My mini english bull terrier bitch (2.5 years old) growls/does a moaning sound sometimes when you walk past the place she is laying.  We have worked with a behaviourst on certain issues, as I have posted before about her possessiveness issues, but this is the one thing we just cannot seem to stamp out.

So for one example....comes in from her walk we send her to one of the dog beds (as advised so she can rest and have her own space and never the same dog bed so she cannot claim it).  We give her the command to stay and she will....then if we walk past her at any given stage she will growl, not move a muscle just growl. The correction we were told was to say NO then get her to come off the bed send her to a cool off zone (naughty step) leave her alone and then whoever she has growled at to go call her have her focus, tell her to sit and then send her back to one of the beds. This worked for a while, but now when we walk past she will growl automatically get up and go to the naughty step herself with that look of "yeah I know I am going"....I can only assume this is because she knows that is what is expected of her (not sure if this is intelligent or plan cheekiness lol).

We have tried with me correcting her my OH and the person she has growled at origincally...tbh it is mainly me and my OH who are here most and walks past her - and we are all consistent with her. I also dont think it is a space issue as it is not as if we are pushin past her.

She also does this with the other dogs if they walk past her or if she is sharing a bed and one of them moves....again we do above, but before we can even call her just lately she is up and away to the naughty step. So I dont think it is linked to tiredness as she can do this before or after a walk...but someone may tell me otherwise.

She does walk away to the naughty step looking very sheepish and I do believe she know that it is unacceptable behaviour.

The behaviourist has suggested this may be part of breed and she has no other experience with EBT's.  I know that Magica you have a bully....maybe you can advise me a little?  I have tried various bull terrier forums and they tend to say that their dogs do it and they ignore it....but I do not want this to be acceptable behaviour in our house or esculate and wondered if I am missing something and there is a command that I am missing?

Thank
Michelle

Just to clarify:

Does she growl wherever she is lying, ie bed, carpet, doorway etc?

Does she growl every single time someone walks past?

Are there any circumstances when she does not growl when lying,  ie when chewing something, different person, different place, different time of night etc?

> f we walk past her at any given stage she will growl, not move a muscle just growl. The correction we were told was to say NO then get her to come off the bed send her to a cool off zone (naughty step) leave her alone and then whoever she has growled at to go call her have her focus, tell her to sit and then send her back to one of the beds

I am not a behaviourist, but I would have thought that if a dog is growling as one is approahing it's resting place and then that person removes the dog (even with a verbal command) the dog will see no reason NOT to growl the next time as it KNOWS it will be removed from it';s bed and probably feels even more unsettled.

I think it's easier to teach a dog what we want from it, rather than try to teach it what is unaceptable. Eg. if walking past the dog while it sleeps is not avoiadable, then teaching the dog that people in close proximity to it while it is resting is a GOOD thing (standard desestitastion/positive association by working within the dogs limits and giving food rewards for relaxed beahviour).

Like I said, I'm not a beahviourist, but as a 'layman' on the outside looking in it seems as if the dog is unsettled and fears loosing it's resting place, it doesn't have a bed of it's own it knows it can retreat to for peace & quiet and if it protests about somebody disturbing it it will get removed from it's resting place. I know you don't want the dog to growl, but taking away the reason it growls in the first place (by letting it know that people are not 'threat' to its resting place) may be far more effective than teaching it a consequence to growling (you allready have seen that it knows the consequence to growling - the 'naughty step' - but it deosnt' stop the dog from growling).

ETA, I've just re-read your post and notice you have seen a behaviourist for 'possessiveness issues'. What sort of behaviourist have you seen? have they advised any reward-based training or is it all about 'being the pack leader'. From the little you have written about the dog not being allowed to have her own bed seems as if it may be the latter. In any case a good behaviourist that uses reward based training should give much better help as they will focus on changing the way the dog feels about things (conditioning with rewards), not just stopping it from reacting.

Hi dogs a babe

1.) We dont allow her to settle or sleep anywhere other than the dogs beds that we have...as we have been advised that she must have a place/places that are designated for rest and we must tell her where she is to rest.  We have 5 dog beds and 3 dogs.

2.) No not every time and it has got less and less as time has gone on, but we are still having about 3 occasions a day.

3). She only ever growls when on one of the beds and anyone walks past her and sometimes when one of the other dogs pushes past her when she is tired and she is heading for the bed that we have told her to go to. 

Michelle

mastifflover,

Yes it is all about being "pack leader".  Betzy is not good (if those are the right words) with reward-based training.  She will not focus on food and never has.  My other two will do anything for food, Betzy just turns away. She is motivated by her ball and affection, which when she is out and we practice obedience and recall the ball/praise works a treat and as a reward.  Indoors we cannot do this as her possessiveness takes over and with the other two dogs this causes issues...which was why we asked a behaviourist for some advice/help.  Which she said was "possessiveness" based mainly on me.  For example Betzy would sleep at my feet as I worked in the office and follow me and also if she was on a bed then that was "hers" full stop, but if my other bitch came near me/what she classed as "her" bed then all hell would break loose. My other bitch is 14yrs old. Betzy has taken over as leader where the other dogs are concerned.

Working on me being stronger and giving her boundaries, nothing in life is free, and her obediance has really made a change. However I just do not know if what we are doing with the bed issue is helping or hindering the situation....again I was advised that isolation was the key as she has to realise she has done wrong and take time out.

Any advice would be taken onboard.

Thanks again, Michelle

Hi Michelle

I should preface this with with an I'm not a behaviourist headline but, as Mastifflover has already said, it does sound as if your girl is unsettled.

I'm hard pushed to understand the need for you to exert such a high level of control over her most natural of functions, that to just fall asleep wherever she feels most comfortable.  I do appreciate that you will sometimes need to move her on - mine often nod off in the most awkward of places (underneath the cooker, by the freezer door, wrapped around my PC chair) - but generally I'd be inclined to allow her to sleep wherever she likes.  It seems that always making her go to a bed, and then removing her if she grumbles, is almost guaranteed to elicit the response you are getting.

If she is simply muttering under her breath and not leaping up to attack or to defend her spot I really would just leave her be.  If it were me, I'd let her sleep wherever and wherever she likes as long as it's not in a dangerous spot or causing undue dramas in a high traffic area.  I'd do some work on positive associations with bed (and/or a nice settled position) by giving rewards when she stays quiet.   You could do some work with a clicker but you could also drop tiny treats to her every time you pass so that she comes to associate your proximity with a reason to be welcoming rather than anxious.

I don't want to make light of something that obviously worries you but it really doesn't sound too bad.  I'd be a bit concerned that the advice you've previously had could in fact just be making the situation worse for her, and you.  HTH :)

Edited to say:  I've just read your other reply about her defending her position at your feet.  Do you think she is protecting you?

Hi,

Reward based training comprises a lot more than just food rewards. Possesiveness/guarding behaviour is about insecurity and fear of losing something.  You really don't need to teach her tha you are 'pack leader' what you need to teach her is that she doesn't have to sorry having people and other dogs walk past her bed is a good thing.  At the moment really I would thjink by the time she has finished the sequence of behaviours that you are using as a way of 'correcting' her behaviour is that she is probably not making much association between growling and being removed from her bed.  It also isn't going to make her feel any more comfortable about people walking past her bed for sure.

She may eventually learn to stop growling this way but it won't change the ways she feels and if she still feels insecure about people/dogs being near her bed and feels unable to growl because she will be made to get up from her bed or be told off verbally then that may mean she goes to the next step of snapping or worse as the growling form of communication has been removed.

She doesn't know that she is 'wrong' to be growling, that look that you are equating with her being sorry is actually a dog using appeasment gestures.  She is trying to get you to not be cross with her, also she clearly uis worried in that situation so her body language will reflect that.

You say that she doesn't like food - I'm assuming she does eat something though.  What I would do is start hand feeding her all her food so that she starts to get into the habit pof taking food from you, it's also a good way of increasing the bond between dog and owner - she will realise that hands and you near her with precious things is a good thing.  I used to have a dog that really didn't do food generally but with perseverance she is now a little ganet for food and loves it even more if she has worked for it and it's given by hand.  Then you can start using food as rewards as well, have you tried lots of different high value food rewards.

I would use the ball if that is what she loves - start at a distance away from the bed that she is comfortable with and bounce the ball and have a gome with her, if she;s likely to take the ball and return to her bed abd guard that then use a ball on a rope or a tuggy toy. Keep it short and fun, when you'r done pop the ball a way and stay away from her bed.  This way she will build up a good association that you near her bed means good things.  Then you can gradually decrease the distance and you should be able to work up to the point where she anticipate you coming nera her bed as a great thing.

Sorry it's a bit brief as in a hurry and really you could do with someone showing you how to implement this and how to set her up for success and change her underlying emotional feelings about the things she guards.

Also wandered has she been checked for any health problems - does she have any joint probs or anything like that which coulkd cause her discomfort?  As this can cause problems with dogs being unhappy about being approached when they are resting by people or dogs.

Hope this makes sense.

Karen

> the ball/praise works a treat and as a reward.

How about using a clicker?

I have no experience of your breed of dog, but I do have a Mastiff who can be very stubborn and like to do things HIS way. Fortunately he responds great to food motivation, but if I were to try to 'show him who the boss is' and get all stern & 'alpha' with him I would not get any co-operation from him atall, in fact I'm sure it would turn him into a pain in the bum! For him, he does what he's told to do because training has taught him compliance is REWARDED :)

It's great that you have sought the advice of a behaviourist to help get things on track, but I do feel you would be better off with a different style of training/behaviourist that will focus on showing your dog how you want it to behave in the first place, aswell as adressing the posessive issues.

> was advised that isolation was the key as she has to realise she has done wrong and take time out.

A 'time out' can be used to great effect for a puppy/dog that is getting excited or attention seeking, it can serve to calm an over-excited dog, or teach the dog that the attention-seeking behaviour results in segregation (the opposit of what the dog wanted).
However, your dog WANTS to be left alone, so I'm not sure how the 'time-out' would work there as a dog never knows it has done wrong, it only learns the consequence, ie. "I growl when somebody comes near my bed = I get shut away" NOT "I shouldn't growl at somebody coming to my bed or I will be shut away". Dogs simply don't think the same way as we do.

The behaviourist may be telling you to remove her form her bed if she growls as the bed is the source of the 'possesiveness', but by parting a dog from the thing it wants without giving it something better, only teaches the dog to protect what it has, especially if the dog is possesive.
Eg, my last dog would guard his food, when I found out he was like that (we got him as an adult) I would ADD food to his bowl to teach him that he did not NEED to guard it, if I kept taking his food AWAY from him, he would have guarded it even more.

Once again, I really think you need a behaviourist that will use positive association/reward based training to help your dog feel that it has no need to protect it's bed. A behaviourist that will put in the effort to find your dogs motivation (you allready said this is praise/ball) and find a way to use that motivation without it causing more issues with the other dogs. I'm sure there is much hope for your dog, but things done the wrong way can make matters worse.

ETA, just noticed you have had more replies in the time it's taken me to type all my waffle out, sorry to ramble on!!

Hi - thank you!

that to just fall asleep wherever she feels most comfortable
This was because she would always sleep at my feet....at the PC by the sofa, in the kitchen when I was cooking and whenever my other bitch got close they would fight. My other bitch had had that place previously and they had 5 fights one which drew blood from my 14year old and caused us a lot of stress.  This started the process of the behavourist who advised that I need to be more of a pack leader and the dogs needed more boundaries that they could only come to me when it was acceptable and I had to get used to sending them to places where they felt secure, but places that Betzy could not be possesive over and transfer that behaviour too. So now I call my older dog for a fuss and betzy sits and watches, then i call Betzy and vice versa.  They both do not come to me at the same time.

If she is simply muttering under her breath and not leaping up to attack or to defend her spot I really would just leave her be
Yes NOW she is just muttering, but previously she would leap up and attack if one of the other dogs tried to get near or I moved my feet...she would not attack me but it would be a lot of snarling and snapping.  Hence we worked on the bed procedure which has worked really well (she says) as now she will just mumble and groan and if I say NO again she will get up and go to the naughty step.

I've just read your other reply about her defending her position at your feet.  Do you think she is protecting you?
I did think this, but the behaviourist said she was showing me SHE was pack leader not me and if I moved she was staying "stay there...do not move...i am in control" and again when she went for my other bitch the behaviourist said it was due to the fact that she is/was possesive.  We had simlair issues with toys (hence my 14yr old got a bloody nose when Betzy went for her over a ball, hence we do not have any toys in the house only at "play time" on the field as she guards them as will snap at the other dogs.

I'd do some work on positive associations with bed (and/or a nice settled position) by giving rewards when she stays quiet
Right i will work on this..I will have to segregate her though as the other 2 are foodies and they tend to fight over food and will rush forward if they see me feeding her...so am i wise to send the other dogs out and then give her training on this....how long a day would you do this?

Michelle

Hi Karen

Thanks for the reply!

You say that she doesn't like food - I'm assuming she does eat something though
Oh yes she will eat dried food, but she is not tempted by chicken or cheese or little titbits. 

I would use the ball if that is what she loves - start at a distance away from the bed that she is comfortable with and bounce the ball and have a gome with her, if she;s likely to take the ball and return to her bed abd guard that then use a ball on a rope or a tuggy toy. Keep it short and fun, when you'r done pop the ball a way and stay away from her bed.  This way she will build up a good association that you near her bed means good things.  Then you can gradually decrease the distance and you should be able to work up to the point where she anticipate you coming nera her bed as a great thing.
I just worry that this will make her think that toys are back in the house and the bed and toy will become her possesion again.  Previously she would pick a toy and take it to her bed or I would use a ball as a training toy (for sit and stay etc) and then when one of the other dogs tried to get on the bed (even if I had removed said object) she would instantly go for the other dog and that bed seemed to become hers.  Tug toys, was told/read on a forum for bull terries are not a good toy to base training around as they again become aggressive with them and the pulling makes them more dominent...sorry this might be a lot of bull lol.

At the moment I use her ball as training when we go out for walks....so I/we put her lead on and then I/we show her the ball and she sits and I walk and thats the signal that we are off to the field to play ball.  She gets to the field and she sits and waits and then every time she returns the ball she sits and waits...behaviourist said this was like "nothing in life is free" training and to play she needs to realise that she has to do something in return.  I praise her a lot and we run around, but if another dog does come near then she does tend to guard again unless I tell her NO and remove the ball and then she will mingle with the other dog and play.

Also wandered has she been checked for any health problems - does she have any joint probs or anything like that which coulkd cause her discomfort?  As this can cause problems with dogs being unhappy about being approached when they are resting by people or dogs.
Yes she has regular checks and I spoke to vet and his advice was "it was natural behaviour for a young dog of her age to try and assert herself in a pack".  She is fit and healthy and the right weight for her size and age he said "to let it progress naturally".  Ok for him to say when you have 2 bitches niggling each other lol... no disrespect to my vet or vets btw.

Thanks for the response though, maybe I should consider another behaviourist about rewarding her/and like you mention underlying emotional feelings about the things she guards.  I didnt think of it like that....I just thought she was still showing agression and trying to dominant the situation.

Michelle

Once again, I really think you need a behaviourist that will use positive association/reward based training to help your dog feel that it has no need to protect it's bed. A behaviourist that will put in the effort to find your dogs motivation (you allready said this is praise/ball) and find a way to use that motivation without it causing more issues with the other dogs. I'm sure there is much hope for your dog, but things done the wrong way can make matters worse.

Yes I agree totally as like you say at the moment I am worrying that I am doing her more harm than good.  I know she loves the time that she spends on the field with me/us playing ball, but when at home I very stern about where she is allowed in the house.  To her credit from being a very dominant dog in the house she has/does seem to have become a lot better around the other dogs and my partner says I am much stronger with her.  Also I know her breed are very stubborn and strong headed...give her an inch and she takes a mile. So again past advice has been that I need to assert now that I am pack leader or her dominance will increase as she gets older....but gosh now I think I am being too obsessive about it.

I think tonight I will leave her if she growls if we walk past and see what her reaction is if I dont say NO....and see what she does if the other dogs clamber past.  I will also try the foodie thing.

Thanks again!!

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

By the sounds of the way you have explained this behaviour if you have sent her to her bed, and its mostly you & your OH that she growls at when you walk past I'm thinking it maybe be more of a moan & groan rather than a growl? As she is obeying your command of stay, it maybe a moan about that.  If you walk up to her when she is does this, what does she do then ? have you stroked her and what happens?  Maybe call her to you if she comes with head low looking smoochy give her a treat? 

If I thought snoop had seriously growled at me, I would claim his bed there and then, I would stop ask him- are you alright- giving him a look and tell him to move, once he was off/out of the bed- give them space for this... I'd then step in it myself and claim it as my own. All the while with them looking on. If she tries to move in with you or push past you say a sharp AHH and put a hand flat up for her to understand to stay where she is, most probably she will bark at you but just ignore her till she wonders off beaten ( in a subtle way) lol. 
My boy will moan/ growl to be allowed up on the settee with me so I let him up giving him an helping hand then he will either turn the other way and start moaning for England! i will pat /stroke his leg and it stops, if I stop the touching he starts moaning again. If once up for a cuddle and cuddling into me on the settee will forever stare and looks at me and I'm like what what! all very attention seeking.

Bullys are very vocal dogs and will try to always communicate with doggy chat. When my boy has been generally mean and aggressive must say only with other dogs it has been very obvious- no growling involved just lips raising in a snarl and then a head butt! he has literally cracked dogs with his head who he has wanted to get away from his face or away from the food bag...

When my OH moved out, snoop was only 3 and I had his bed in a cupboard under the stairs and if I went in there he started barking like a git...then he started  coming up to me while I was on the settee staring and barking and growling- the way i stopped this was to just stand up and not say anything I would just claim my space, physically I was taller than him so in dog language was standing above him, he soon gave it up and realised I was the boss. It only happened for a little over a month adjusting to life with no other man in the house only me & my son who was 10 at the time.

Its quiet sweet you said she takes herself off to her naughty step as she knows you disagree with her talking !

If I thought snoop had seriously growled at me, I would claim his bed there and then, I would stop ask him- are you alright- giving him a look and tell him to move, once he was off/out of the bed- give them space for this... I'd then step in it myself and claim it as my own.

Terrible idea Magica. If you had something you wanted to keep for yourself, and somebody you didn't entirely trust to NOT take it off you walked past so you told them "This is mine, please leave it alone!" and that somebody then responded by taking the item from you, would you be more or less inclined to guard it more in future? :)

> Terrible idea Magica. If you had something you wanted to keep for yourself, and somebody you didn't entirely trust to NOT take it off you walked past so you told them "This is mine, please leave it alone!" and that somebody then responded by taking the item from you, would you be more or less inclined to guard it more in future? :-)

I am sorry you feel that way MarianneB,

I could not have any of my 3 dogs growling at me when they decided I needed telling! I quote... "This is mine, please leave it alone!" if they felt the need to guard their bed as well. That could lead to them growling over being on the sofa over chewing up a lightbulb anything?

I do not think as you do and not as if I was in bed and someone was trying to get me out...I'm not a dog. I feel a dog should move out of your way when you are moving, say down the stairs and there in your way. If she is getting possessive over this comfy bed then take it away from her as they have 5 to choose from for 3 dogs anyway.

As I mentioned before with my snoop and him starting on me over going in the cupboard where his bed was, I just moved his bed into the kitchen no drama no shouting nothing he was upset that suddenly he was not in the front room anymore but it brought him down a peg or two so he realised he couldn't have a go at me. :-)

i agree with magica, i would never allow my 4 dogs to growl at me! I have sound dogs that have learnt to respect me in the fact that if i want to move them they do it with no grumbles, i feel it is very important for us to teach our dogs not to be possessive of anything as this can lead to more dangerous times,  

Just another idea, but I would maybe think of having eyes or even hearing tested.  I have a little horror of a dog, cocky, self assured and walks into the room with no problem and dives all over people but wondered why she would not let people go up to her and stroke her (breed is known to be wary of people they don't know so didn't think much of it).  We found out at the general eye testing that she had a slight problem with her eyes so now realise why. Sometimes slight health issues can be a reason. 

Why are people so terrified that a dog growling is going to lead to some awful catastrophe? It's their way of communication with us and I would far rather a dog felt confident to growl to let me know that whatever I was doing was causing them a degree of anxiety.

We seem to, as owners, want to remove dogs of all form of communication. Barking is bad as it disturbs neighbours. Growling is bad because it means you don't respect me as a leader.

I just don't agree.

My dogs growl, my first question is "why"? What are they worried about and what can I do to alleviate that stress.

If my dog was growling at me and didn't want me to move him off the sofa then I would associate that with dominance and, simply, they wouldn't be allowed on the sofa.

However, it's a different story for their bed. They have to be able to retreat to a place which is theirs. If you keep removing that place then it's little wonder they are stressed! I would desensitise them to my presence just by standing close by for periods of time..."look, nothing bad happens" is the lesson they are learning.

I believe in letting my dogs communicate with me in the way they know how to communicate :)

I am afraid that the original advice was wrong. This is why the dog is still growling :(
Also, no reputable professional behaviourist will now look at problems using this outdated model of behaviour.

We give her the command to stay and she will....then if we walk past her at any given stage she will growl, not move a muscle just growl. The correction we were told was to say NO then get her to come off the bed send her to a cool off zone (naughty step) leave her alone and then whoever she has growled at to go call her have her focus, tell her to sit and then send her back to one of the beds.

the info the dog is getting from this is all wrong. She is being punished at the wrong time as many dogs see being sent to bed as a punishment unless it's been trained very positively. And her bed is not a safe nice place as she is told No there. Also No is "telling her off" but not telling her what to do, nor giving her better associations of people walking past! In other words it's designed to subdue and not cure or get to the root cause.

I agree with Karenclynes, Marianne etc :)

The old "I ain't gonna let a dog growl at me" is based on our human emotions, and fear of losing control. A growling dog is letting us know they are not comfortable so that the problem can be worked with.  A dog who does not growl may well bite, and that is much worse.

Lindsay
x

>i agree with magica, i would never allow my 4 dogs to growl at me!

Do you allow them to wag their tails at you? If you allow them to tell you when they're happy, why would you not permit them to tell you when they were unhappy? It's all communication; if they tell you that something makes them anxious it's your job to stop them feeling anxious, not punish them for telling you. That won't make them any happier ...

Look at it this way. If you're anxious when you go to the dentist and say what scares you, are you going to feel more confident if the dentist explains what he'll do so that you won't feel the pain? If he just tells you off for 'being so silly' and carries on, you're not going to feel better about going next time!

I could not have any of my 3 dogs growling at me when they decided I needed telling!

If a dog isn't allowed to growl, its only other option is to bite!

Obviously its very hard to say how this dog is "growling " in the first place without seeing her do it in person...as I said in my first post most probably she is most probably grumbling/moaning about being sent to stay in her bed... not a full out growl as if to say get the hell away from me or I'm going to attack you.

The owners have been shook up by seeing this young dog attack their older dog, so any form of so called aggression ie growling, tail up, freezing up will set the alarms ringing in some cases unnecessarily.

I can't see the point of after having a good walk/outing together to then come home and make her go to her bed and stay there, I'd let her do as she pleases have a drink and crash out anywhere. If the behaviourist has told the owners to do this then I think the dog is getting confused as to why she is being told to lie in her bed. The bed then is seen as a punishment area.
How long is she made to sit on this naughty step? I have never heard of this type of punishment before either and could lead to frustration on being confused as to what you want from her.

That's why if she was here I would talk to her to see how she was feeling to gage how to react. My EBT is very vocal always grumbling mumbling in his bed. When he was poorly neck/back injury he growled at tinkerbell to get off, which I told her to get off of him too, she was hurting him obviously,I have never told him off for it.

My first dog a BSD hated kids and would growl at them all the time if they got too close, I would just take the child away from her. If she wanted to leave the room I would make sure she could just get up and leave, not tell her off for growling just realising her telling me she did not trust the children to fall on her and felt uncomfortable around them.

right let me explain, if my dogs have a bone they do not growl if me or the kids walk passed them or if my child plays on the floor near them, my dogs feel safe and not threatened that they think that we might take their bone / food. My dogs growl in play, if they are play fighting, jumping around like loons, but this is a different kind of growl to one that says leave my property alone.  My dogs have learnt that me and my kids are not a threat to them and that we respect them as they do us, so no need to growl.  My dogs may from time to time growl at each other over food, but this rarely happens as they all wait until each other have finished their bowl of food then take turns in checking each others bowl. My dogs communicate with each other very well and they have no need to growl for possession or anxiciousmess.

> I believe in letting my dogs communicate with me in the way they know how to communicate :-)

> Why are people so terrified that a dog growling is going to lead to some awful catastrophe? It's their way of communication with us and I would far rather a dog felt confident to growl to let me know that whatever I was doing was causing them a degree of anxiety.
>

> My dogs growl, my first question is "why"? What are they worried about and what can I do to alleviate that stress.
>
>

Totally 100% agree.  They are dogs, not humans.  We should learn to read their language, not treat them as if we are punishing an unruly child.  The dog sounds unsure and unhappy.

> then if we walk past her at any given stage she will growl, not move a muscle just growl

It doesn't sound like you have the bed in a good place for her if people are walking past her whilst she is resting.  One of my Chows can get a bit grumbly if he is disturbed on his bed, he's not aggressive, possesive or bad tempered, he just doesn't like being 'disturbed'. 

Think about how you would feel if your bed was on the floor and every time you wanted to relax there was someone walking past, maybe causing a draft, a noise or even having their feet too close to your face.  Beds should be relaxing, not stressful.  Try moving it to a more out of the way area :)

>It doesn't sound like you have the bed in a good place for her if people are walking past her whilst she is resting.  One of my Chows can get a bit grumbly if he is disturbed on his bed, he's not aggressive, possesive or bad tempered, he just doesn't like being 'disturbed'.  Think about how you would feel if your bed was on the floor and every time you wanted to relax there was someone walking past, maybe causing a draft, a noise or even having their feet too close to your face.  Beds should be relaxing, not stressful.  Try moving it to a more out of the way area.

This is why crate-training works so well.... They have their own designated space. Mine isn't crate trained but if I added to my dog family I would certainly bring it in. My existing dog grumbles if disturbed but if he had one place where he never needed to grumble, then things might be different. It would be a lot easier to direct a grumbly dog towards its own crate (where it will be undisturbed) in these circumstances. I worry that telling a dog off for growling can lead to them starting to snap without warning.

> if my dogs have a bone they do not growl if me or the kids walk passed them or if my child plays on the floor near them, my dogs feel safe and not threatened that they think that we might take their bone / food........ My dogs have learnt that me and my kids are not a threat to them and that we respect them as they do us, so no need to growl.

Good points you've mentioned there - your dogs feel safe & not threatened and you respect them, so they respect you, therefore they have no need to growl :)

The OPs dog, obviously is worried/unsecure about being able to do a simple thing like lay in a dog bed becasue if she tells anybody 'please leave me alone' (growl) they tell her to get out of the bed anyway, so the dog feels the need to protect the bed with a growl. If the growl is stopped the dog has no way of comunicating it's unease without biting  or it may just supress the growl and live the rest of it's days unhappy & frustrated.
If the dog is taught that it has no need to worry about losing its bed or being disturbed from resting, it then has no reason to protect it :) (similar to stoping a food-guarder from guarding its food - teach it it has no reason to fear losing the food in the first place)

> I feel a dog should move out of your way when you are moving

LOL, don't get a Mastiff then ;) there is NO chance Buster would move for anybody or anything to go past him, if he's laying down then he's staying down! If he's laynig down behind a shut door that you need to get through -tuff!!!! (unless he hears the fridge door open or the word 'biscuit' then he's up like a flash and straight to the treat cupboard!) :-D

I agree 100% with Colliecrew.I'm no behaviourist,but from a common sense approach her post makes the most sense :)

As for those rules of humans eating before dogs,making the dogs move out of our way,humans going through the door before dog... blah blah blah

We don't adhere to any of the above "rules",and my dogs are just fine. They get fed when it's convenient, whether that's before or after we have eaten.If they are asleep on the floor We'll step over them rather than forcing the poor things to get up and move every time.And if they choose to go through the door before me,who cares????

Eden - your household sounds abit like mine, I do however ask the dogs to wait before rushing out the door, I have 2 GSD's and a Rottweiler pup (two big dogs and soon to be 3) only because of the children getting knocked over do I ask of that.  The lying down thing, well I only have to get up and they all get up with the 'are we going out again' routine! LOL. The eldest GSD not so much now as he is slowing up so he deserves not to be disturbed. The feeding thing - ditto.

   I feel a dog should move out of your way when you are moving

When we are in the house and the dogs are stood in the way I say 'beep beep' (I know, stupid wording!) and they move away but when they are resting I leave them be!

> he's laying down then he's staying down! If he's laynig down behind a shut door that you need to get through -tuff!!!! (unless he hears the fridge door open or the word 'biscuit' then he's up like a flash and straight to the treat cupboard!) :-D <IMG class=qButton title="Quote selected text" alt="Quote selected text" src="/images/mi_quote.gif">

LOL :-) that goes the same for my lot when there all crashed out by any door there crashed out near. To get past... i say cooie coming through!

I would like to say its all live and let live in my house...I'm not some over the top dictator.
They are like my 4 legged kids!