Newly adopted greyhound growls at my daughter

[james]

Hi all, we have recently taken on a retired greyhound (4 weeks) and everything has been pretty great until a few days ago. Our neutered boy has started growling at our almost 14 year old daughter. 

She has been feeding him, walking him, he curls up on the couch with her but suddenly it all changes. She could come back from the kitchen and he stares at her and then starts growling. He has started to go towards her while he growls and it is pretty unsettling as I can see absolutely no reason for this behaviour. She was on the couch just after feeding him and then left the room to go to the toilet but as she came back down the stairs he approached the door barking and growling. 

Any thoughts or suggestions on what could be the cause or potential solutions would be ideal.

[MerseyGrey]

I have no experience of this behaviour myself, but I think others might recommend that you stop him from going on the sofa. He could be guarding his space, so give him a space that is out of the way and truly his own and that he doesn’t have to share with anyone else. 

[macoduck]

This is not an unusual situation, but you don't want it to escalate.

He needs to lose his couch privileges. Tell him "off" and lead him off the couch. Do not pull on his collar, hook a leash to it but again don't pull. Have a food treat ready to give after he is off the couch. Do the same thing if he is getting up on any human beds.

Do not hesitate to put a muzzle on him until he understands the rules.

[kronckew]

Any physical or hormonal changes in your daughter that may have affected her smell? He may think she is a stranger and be wondering where his real friend went.

[james]

Thanks for the replies so far. He has his own bed which he is happy on, so has his own space. He was delighted to see my daughter today when she came in from her grandparents. It seems to start early evening for no apparent reason to us but obviously something for him. After I stop him growling at her he looks all apologetic and is back to being friends within half an hour to an hour. We will see how things go tonight...

[james]

Another update. He was on his bed which is at the opposite end of the end of the room from the living room door. My daughter came down the stairs and by the time she had touched the door he was growling.  She sat on the couch and he got up growling, barked and moved towards her. I immediately got between then and told him to go to bed but he tried to get on the couch, so I moved and took the position on the couch and he then went to his bed. 

Totally fine all day until about 10 minutes ago 🙈🙈🤯🤯

[macoduck]

Muzzle time until you sort this out.

If he growls and barks he is giving a signal. You may have missed a more subtle cue. Give a positive reward when he does what you want. Yelling can be a knee-jerk reaction but it could discourage him from giving you any warning signal.

[james]

Thanks macoduck.

When this first started I will admit I yelled however after reading up a little I changed this behaviour to me getting in between his eyeline of her and he immediately stops. I then instruct him to go back on his bed and once he dies this he gets the treat or fuss made over him for being a good boy. My daughter even gives him the treats and the affection.

As I say it can be totally fine all day but at night it happens again. Totally baffled ☹

[macoduck]

The first 3 months after adopting is a time of big changes for your boy. We call it the honeymoon period. After that boundaries get tested. Maybe yours is starting a bit earlier.

When your daughter was coming down the stairs, was she silent or did she call out a hello to him? Maybe he is claiming the downstairs as "his" area.

I'm wondering if he has a bit of "sleep startle". Any chance he may have been trying to engage in play? Some of mine have made a runglerunglerungle noise that could sound like a growl, and one of my current ones is a smiler - which looks very scary.

NeylasMom here on GT has extensive training in dog behavior. Hopefully she'll chime in.

[james]

4 hours ago, macoduck said:

The first 3 months after adopting is a time of big changes for your boy. We call it the honeymoon period. After that boundaries get tested. Maybe yours is starting a bit earlier.

When your daughter was coming down the stairs, was she silent or did she call out a hello to him? Maybe he is claiming the downstairs as "his" area.

I'm wondering if he has a bit of "sleep startle". Any chance he may have been trying to engage in play? Some of mine have made a runglerunglerungle noise that could sound like a growl, and one of my current ones is a smiler - which looks very scary.

NeylasMom here on GT has extensive training in dog behavior. Hopefully she'll chime in.

We have got her to try both staying silent and also talking to him before she comes in the door and again during the day both are fine but at night it happens with both. 

I have thought he had sleep startle on one particular occasion but wouldn't really explain the others as he can be on his bed or in the kitchen or over beside either me or my wife and still react to my daughter coming downstairs. 

Tried both again today and it was met with tail wagging and happy to see her. She won't be in tonight to test it again but I will update tomorrow night. 

Apart from this issue he is an absolute joy and has adapted to home life brilliantly. I would hate to have to rehome him so hopefully this behaviour changes as I can't have my daughter scared to come downstairs in the evening. 

[HeyRunDog]

I wonder if something happened that frightened him one evening? It could be something as simple as a door slamming as your daughter came into the room, or raised voices and he's trying to protect you. You could try coming into the room with your daughter in the evening so he sees she's not a threat to you. 

Good luck and I hope you find the answer as he sounds a wonderful hound otherwise.

[james]

Quick update, daughter came home around 2pm. Dog was delighted, tail like a helicopter. Fast forward to 7pm and he has been growling and barking everytime she has come downstairs.

Absolutely baffled at what is going on in his head. 

[zimsmom]

Have you called the adoption group?  This would make me very nervous that he may bite... Muzzle as mentioned above.  So sorry. 

[HeyRunDog]

Is it mostly when your daughter comes downstairs that makes him react this way? Does she walk down differently to the rest of you?

As zimsmom suggested, call the adoption group and let them know you have an ongoing problem. It might be that they might have to take him back because you can't have a dog that threatens a member of your family. It is not a failure on your part and there will be another greyhound which will be more suitable.