Hi... haven't posted for a while... and now posting seeking all the advice I can get from you lovely lot...

Tonight Skye (whos' 8 months now) was sat on top of the duvet that my son had over him on the sofa... she wasn't sat ON him, but near his feet. He went to move the duvet (not her) and she really growled badly at him (kind of snarling)... definitely not a playful / sort of warning sound....

Previously she has growled at him if he's tried to move her... and I have "told her off"... or told her "NO!!!"...

Tonight I jumped up and shouted "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" then ridiculously went on to shout a lecture at her about not ever doing it again...

I am a bit worried about this behaviour, and feel that she is trying to boss him around a bit, and I really need some sound advice as to where to go with this. At the mo, I'm not working, and can't afford a behaviouralist... but if that's the only solution I will get the money.

Any advice in the meantime, much appreciated.

K x

Was she awake or sleeping?  Just wondered if she was dozing and got a fright?

 

I must admit, we don't let our two on the furniture - it can give some dogs ideas above their stations.  Plus at 8 months, Skye is going through her "Kevin" teenage phase, so she could be chancing her paw a bit.

 

Does she get down off the furniture first time when told?  If you think that it's going to become a problem, I'd stop her being on the furniture - it's a priviledge to be earned, not to be expected.

 

Sorry I can't be of any more help than that - it's not something I've had to deal with and can only guess that if it wasn't a fright she got, then she was objecting to being disturbed!

She's in her teenage stage and I think the most important time to be calm, consistent and patient difficult as it is sometimes... bit like teenage kids

Set the rules and try to be calm when enforcing them sounds to me like she thought of the duvet as hers and was objecting to it being moved.

I'd get her used to being told to move when she's comfortable (not fast asleep) reward and praise her when she moves even if you have to move her yourself initially just once or twice a day but everyday.

When she seems to respond then ask her to do it for other family members. Also get her used to doing things for other members of the family to be sure she sees them as above her in the pack (sit paw down stay). Lots of praise and reward for good things a stern no for the not so good.

Ty all!!!

I've had a good think about it - I do think she probably was asleep - so can see that being roused by him yanking the duvet might have made her react, but I had already decided last night (spoke to two other mates on here) that she is now not allowed on the sofas. There is a huge beanbag that she can lie on, but not allowed up beside us.

She is pretty good about getting off when told - she sometimes tries to be stubborn, but last night she saw pretty quick what the boundaries were, and simply curled up on the beanbag.

I think she is definitely trying to push things with my son - and this is going to need a consistent approach with new boundaries. I've already spoken to him this morning about some of the things he's not allowed to do, and I will continue to have a good think.

I involve him a lot in all everyday activities - he feeds her (telling her to wait until he allows her to have the food), gives her treats in return for finding him out on walks, teaches her sit and paw and down (all for treats), and walks her on the lead a lot too. But she still looks to me for "leadership" if that makes any sense, and not because she is afraid of me - I absolutely don't try to "rule" her by fear, but she knows me to be the rule maker I think, and perhaps my son to be more of the playmate.

Ty all for posting - you've given me great advice - as ever!!!!

K xxx

call me old fashioned and disagree all you want, im the biggest offender when it comes to letting my dog get away with things, he has the run of the house etc, lies on the sofa with us at night proper spoilt mardy but if he growled at my kids he would know about it! if hes on my sofa and i want the sofa he gets pushed off! i love and have loved all my sbts so dont get me wrong but i have to be the boss or it all goes wrong. also its happened to me before only once when my previous sbt lennox growled and went for my daughters face, they were both a similar age around 14 months old,as far as im concerned a dads protective side took over and he never did it again and they both grew up together loving each other with a very close bond indeed. softy softy is all very nice in a ideal world but sbts can be very head strong dogs at times thus you need to be the boss to have a long and loving problem free life together.

i agree its better for them to growl rather than bite if say for example someone was hurting them...i.e standing on there paw, but tbh as i remember my daughter didnt do anything and my dog went for her face, il be straight i hit the dog that hard he ran off, im not relly interested if that was right or wrong i was in protect my daughter mode, it never happened again and im glad of that. im a soft touch when it comes to my kids and dogs but some things come automaticaly. if someone attacked my dog id do the same, if someone attacked my daughter id do the same. the dog in question lennox grew up to be what i would call a great dog and in 2006 when he was pts my daughter flew from the usa purely so we could bury him together, so you can get the picture how close they were. im not saying for one second this is the answer just my experiances.

I agree with Mattie that quite often it is the child that has done something to provoke the dog, just because you didn't witness it doesn't mean your dog wasn't provoked previously. We have 4 kids & 2 dogs, so i understand both sides of the picture, all i'm saying is that a sound dog doesn't attack their own family members for no apparent reason. Good luck.

plus dont make the mistake i may or may not have made, im thinking looking back maybe i did make the mistake of confusing play growling play snapping etc, its a million miles away from any kind of attack, after all there main tool of play is there mouth, my current dog makes all sorts of weird growling noises when he wants to go out, its excitement and his way of telling me he wants to go out, of which im gratefull{no accidents at all in nearly 12mths} lastly its quite possible that my daughter had teased the dog at some other time just not at that time! i always made sure they both behaved correctly towards each other and im thinking over time and a lot of patience it must of payed off as there was never another problem.

ozbod1, i dont think you should be having to explain yourself...you did what you needed to at the time to protect your daughter.
i have an almost 2 year old son and 2 staffs, with another staff on the way - if any of them ever snapped at his face for no apparent reason they would get the biggest smack of their life simple as that; his safety comes first and thinking up reasons why it happened comes second

hi iv only come across one staffy that was nasty to kids and she was stolen from my friends garden on her return she was a very different dog with both kids and adults but mostly with kids we never knew wat happened to her while she was away , iv got to disgree with muze on the point that staffs dont no any different to kids to adults iv had staffys for 20 years n no of the dog b4 the first one i got and to me they no really well the difference on saying that it could just be the dogs iv had or i no .Hence the name nanny dog i do agree that certain staffs need a firm hand but id be suprised at having to raise a hand to me its in the voice and the boundries you set with them most staffs are vocal and at times it can sound like a growl but they are chatty to you my old red bitch roxy never stopped it was funny to hear my new bithch says nothing but my current dog growls like a good n and if you dont no him you would think hes gonna take your leg off lol

Ty again everyone... I certainly agree that my son could well have done something I was unaware of (then or previously), and I have had to remind him a few times about NOT waking her (esp as he does it to kiss her!!!), and that she retaliated vocally to let him know she's had enough.

I think I will have to keep a closer eye on their interactions, and remind him more what his boundaries are with her.

I'm hoping it was a one-off and that I'm not unaware of an escalating situation.

Thanks x