Aggression and possessiveness

[RalphyGrey]

Hi,

Sorry, this may seem a bit of a ramble! 

We adopted a greyhound around 2 weeks ago. He has been a bit of a challenge due to being so nervous but we seem to be bonding and building trust with him well.

The thing is, he is now showing aggression to my husband! He often has restless nights and so we were advised to allow him to roam the house and pick a spot to sleep. He chose to sleep next to me on the floor which was fine. The second night he started staring and growling at my husband while he was in bed next to me. It was really scary and I had to put him downstairs and shut him in the room that he was originally sleeping in. 

Is he being possessive over me and if so, what should I do about this? My husband now doesn’t not feel safe in his own home and it has put the whole family on edge. 

Please help! 

[greysmom]

Yes, it's possible.  Particularly if you are his primary care giver throughout the day.  It's hard with everyone being on lockdown, but you need to turn over some of the dog care duties to him - feeding and walking - and maybe leave them alone in the house for a while every day.

Not having him sleep in your room sounds like the right thing to do right now, though we almost always say it's better for them to sleep with their people.  This may come after a while and it's really for the best, as greyhounds like to sleep with their pack all around them.  Another option may be to add a crate in your room and confine him there for the night.

If the growling continues or it seems to escalate, ask your adoption group if they can recommend a greyhound-savvy, positive-reinforcement only, certified animal behaviorist to come to your home and observe everyone interacting, and give you some pointers and strategies going forward.

And, unfortunately, you may need to consider returning him, as this may not be a good - safe - longterm placement.  It happens, though rarely.  It doesn't mean you failed, or that he's a bad dog, or that there isn't a greyhound out there that's not a good fit for your household, or a good family for him.  It just means that this particular situation - for whatever reason - didn't work out as planned.  Please be in touch with your adoption group as soon as possible.

[DocsDoctor]

I agree with all greysmom says. Tiger came to me just before lockdown having been returned from another home for bed guarding; we think that the problem largely arose because the home was a small and rather chaotic one, and he never felt able just to enjoy his bed in peace, always uncertain whether someone would be coming to disturb him. I was foolish enough to get bitten myself early on, when I misread his body language early one morning and failed to realise that he was guarding his bed again. It came as a shock because my last greyhound Ken was such a very gentle chap, who would never have dreamed of doing such a thing.

It may be his sleeping spot, rather than you, that he is guarding. If he's never been in a home before all this is new to him, he is trying to work out which resources are his and opportunistically trying it on a bit. With Tiger and on the rescue's advice I invested in a slip leash after the biting incident, to use if he seemed reluctant to get out of bed. They are used to these from their kennel days; I would just make a big loop, drop that over his head while cheerily saying "hup hup Tiger" and it worked like a charm. Rattling the treat tin has proved to be another effective technique!

There may also be an element of sleep startle - this is not uncommon in greyhounds, certainly my first one Doc had it. They can sleep with their eyes open, if you don't realise this woe betide you if you wake them suddenly, and they lash out.

Whatever's going on here will hopefully go away as he settles in, as it has been doing with Tiger who is now feeling much more confident about life in his new, quieter home. I would actually disagree with the rescue's "let him pick his own sleeping spot" advice and suggest you pick somewhere which both you and he will feel comfortable about him having to himself. Tiger's bed is in the back bedroom, mine in the front; the doors these days are open between us, but in the past I have closed his when he was at the stage of coming in and trying to climb on my bed. The rescue were very clear that he needed clear, consistent guidelines - was best kept off the furniture at all times, in case he took it into his head to try and guard any of that.

He now never tries to get onto the furniture, even when I am out; he has another bed down in the living room, but the upstairs one remains his favourite "quiet spot" where he will retreat whenever he is feeled tired or uncertain.

Do talk to the rescue about this and as greysmom says having a good greyhound-savvy behaviourist visit you all at  home could be helpful.

[RalphyGrey]

Thanks so much to both of you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. 
 

We have moved his sleep spot to the upstairs hallway between the bedrooms. He is happy to sleep there and can find us easily if he wants to. This has made people feel a little better. 

There was another incident in which my adult son got up in the night to get a glass of water and had to walk past him and he became aggressive towards him. I think therefore that it must be his sleep space that he is guarding. He has no issue with people going up to him in the day on his bed and sometimes will tap you when going past to rub his tummy but at night he seems like a completely different dog. Do you have any advice on how we can make him more comfortable with people walking past him at night should the need arise (it won’t be often but sometimes it might be necessary). 
 

We have a behaviourist coming next week so I am hoping that this will help. 

As of yet, he has never tried to get on the furniture and we are planning to keep it this way. 

Thanks again for advice. 

[HeyRunDog]

8 hours ago, RalphyGrey said:

There was another incident in which my adult son got up in the night to get a glass of water and had to walk past him and he became aggressive towards him. I think therefore that it must be his sleep space that he is guarding. He has no issue with people going up to him in the day on his bed and sometimes will tap you when going past to rub his tummy but at night he seems like a completely different dog. Do you have any advice on how we can make him more comfortable with people walking past him at night should the need arise (it won’t be often but sometimes it might be necessary).

AS DocsDoctor said "There may also be an element of sleep startle - this is not uncommon in greyhounds. They can sleep with their eyes open, if you don't realise this woe betide you if you wake them suddenly, and they lash out."

Say something as you get near just to warn him or as he seems happy not to sleep next to you could try to see if he would sleep downstairs

 

[DocsDoctor]

13 hours ago, RalphyGrey said:

 

... There was another incident in which my adult son got up in the night to get a glass of water and had to walk past him and he became aggressive towards him. I think therefore that it must be his sleep space that he is guarding. He has no issue with people going up to him in the day on his bed and sometimes will tap you when going past to rub his tummy but at night he seems like a completely different dog. Do you have any advice on how we can make him more comfortable with people walking past him at night should the need arise (it won’t be often but sometimes it might be necessary). 
 

This does sound as if it could be sleep startle. May also be an element of not being used to being disturbed at night - don't forget, in kennels they get put to bed of an evening and then don't see anybody until the next morning. Sometimes they are housed in pairs, others have a whole space to themselves. I know that if I woke up in the dark myself to find someone unexpectedly beside me, I'd definitely feel alarmed and possibly aggressive!

Heyrundog's advice is good, in the circumstances I would also switch on the landing light to make quite sure he's woken up before passing him. You might also consider getting one of those plug-in nightlights and leaving that on overnight?

 

[zimsmom]

can you crate at night until this passes which I think it will.