If You Greys Sleep Closely To Each Other.....

[greymomnc]

I have seen many photos on GT of greys sleeping almost on top of each other....3 to a sofa...two in one bed...body parts overlapping etc. I have never had 2 greys do this. They might sleep in our king sized bed or both on the sofa but they have their space. If one gets up there is no chance on them stepping on the other.

 

The other night our new grey Minnie layed down with Streak on the same dog bed. Streak picked her head up and then fell back to sleep. I was watching them closely as I knew if one got up they might stab the other one with a toenail and startle awake. Sure enough, Streak stood up and stepped on Minnie and she growled and a minor altercation ensued.... Minnie is not sleep startled in the least, not possessive over her bed.... etc. The was no biting or blood or anything like that and the altercation itself didn't bother me as they are still getting used to each other. A stern no from me to let it go was all it took. They have begun to play some and are really getting along well.

 

Last night Minnie laid down next to Streak and rested her head on Streak's back leg. Streak was fine with that. My question is how did those of you who have dogs that sleep like that handle that in the beginning? Were there minor growls etc? Did you just let them work it out? Did you intervene? Obviously I am not going to let something escalate but I don't want to discourage them from sleeping like that if they want to.

Should I discourage this behavior (sleeping so closely) until they get more acclimated to each other?

 

[greysmom]

I would growl and bite too if someone stepped on me when I was sleeping. The two things - sleeping together and growling/snapping when stepped on - don't have anything to do with each other, except for the getting stepped on part. If Streak didn't like it, Minnie would know right away, and visa versa. Mostly, if one dog doesn't want to be close, they just get up and leave.

[dante2zoe]

Goose growls every time Fancy or Maverick get within 3 feet of him while he is lying down. However, they ignore him and plop themselves down wherever they want to be regardless. Therefore, I end up with 3 dogs on my sectional and 2-3 dogs in bed with me (and 2-3 cats) every single night. Maverick and Fancy will use each other as a pillow. They are both bomb proof when asleep anyway. Goose will touch Maverick, but heaven forbid Maverick touch Goose. For the record, Goose and Mav are littermates and Fancy is younger and just arrived 2 months ago. I was so surprised how well she slid into my pack with nary a glance that I knew she would stay.

[silverfish]

I have had hounds who snuggle up and hounds that don't. Right now we have two hounds, one of whom is happy to snuggle as long as he isn't leaned on so hard it hurts him (he has pain issues) and if that happens will simply get up and leave (Sid), and one who hates to be touched when he's sleeping except when he is the one who chooses to do it (Jeffie).

 

If Sid touches Jeffie while Jeffie is sleeping, Jeffie will growl and occasionally lift a lip. I don't intervene, unless he doesn't stop within half a minute or so. If he doesn't, it is because he has become even more bewildered than usual, bless him and can't seem to get out of the loop. I just call his name and tell him quietly 'that's enough', and maybe that's he's being daft, and he'll snap out of it and look at me as if he doesn't know why he was doing it. He's a bit nuts, but harmless.

 

Not once has he ever snapped at Sid, and I really don't expect him to. But even if he did, the golden rule is NEVER to tell a dog off for growling. If you do, you run the risk of getting them to skip that step ("oh, she doesn't like me growling - I'm not allowed to do that") and he may go straight from body language to a bite without the vocal warning to let the other dog (or person) that the situation is escalating.

 

The other potential problem is that by interfering with their own 'pecking order' it may happen that they'll behave themselves perfectly well while you are there to referee, but when you are not, there will be far, far more chance of a real fight. The No. 1 dog will continue to attempt to put the No. 2 dog in his or her place, but the No. 2 dog has become used to being allowed to behave that way and has become less willing to concede his place to the No. 1 dog. This could be when No. 1 will use teeth to make No. 2 comply, and No. 2 may respond in the same way. This is potentially serious because you will not be there to intervene and someone may well get hurt.

 

So my advice is to watch them carefully and, as far as is possible, let them sort it out for themselves. It sounds as if they are getting used to what the other will tolerate, and perhaps learning that sleeping alongside another warm furry body is actually rather nice. Just keep an eye on them. Most of the time they will take note of each other's body language and take some time to gradually get to a place where they are both comfortable.

 

To watch Sid sizing up whether or not this is a Jeffie Snuggling Day is actually quite amusing - less amusing is when Jeffie has decided it isn't, but is laying in a way which means that Sid can't get into bed. Then I have to physically move Jeffie (or simply put a hand on him) to give Sid space to get by him without touching him. Honour is then satisfied all round!

 

The interesting, and rather touching thing, is that if Sid is really poorly for any reason, Jeffie will go and deliberately snuggle right up to him as if to give him comfort.

[a_daerr]

For us, it was a matter of Truman wearing Henry down. Truman likes to snuggle with whoever or whatever he can. Henry didn't like that at first, but we reached a certain point where he decided, "Alright, FINE." Now, they lay together without any problems.

[Guest k9soul]

Rudy will sometimes lie down where he touches one of my girls, but he does not tolerate vice versa. Also if he if he is lying in closer contact with them and they shift or move he gets testy. Generally the girls try to give him his space. He is more tolerant than he used to be though.

[GeorgeofNE]

I would let them work it out themselves. If you think about it, you telling them "no" sternly was sort of wrong--they really didn't do anything wrong. They communicated like dogs communicate! They learned more from their minor skirmish than they did from you correcting them, I assure you!

 

Obviously if they're having a fight, you break it up. But the only way for one to learn the other one doesn't want to get stepped on is for her to tell her. And since she can't send a text message....

 

My dog growls at the cat all the time. I assume dog is like a foreign language to a cat, as the cat doesn't "get" what he's saying AT ALL. That, and he's obnoxious!

[Guest k9soul]

I generally don't say anything to Rudy for a growl unless it seems to be escalating. For example one day he laid down with his paw draped over one of my girls' legs. A bit later she wanted to get up but every time she tried to move her leg that was under his he jerked up snarling at her. Even then though I just gently said his name and he looked over at me and my girl was able to get up at that point. I think redirecting their attention can be a good course of action if things seem to be escalating.

[Guest jetska]

Barbie seems to allow all the fosters to sleep close to her.... there have been some incidents where someone has been stepped on and there's been a little yap but it's never serious. Barbie is really easy going with other greyhounds. She lets hounds she has never met lean up against her and sleep at 'event' days where we take them all out to meet the public.

 

She is more picky about other types of dogs and she doesn't like humans really snuggling up to her, she will often get up and move. She seems to make a special exception for her own kind.

[sobesmom]

My greys, and most fosters had no interest in sleeping very close to each other. We did have a couple fosters that thought it would be nice, but Sobe made it clear he had NO interest in snuggling - he growled, or just lifted his head and gave them "the look" and they decided he was not a cuddler. He also got stepped on a couple times and made it VERY CLEAR that was not ok. I didn't correct or scold him. I think a dog has every right to tell another dog to go away. I also think it's fine to growl if someone steps on you - some dogs need to learn where to put their feet and how to have respect for space - and a growl can teach that.

 

It sounds like you "might" have cuddlers..... but they're still working out the details - close sleeping requires an amount of respect on both parties, and some manners. Only they can teach each other those.

 

I'd just watch and wait. They may work it out, or they may give up and sleep apart. As long as neither is harassing the other, and there's no real violence - I'd see what happens.