Dogs biting when startled from sleep?

milos_mommy

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#21
My eskie did it as he got older, and Milo does it. It's either that he's startled, or protective of his sleeping space. It started when he had Lyme's disease (at about 8 months) and he still does it if he's awoken from a deep sleep, but it's more a lot of growling than anything.
 

corgipower

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#22
to try and condition my puppies to being startled, I would pat them, stroke their feet, ears etc and talk to them while they were sleeping
I do that just because sleeping puppies are too cute to resist :p

He can be dead asleep, and if I get up, he's up in a heartbeat. This is why I can never, ever get a single picture of him sleeping.
Mine are all like that. Except Morgan who doesn't necessarily get up, but she will open an eye and look to see if it's worth getting up.

Doc!! Thanks for the great info!
 

xpaeanx

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#23
I fostered a mill bitch dobie once who would do that. She was just a weird dog though. She was fine with dogs when you were watching her... but as soon as you turned your back she would... try to intimidate them I guess...

But anyway, if you startled her she'd snap at you, but as soon as she really "saw" you, she'd stop and she'd have this "omg! I'm soooo sorry!" look on her face. She was REALLY scared up though, so I would assume that was from a life of living with lots of other dogs and fighting for food/territory related.
 

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