Moving puppy when tired

[MangoMango]

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Hi just wondered if anyone has experience this problem with their terrier at 7 months in adolescence! My rescued rat terrier has been very good with every dog every person very sociable but will not let me pick him up off sofa when tired without snapping. Do I have potentially an aggressive dog or will he grow out of it. I know he is testing boundaries right now, I will use treats to get him down but I always had dogs who are happy to be moved when resting! How is the best way to deal with this now so I don't have an unpredictable dog? He is very good in every other respect and learns very quick and is doing tricks marvellously. Just in evenings he gets grumpy :- ( your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[gypsysmum2]

There is an old saying "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie". This is based on very good science. When a dog (or person) is asleep their brain goes into shut down mode. The brain stem takes over to be on guard against attack. When disturbed during sleep the brain stem will activate a defence mechanism before any rational thought can take place. This means that the dog is protecting itself from attack without thinking a single thought. He cannot help his reaction. It is how many children get bitten. They jump on the dog when it is asleep and the perfectly nice, friendly pet bites from a brain stem reaction that it has no control over.

The way I would handle the situation is to train an "off" command for the furniture when the dog is fully awake. Then when the dog is asleep make sure you wake him fully before using the treat to lure him off the sofa on command.

Some dogs resource guard their favourite resting place. This is trained in just the same way using high value rewards to reward the dog for giving up a valued resource.

Always make sure the dog has a resting place of its own where it will not be disturbed.

 

[MangoMango]

Hi Gypsymum2 - Thank you so much for this advice. I discovered the dishwasher was a valued resource today, again, snapped when I stupidly tried to physically remove him... When I try and move him gently when his awake from sleepy mode he still does it, so I'm going to not do this but train him to move by rewards as you've advised. I was just worried I potentially had an aggressive dog because he is friendly towards adults, children dogs and cats and is very good at recall and waiting etc. once again your comments have been very helpful.