stay in her bed in the living room if I am not in there.

[OwnedBySummer]

If you dog doesn't startle, don't worry about it. I step over and around Summer all the time, whether she's sleeping or not. Many times, I physically shift her out of my way. I can grab her feet and flip her to the other side while she's awake or sleeping, she doesn't care. But it's individual to your dog -- if Summer had sleep startle, I wouldn't dream of handling her like this. So if Jerzi doesn't have it, you're good to go.

[Guest Marsroving]

Mars is super easy to handle when sleeping but I believe that is because since the first moment he came into out house I conditioned him to be "touchable" when sleeping. There are still times, depending on circumstance where I address him before approaching him when sleeping.

 

What I mean by making him more touchable is that from day one I would often pet and sooth him to sleep. He is use to being touched during sleep/near sleep. I often talk to him during these time too, so he is extremely aware of my nearness.

 

If I suddenly want to get him up when he has been alone, I speak to him first before trying to touch him. And I wait until he makes eye contact with me before going closer. Because of this he has been very easy to move around, especially if he falls asleep in bed with us, or on the kitchen floor etc. Mars does have nightmares. Sometimes he will whimper or kick his feet, even roo, if this is going on I talk to him instead of touch him so as not to provoke startle.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Our hounds are all fine with us stepping over or around them....not all hounds have sleep startle!

 

We do have a strict rule that the Grandkids are not to go near any of them if they are laying down.

However...we had that same rule with all the dogs we had before we had the greys.

 

We also have several dog beds in our kitchen where the dogs won't be underfoot.

 

Why not just get another carpet in the kitchen for Jerzi to lay on !?!

[Guest Zizi]

To be honest I am not totally sure yet if she does have sleep startle. Thanks to this forum I have never approached her well she is lying down. We have only had her two weeks. Not sure how to go about finding that out either.

[Guest DeniseL]

Of my three hounds, two of them will let you do just about anything to them when they are laying down or sleeping. No problems at all. Now Mr. Miami on the other hand, is a different story. Major sleep startle and sleep aggression. I make sure he is awake when walking anywhere near him. He had gotten much better in the last year but its still an issue. The only way he is ok is if he falls asleep with you touching, stroking him. He has gotten very affectionate in the last few months and will climb up on the couch with me and put his head in my lap. I will let him lay there for a little while and he will drift in and out of sleep with me petting him, but I only allow that for short periods of time. Even though we have never had a problem, I won't push it....

[JAJ2010]

Most greyhounds are fine. You just want me adopters to be very careful! Big teeth equals a big potential liability. Even though Rainy isn't happy about people touching her while she sleeping is something we worked on. Tossing treats at her head while sleeping, stuffies, rolled up socks, etc.

 

I wouldn't trust her with 100 percent with anyone. Just cause mommy can do it doesn't mean the BF can do it to her ;-) I see it as being along the same lines as making sure we have zero food guarding and aggression. I want to make sure I can stick my hands in their mouth and yank anything out that I need to. Mess with them while eating, have my hands in the food bowl, etc. All sorts of things you should never do to a large dog EVER! But I try to bomb proof them as much as I can.

 

Sunshine my spooky one came worth zero space issues :-) she had plenty of other issues! LOL

To be honest I am not totally sure yet if she does have sleep startle. Thanks to this forum I have never approached her well she is lying down. We have only had her two weeks. Not sure how to go about finding that out either.

Throw a soft toy at her while she sleeping. You'll find out her reaction while being at a safe distance

[Guest Zizi]

Most greyhounds are fine. You just want me adopters to be very careful! Big teeth equals a big potential liability. Even though Rainy isn't happy about people touching her while she sleeping is something we worked on. Tossing treats at her head while sleeping, stuffies, rolled up socks, etc.

I wouldn't trust her with 100 percent with anyone. Just cause mommy can do it doesn't mean the BF can do it to her ;-) I see it as being along the same lines as making sure we have zero food guarding and aggression. I want to make sure I can stick my hands in their mouth and yank anything out that I need to. Mess with them while eating, have my hands in the food bowl, etc. All sorts of things you should never do to a large dog EVER! But I try to bomb proof them as much as I can.

Sunshine my spooky one came worth zero space issues :-) she had plenty of other issues! LOL

 

Throw a soft toy at her while she sleeping. You'll find out her reaction while being at a safe distance

I can try to do that, lol I would feel so mean but I guess it is better to find out that way than to have me walk by her or touch her.

[JAJ2010]

Or chuck a milkbone at her. Wake up and get a treat! Yum

[greysmom]

You would probably know by now if you have a dog that sleep startles. It's very unmistakable and usually quite loud and violent. Still, just for safety sake, I would probably not let her lie down underfoot where I'm moving around and working. Get her a bed or another throw rug for when she wants to be with you in the kitchen.

[Guest Vers]

You're getting wonderful advice, and your Jerzi sounds like a calm girl. You've got options.

 

One of my hounds rarely goes in the kitchen when I'm cooking, the other -- my housepony -- loves to be underfoot. Small kitchen, very large hound. And we've worked it out to where I only have to say, back up bye bye. He goes to his bed in the living room. He's a gentleman so it's easy, but you could teach your girl to do similar.

[Guest psdirector]

Our Mr. Tibbs will let you do anything to him when he is lying down and does not have sleep startle at all. He is also our laid back boy and our low prey drive boy. Hutch, on the other hand, will let you pet his head and neck when he is laying down but he definitely does NOT like anyone to touch or walk near his back end when is is lying down. He will usually just get up quickly and move away but he will growl on occasion. He snarled at DH when he didn't take the growl seriously and touched Hutch for a second time on the rump. Hutch also has sleep startle and will sometimes awaken and snarl at his brother in the middle of the night. He is fairly high strung and has more of a prey drive. Whether those things are related or not - well, that's just conjecture on my part.

 

I think it's a good idea to err on the side of caution until you know your hound better, but I agree with greysmom that you would probably know by now if you have a dog that sleep startles.

[Guest Zizi]

I don't mind her laying in the kitchen where she does as long as my ankles won't get bitten. I will try the sleep test and she how she does. As of now my guess would be she doesn't have it. But I won't assume anything!

[Busderpuddle]

If you dog doesn't startle, don't worry about it. I step over and around Summer all the time, whether she's sleeping or not. Many times, I physically shift her out of my way. I can grab her feet and flip her to the other side while she's awake or sleeping, she doesn't care. But it's individual to your dog -- if Summer had sleep startle, I wouldn't dream of handling her like this. So if Jerzi doesn't have it, you're good to go.

Same deal with Ruby. I can pet her in her bed, her crate, grandkids can lay on her bed to watch TV, and she is just happy to be getting attention. I also flip her over when her feet are sticking out too far or she is invading my space. She could care less.

I also walk over her all the time.

[Fruitycake]

I personally prefer that my dog not be directly underfoot in the kitchen (dangerous to both you and the hound if you're carrying anything, especially anything hot or heavy or sharp). We have a dog bed in an out of the way place so I would ask Monty to go to "bed" and lead him there and give him a treat there. Now when I'm in the kitchen he stands next to me for a few moments, then goes to his bed and watches me. He has full view, but is out of the way, and I still will go there periodically when he's there and give him a nibble of something as a reward for being out of the way. I like that he likes to be with me, but don't want to step on him or trip over him and have someone get hurt. Our kitchen is pretty darned tiny, so a greyhound on the floor is a definite obstacle!

 

ETA: Monty has absolutely no space or sleep aggression at all, so that's not a concern for us.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Fruitycake

[philospher77]

I'd say "don't worry" and add (or move) a dog bed in there so she can be out of the way while you work. Mostly because when I have, say, a pot of freshly made jelly at the insanely hot temperature that sugar gets when cooked (Alton Brown calls it "kitchen napalm"), I don't want to have to worry about her suddenly moving, throwing me off of what I am doing, and potentially causing really bad burns to one or both of us. My two will wait in the hallway door unless specifically called in with a "find it" command to go clean up something dropped. It's a handy trick to have.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

She dosen't come into the kitchen when I'm cooking, when we first got her, I would shoo her out and that seemed to stick, but then again I shoo EVERYONE out of the kitchen when I'm cooking! she tends to hang out in one of the rooms near it, or she'll go watch tv....which works as long as she can see/hear me. As far as sleep agression, I always thought that got shown pretty early. My girl does not have it (nor space or food agression...if anything she's stuck to me like...velcro... I walk over her, flip her over when I give her a massage...which she loves btw, had to get in her eye to get pollen out and put some saline solution in there (she stood perfectly still and let me do it) Sometimes I have to hand feed her if she won't eat on her own. Don't know if its her just being lazy but it certainly tells me a lot! When its stormy out she wants to be all under her maw maw (heck even if its not she does it) She growled only once and it was truly my fault (hell I stepped on her!) I wake my girl up every morning by calling her name, then waiting until I see her smiles and she reaches for me (she's smiles at me every morning...though I can barely get her to do it any other time of the day) She dosen't sleep with us, but thats because as much as I love her my bed is my bed. I have slept a few hours on HER bed though (its big and comfy)She loves for me to cuddle her when she's sleeping.... I can't say i'm the same though

[inugrey]

Just agreeing with the ideas to give your dog a spot to lay in the kitchen that is out of the way, but with you. I've only lived with dogs who have sleep startle issues (good home to mange it). My momma's boy loved to be in the kitchen with me, so he had a rug to lay on to be out of the way. Granted I never spent enough time in there for him to fall asleep. All of my dogs know "out" with a point and are happy to run to the next room when asked. Of course I did unintentionally teach Inu to come into the kitchen if he was somewhere else in the house when I said "oops." I said oops when I dropped food and since most of his time was spent following me in the kitchen it became a cue for him to look on the floor in the kitchen.

 

Anyway, extra bed is always a nice thing to get the dog to go where you want.

[Guest Davros]

just wanted to add that levels of prey drive shouldn't correspond with any kind of aggression or startle issues... Kath has drive out the wazoo but i've not seen any kind of 'aggression' out of her whatsoever... she will warn the boys for being twats and tell them off appropriately but i certainly wouldn't call it aggression, it's just dog communication... she has no sleep startle and doesn't mind in the least if i am near or touching her when she is laying or sleeping...

 

one of the belgians decided to lay almost on top of her the other day after i'd covered her with her sleeping bag... she just pulled her feet out of the way and they pretty much ended up spooning, with her under the bag and him on top of it LOL...

 

i like the suggestions of a bed somewhere for her to lay where she is out of the way but can still watch you, more to eliminate the trip hazard than anything else : )

[Guest Zizi]

Thanks everyone!