I'm desperate - our Cockapoo, Chewey, is normally a sweet-natured affectionate dog, 8 months old. He is very protective of my 16 year-old daughter, and he sleeps with her at night. When she fell asleep downstairs on the couch, Chewey took his usual place next to her. He is not allowed on the couch, and when my husband told him to get down, he did not. When my husband nudged him off, he growled, and followed that up with bearing his teeth and attempting to bite. I know that Chewey felt he was watching over his favorite person in the house, but my husband is so livid at the dog he spends so much time playing with turning on him, he is threatening to make us get rid of our pet!

Well, if a dog growls, then it is trying to tell you it doesn't like something. If you persist in whatever he doesn't like, a bite is the next step.

The easiest way to deal with it is to find an alternative method of getting the dog to do what you want. So, if he is asleep on the couch, call him to wake him, show him you have a tasty treat, and entice himm off the sofa witht hat. If he persists in getting back ont he sofa, you can keep a houseline (piece of thick string or thin rope, or you can buy them at Pets At Home) on him in the house, and use that to pull him off the sofa while keeping a safe distance.

That said, if you allow him to get on the sofa in the first place, and sometimes let him stay for a while, he is getting quite a confusing message. Sometimes it is OK to be on there, others it is not. He won't understand which times are OK, so best never let him get up there in the first place if he isn't alloed.

Having a pup in the family is a new experience for us, but should we have to bribe him away from "guarding" his favorite person in the house? Isn't it a concern that he would bare his teeth and attempt to bite a family member who spends lots of time with him, and gives him lots of attention?

mmmmmm maybe it would be a good idea to discourage him/her from spending so much time with your daughter and get him to socialise more with the "family" as a whole rather than him focusing on your daughter but there are plenty of people on here that will have great advice for you and good luck please let us know how you get on

you have answerd your own question.in my oppion..his favourite person i your daughter and he is trying to do what HE thinks is best for her..if you had the same rules for all of you ie. you say he sleeps with your daughter,but i take it not with you and hubby...try not letting him stay in her bedroom for a while until he is old enough to understand what is what...

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I doubt he was 'guarding'. It is easy to think that as we like to put our human emotions onto our dogs. It is more likely he simply likes your daughter ass he gives him the attention he likes, was cosy and comfy with her, didn't want to get down from where he was, so growled to let your husband know. When your husband ignored the growl, he went to the next stage and bared his teeth then snapped or attempted to bite. Probably just snapping, as if he meant it, he probably would have bitten.

In order to get our dogs ot do what we want, we need ot understand how their minds work, and hwo they learn. Dogs are basically selfish. They do somethign we want them to because there is something in it for them. In the case of an owner who uses positive reinforcement, such as a treat, (like me) the 'in it for them' is the food reward. In the case of owners that use negative reinforcement, such as a smack for unwanted behaviour the 'in it for them' is that when they complete the desired behaviour they avoid the smack. Using positive reinforcement is smply much less likely to evoke an unwanted response from the dog, such as a bite. It is not bribing him, it is motivating him. Does that make sense?


If your dog is usually friendly and outoging, as you describe, I doubt him displaying this behaviour at this time, is anything to worry about. You simply need to find a way to get him to do what you want without evoking this response from him. Make it so there is something in it for him to get off the sofa, in this case a treat, rather than get off the sofa, away from his cosy nice place, and then possibly get ignored. If the end result of the dog getting off the sofa (without biting anyone) is achieved, does it matter how it is done?

at the risk of being yelled at here, that's a typical Cesar Milan situation....pup thinks you are not the boss of him....and your comment about being someone who spends a lot of time with pup and gives him lots of attention kind of supports that....thats what a pack follower does....do you train the dog? does he see you as his boss or the entertainment?

By all means call him off the settee with a treat but make him work for the treat once he is off the settee with a sit stay, down or whatever

Sorry, but total rot. Anyone who supports Cesar Milan is simply showing how little they actually know about dogs, IMO.

Dogs do not stay awake all night plotting world dominance, they do not dominate humans. Now, humans may inadvertantly 'train' the dog into unwanted behaviours, but that is all. Dogs are intelligent, yes, but they work on a very basic system. They are inherantly selfish, (and we can use that toour advantage) it is only our human egos that insist they like to please us on any level.

If you get him off the setee for a treat, but get him off, then make him work for a treat with a sit or down or whatever, the dog will think it has been rewarded for the sit, down or whatever, as dogs feel they are being rewarded for the last thing they did. So what is the motivation for them getting off the sofa next time?

I have managed to train all my dogs without dominance theory, using only positive methods, other than the odd 'no' or 'oi', I have fed them before, sometimes allowed them to rush through doors before me, sometimes I even let them (ask them) to jump up at me. At yet they all do what I ask, as soon as I ask it. Not one of them is domiant over me. Why? It's easy, I am a human, they are dogs.

i for one think cesar millan is great with dogs...but each to his/her own oppion, but i dont think that because i like his methods meens i dont know anything about dogs..

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I'll start a new thread janice, so this one can stay on topic.