NeylasMom Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Really would love to see video. Now that you know what triggers it, perhaps you could get some? Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LazyBlaze Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Just thought I'd post an update. We had Enzo sleeping out of room for about 2 weeks or so and everything was fine with that. We decided to try bringing him back in and he was ok for 2 nights and then started back up with the growling. We have also since figured out that most of the time the growling happens when we make a noise or shift positions in bed. For example, he goes up to bed around 8:30, I come in the room to bed around 10 and the lights go out and he growls once. Husband comes to bed around midnight...he growls when he enters the room. I shift positions in bed an hour or so later, he growls, etc., etc. Last night he growled at both of us with the lights on and everything while laying in his bed - so I know he is NOT dreaming. Very vicious sounding, baring teeth and all. He jumps out of bed and comes to me (at this point I'm starting to freak wondering if he is about to attack me) and then he just stops growling and walks over and leans on me like he is a totally different dog. We are baffled. We are ordering a DAP collar as a desperate attempt at a solution. It sounds very like your boy just wants peace when he's sleeping/lying down. Blaze is like this too, so I don't and won't sleep in the same room as him as a result. He doesn't like movements or shadows around him when he's resting and will growl, sometimes in quite a scary way. It's some form of sleep/space aggression I think. We leave him be and he's a happy boy. Counter conditioning can also help. In kennels the hounds are very often not used to being touched or having noises and movement when they've been resting. If you have a baby on the way you might consider giving Enzo a safe place (crate or gated area) where he can rest and get complete peace, and keep everybody safe and happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lulafortune Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 It sounds very like your boy just wants peace when he's sleeping/lying down. Blaze is like this too, so I don't and won't sleep in the same room as him as a result. He doesn't like movements or shadows around him when he's resting and will growl, sometimes in quite a scary way. It's some form of sleep/space aggression I think. We leave him be and he's a happy boy. Counter conditioning can also help. In kennels the hounds are very often not used to being touched or having noises and movement when they've been resting. If you have a baby on the way you might consider giving Enzo a safe place (crate or gated area) where he can rest and get complete peace, and keep everybody safe and happy. Yes, this is probably what's happening. It is just strange how it came on suddenly after having him for 2+ years! He hates crates but we may let him have the guest bedroom ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quarrystepper Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Agreed that the sudden onset is weird. But my non-scientific opinion: your latest description really does sound like just an above average case of sleep startle, and certainly nothing neurological. When we first got Brooks, he would emit a low growl and bare his teeth if you simply walked past his bed while he was asleep in the early evenings, let alone if we shifted in bed in a way that he perceived as threatening from his bed next to ours. He was fostered with a lot of greys and I think this was simply his "upon delivery" instinct for maintaining some solitude when he was sleepy. For a while he even stopped coming to the bedroom at bedtime and would spend the entire night sleeping on his bed in the dining room (of all places, but this was the room he loved during the day -- it got the most sunshine). After a few more months, he started wandering into the bedroom in the middle of the night and plopping down there for the remainder of the night, and never made a peep even if we shifted or moved. And then eventually he just came to bed when we did, and all four of us (2 humans + 2 dogs) were happily closed up in the bedroom. All this adaptation was in the first year we had him, and meanwhile our fosters and the eventual second hound we adopted, Kali, have never growled or bared teeth. At this point (3 years since adoption), Brooks will sleep calmly anywhere except one place -- he's a big sofa hog when we're watching a movie in the basement or something, and will VERY frequently growl if he's awoken by movement that touches him or is near to him. He'll occasionally even lift his head and growl, but I still wouldn't call him "fully awake" in that case. It's just a reaction. What I do when this happens is speak calmly and softly to him, not scolding, but simply letting him know I'm there. I make sure he can see me and my hand, and I will (slowly) reach out and just rub his head or back hip (which he loves, and I suspect feels like a calming signal to him because he knows it's me). It works like a charm, and even if he will growl again ten minutes later for the exact same reason, it's quickly defused. Sorry for this lengthy description but I hope it helps. These were very incremental adjustments for us, but it seems like Brooks and your hound are similar, and I do not worry about Brooks attacking us or being upset or unwell. It's just an instantaneous and instinctual reaction, and quickly dissipates with the right stimulus. Quote Drew and occasionally DW Melody, with Rosie (AMF Ready Made) and Marvin (Bella Riddick) in Louisville. Forever missing Brooks (KC Bastone) and Kali (Swish). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandiandwe Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Late to the party but I'm wondering if this is a combination of things. First, things are changing. You probably smell a bit different, look a bit different, act a bit different with the pregnancy. You might also be moving around more in bed (just guessing, but I'd imagine that with possible sickness, something wiggling round inside you and then a bowling ball up your shirt with the pregnancy), it's more difficult to get comfortable. So your boy is already on edge which just makes him more reactive. Second, given he has the propensity already for sleep startle or growling, this has just exacerbated it. So now you have this cycle set up. I'd suggest giving him a bed in another room or in the hallway but away from where Minilulafortune (a second Doubleshotskimmilkextrahotmocha?) will be sleeping, and maybe think about getting a nightlight to plug in and have on, just so that you can move to the child's room but not go near him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest driser Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Our guy is a very active and occasionally noisy sleeper. When he wakes us up with sleep noise it makes us smile and giggle and grateful to have him in our life. We let him dream on ... win your race sweet boy, win your race Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Noosh Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I have read all of these replies with interest, as our big boy Will is a night time growler also. We adopted him 7 months ago, and he started growling on the first night, at his new Grey sister. He is very annoyed by any movement whilst he is sleeping, or on his bed. It can be a bit of a night-time circus, as he growls at her- she high pitch barks back ( how dare you growl at me!) and on it goes 'til we yell out "go to sleep!!" We were rather worried at first, as he is much larger, but it has never escalated beyond growling. He is such a sweetie though. We have separated their beds by a few meters, and it seems to help. I feel better knowing that Willsy isn't the only middle of the night growler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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