# 8 month old Male growling at wife



## Donck15 (Jun 7, 2015)

Hello, first post for me, but have enjoyed the site for the last 8 months! Our 8 month male has started growling at my wife. It seems to be only in the evenings and it seems like he thinks she is going to take something away from him or he is not wanting her to have my attention. He seems to be angry, but we're not sure why. Last night he was sitting on my lap, and when she came close he growled, like he didn't want to share! I need to figure this out and be sure he is our FAMILY dog. Any thoughts?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

It is normal, in a dog on dog relationship. One has a nice comfy spot, and will growl to let the other know they are not sharing. Depending on the dogs pecking order in the household, is depended on what happens next. If the dog that growled, or gave the stink eye to the other is the less submissive dog, the other dog just moves on to find a new spot.
If the growler is the submissive one of the two, the other dog may just crawl up anyway.
Even submissive dogs, don't like to give in every time to a pushier dog. But as a loose general rule they will give in, and chose their battles wisely.

I look at it in the same way as humans have in working relationships.
You have a top boss/owner, next a supervisor or two, last the people that work below the supervisors. Everyone has their job, and place for a company to work smoothly. Orders don't come from the bottom, they come from the top. It only takes one of the levels to fail, to effect the entire work place. 

Problems arise in a household, when the dog thinks its okay to give a family member the same warning/correction they would give another dog. Or to give a correction that is unfair. Without knowing more, it sound like your dog has started resource guarding. Some of these dogs can even have a jealous side.

You may get 20 different answers to your question. As owners we think differently, and what worked for one dog (dependent on temperament) will not always work for all dogs.
A high probability my dog would have been shoved off the couch. A clear statement that I don't approve of that behavior. While I always want to be fair, I'm still the boss of the company.
You need to look at why he feels its okay to treat your wife in that manner, and go about reshaping his behavior. 
I like a lot of different training methods, that some think There is no way they go together.
You can learn a lot from Dr. Ian Dunbar,Victoria Stilwell 
I also like a *toned down* version of Cesar Millan, and Leerburg.

Its always good to contact your breeder, when you run into problems.
A good many will help you work through them.
If you feel the problem is bigger than you can correct, contact a behaviorist.


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## Zoton (Feb 4, 2014)

All the above,when Anwen tried this I put a slip leash on her and the wife gently removed the dog then the leash.Stopped real quick. 
Funny really as now they both worship the wife and become selectively deaf for me....


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## Donck15 (Jun 7, 2015)

Sorry for the extremely late reply. Thank you for thoughts. A little more info, now that we have been dealing with it for awhile.

Actually, I did push him off the couch and scolded him for the growl. 

We have talked with the breeder and tried a number if "fixes". But we still have the issue. It seems to be about what Cooper wants. We wipe him down before long walks in a particular area because of ticks, and we look him over when were done. If he's tired he my growl at either one of us. He seems very moody at times and my wife still has more of the challenge, particularly when I"m gone. 

Craig


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