grumpy dog

Bearsmum

Bearsmum

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a bit of background - we adopted F as my recovery dog after a stroke, the idea was he would get me walking and driving, as I'd take him to the yard for a wander, he's an ex gun dog, six when we took him on and now 12, he's recently become very possessive of the position in front of the wood burner - hubby has a bad back and likes to lie in front of it and dog thinks it's his place so there's been a bit of growling and we've had to put F om the sofa to avoid confrontation.Tonight he's been particularly miserable and even though I wasn't telling him off he's had a real pop at me, he's never made contact, but I don't trust him and wouldn't push it, feeling a bit lost as I've never had a dog turn on me and mostly he's a complete mummy's boy, could he be getting some sort of dementia or is there a more straight forward behavioral solution to this - outside of our living room he's a happy mad spaniel who loves life and to run and play
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I would want a vet check in case he is in pain. It could be something like arthritis at his age, after an active life and evenings will be when he feels it most because he has stopped moving much. Mind you I wouldn't put him on the sofa for growling!
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thanks that's exactly what iv'e just said to my husband , his behavior is bizarre, today on his walk he picked up a stick and ran and played with it for ages so definitely still very active during the day
 
Rule out a pain or neuro response and bear in mind that resource guarding is a gradual thing that can often build up. There will have likely been a pause in activity, a look or an ear twitch, not always over the same resource, that a human may not notice, and all those things can build up to the eventual overt display.
 
One of our terriers behaved in a similar way in her last few months of life, she was confirmed with some sort of doggy dementia, we eventually had to have her PTS as she quickly became totally blind and incontinent, very distressing to watch.

On another point, I would never elevate a misbehaving dog to a higher physical position in the room, and certainly not up onto the sofa, most of mine would have used that to confirm their delusion that they are the boss and in charge of the place. Not sure what the reasoning behind that is, but I am confident those who are much more informed than I am can explain it better than my waffle.
 
So as someone waiting on an MRI for my terrier tomorrow I'd recommend vet check too.
My boy adores our granddaughter who is nearly 8 and is pretty dog savvy. 3 weeks ago he airsnapped at her when she came home from school and bent to say hello as usual. We were very shocked but he is an ex stray with issues so we told him off and kept a very close eye on him. He got a bit more defensive around other dogs. Then he started limping a bit. Vet visit then he got worse xrays show disc problems in neck. He 9ish. I think he's actually been a bit grumpy for a few weeks and we did not pay attention. 😒
 
Thanks for all your replies, I think a trip to my lovely trusted vet is first om the list, the reason for putting him on the sofa is that iti's away from the wood burner and no one else is on there, I sit in an upright chair, there's only me and hubby here and F has a blanket in the corner of one of the sofas which should be his go to spot, he also has a bed in the room, but that's clearly for dogs not him
 
Bearsmum said:
Thanks for all your replies, I think a trip to my lovely trusted vet is first om the list, the reason for putting him on the sofa is that iti's away from the wood burner and no one else is on there, I sit in an upright chair, there's only me and hubby here and F has a blanket in the corner of one of the sofas which should be his go to spot, he also has a bed in the room, but that's clearly for dogs not him
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If he is sore somewhere from arthritis or something else he may not want to be jumping up and down on the sofa. He probably needs a nice comfy bed near the woodburner. If it's always been his spot it's a bit late to stop him using it!
He may need some anti inflammatory meds. Also anything like sore ears or a bad tooth could make him grumpy. Like us if we are in pain somewhere it makes us snappy and grumpy.
Dogs can not tell us when they are in pain so if his behaviour has changed its a good bet he's hurting somewhere. He is trying to tell you. You just have to listen......
 
If all the pain checks are negative, then he is challenging your authority as pack leader. Leave his lead on, and if you want him to move, move him. If you take him out of the room, he follows you, he does not lead, ask him to sit before you feed him, that sort of thing. Just re-establish who is in charge, and hopefully things change in a couple of weeks.
 
Mrs. Jingle said:
On another point, I would never elevate a misbehaving dog to a higher physical position in the room, and certainly not up onto the sofa, most of mine would have used that to confirm their delusion that they are the boss and in charge of the place. Not sure what the reasoning behind that is, but I am confident those who are much more informed than I am can explain it better than my waffle.
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Dogs feel safer with height ( feral dogs will sleep on top of something as they can see danger coming). Domestic dogs will be seen on the back of a sofa because A. it's comfy B. It's a better place to feel safe. So going on the sofa would be fine for me, as long as the dog wasn't already guarding it as a resource. They have no interest in being Boss of a different species.
 
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