Perhaps do not pick her up? Then she will not growl.

I wonder how you would feel if someone 10 times your size pinned you down and held your feet and hands together?

Thrilled I am sure!

and definitely loved and respected.........................

 

As a general rule of thumb, Shar-Pei aren't a "cuddly" breed and one of their traits is the tendency to be "stand offish" and wary of any overt demonstrations of affection from their owners.

Leave her alone and allow her to come to you only when SHE wants affection. In the mean time try to build up a strong bond with her.with quiet encouragement. Pei are a breed that bond very closely with the people they love and are the most loyal of dogs!

I'd also suggest you do some more research about the breed.

 

When she's laid down comfortably and my wife or I pick her up, she growls at us.

Simple, don't do this. Her growl means 'leave me alone at the mo'

 

I'd growl if you picked me up while I was lay down comfortable. My 18 month old son DOES growl when I do that to him. A growl is communication, much like us saying "knock it off, I don't like that". Which imo dogs are perfectly entitled to do. If you want her to move then find another way to move her while you teach her to move on cue. Think people find it too easy to just pick a puppy or small dog up to move them, you wouldn't be doing it with an adult great dane after all

Not sure who on here recommended pinning a puppy down and holding their paws together, pretty sure it won't have been one of the regulars as most don't subscribe to the whole dominance crap. It's bad advice either way.

 

If I was snoozing or relaxing and somebody tried to manhandle me I'd growl too! Growling is pup telling you she doesn't like what you're doing. You're right it's not dominance, just normal dog! Staffys are cuddly and love to be on their humans if possible, shar pei? Not so much. Mine doesn't like to snuggle up at all, she likes her own space but will come over for strokes and a hug. She HATED being picked up as a pup, and generally hates any kind on manhandling so I have worked on this somewhat to be able to restrain her or hold her if it's necessary. Do some training and play with her, build a bond and instead of just picking her up, gently wake her or call her so she gets up herself. They are an aloof breed who don't suffer fools gladly, so do a bit of research and sign up for a good puppy class.

 

Greyhounds can also react like that if they are touched when asleep. If you want her to wake up, call her name and let her come to you.

 

If she is laying down relaxed... why on earth are you and your wife going and picking her up? Leave her alone whilst she is settled!

Common sense really. Would you like to be disturbed and dragged up if you were relaxed?

Leave her be and if you really need her to get up, then call her name so she gets up herself.

 

It's not dominance! Your dog is just uncomfortable with being lifted. Please please please don't pin your dog down. This will only teach your dog to be scared of you and will likely turn a warning growl into a bite. Dominance isn't a way dogs use to communicate. Dogs who are sleeping or trying to seem to specifically not want to be lifted, but I wouldn't advise hugging or lifting your pup from now on unless completely necessary.

I would advise getting a vet checkup to rule out any physical issues, as he may be growling in pain!

It's important he's tolerant of touch though in case of an emergency situation, like if he gets injured (breaks a leg or something preventing him from moving himself) and you need to transport him safely in a car / you need the vet to be able to move him. Or if you want to get him groomed, etc

Here's a video by kikopup that might help on how to interrupt his behavior positively!

 

It's not dominance! Your dog is just uncomfortable with being lifted. Please please please don't pin your dog down. This will only teach your dog to be scared of you and will likely worsen his aggression. Dominance isn't a way dogs use to communicate. Dogs who are sleeping or trying to seem to specifically not want to be lifted, but I wouldn't advise hugging or lifting your pup from now on unless completely necessary.

I would advise getting a vet checkup to rule out any physical issues, as he may be growling in pain!

It's important he's tolerant of touch though in case of an emergency situation, like if he gets injured (breaks a leg or something preventing him from moving himself) and you need to transport him safely in a car / you need the vet to be able to move him. Or if you want to get him groomed, etc

Here's a video by kikopup that might help on how to interrupt his behavior positively!

Sorry, but I think your post is a little confusing. From what the OP says the dog has only growled upon being lifted while sleeping. So there is no aggression to make worse.

Muttly is the sweetest, cuddliest dog ever but if he's asleep and you pick him up (I did once without thinking when he was on my lap and I needed to get up) then he has growled. I've not done it since, I simply use my voice or wake him with a stroke and a quiet voice to day it's time to move.

 

You could also try to treat your pup when you touch or approach them while they're lying down so they associate touch and your approach with good things, but I definitely would just not pick them up unless absolutely necessary.

 

I understand growling isnt equal to aggression though, so sorry about that, I'll edit the post. X

 

I don't blame them! I would also be alarmed if some big large person lifted me in a dead sleep.

 

Exactly! I have told my OH to 'F off' in my sleep before when he's tried to move me because I;m taking up all the bed

 

Definately don't pin her down, unless you want to possible get bit. She is telling you to leave her alone. Why do you want to pin her down. No more CM for you.

 

I think @kamikaze made a really good point about pain - whilst I know it's probably because your pup doesn't like being disturbed - if this extends to all handling she could be in pain. Best to rule that out I believe.

I think people may be being a little harsh. Your goal is not to cause emotional distress to your dog, it is to develop a working relationship in which you can live in harmony with her. Unfortunately the advice you have read on here is unlikely to lead you to that goal. That's not your fault and you're not an awful person for considering that. There are many people who seek help training their dog - because they care and they want to support their development and breed a successful relationship in which all members of the family are happy and secure. Again, unfortunately there are a lot of 'professional' dog trainers who will buy so heavily into the dominance theory - often incorrectly (not refuting the theory, moreso the ways in which behaviours are addressed under these assumptions).

Not to go into this too much, but if we consider the dominance theory and the idea that dogs form packs with the goal of rising the ranks - not an approach I am suggesting to use but just using it hypothetically to explore the longer conseqeunces and learning. So THIS THEORY would suggest that techniques to address so called dominance behaviours - such as holding down, the dog learns to be 'submissive' to you. But when he also learns is that 'dominance' is maintained by physical force. So as the underpinnings of the theory suggests, your dog may want to one day rise the chain so the way they've learnt to do this is through physical force, because the control fear environment has been established. As prior to editing some people got confused by this: to confirm I am not promoting, endorsing or condoning this approach, merely pointing out one of the many flaws in its theoretical and practical basis. And in case this is still confusing - I'm saying don't hold your dog down because I don't think it will work or be nice for either you or your dog.

If you're just picking your pup up because you want some cuddles, that's lovely, but probably not helpful. There will be times when you need to move your pup when she is sleeping. It's impossible to rule that out completely.

As mentioned, you may want to wake her vocally, call her over for a treat or a toy (whether she is food or play driven - doesn't sound like she's affection driven!). You do need to get her used to being handled because if god forbid she is in pain, or ever is in future, the vet will need to be able to give her a thorough inspection and if she doesn't like being handled - this will likely be extremely traumatic. Get her used to you touching her - pair it with praise and treats. Start really really slowly. If she growls, you've gone too fast. So go back to the step before and give her lots of treats and attention.

You seem really committed to helping your pup. It may be really useful for you to remember that positive reinforcement and praise is not only nicer for you and your dog, but it also builds stronger associations - thus pups learn quicker this way. Sure the prong collars and choke chains work - but slower, less humanely and only when they are present - the dog doesn't learn what to do through their own volition so as soon as the punishment is gone, they will regress. This is not just my opinion, it's consistently demonstrated in behavioural psychology literature.

Hope this helps and all the best with your pup

 

Not to go into this too much, but I believe that by using the dominance theory to address so called dominance behaviours - such as holding down, you promote a hierarchical environment that is maintained through this behaviour - so if your dog wants to challenge their position in the pack, this is the behaviour they have seen work. That's just me playing devils advocate though!

Dogs don't form packs. And even if they did, people aren't dogs.

 

I said using the dominance theory - as a hypothetical - I was highlighting the issues with it as both a concept and system - not endorsing it.

I really don't see how that comment has any use or relevance to the original request for advice.

 

@McKenzie

"By using the dominance theory"

Everything following that is an assumption of that theory. I'm sorry that seems to have confused you.

Your comment however didn't seem to elucidate it either.

I hope it's clear now.

 

Hmmm. Perhaps you need to edit your post because it very much says that if you use dominance theory you will create a hierarchy and your dog will vie for its place. And that's not true. Maybe what you should have said was ...by using the dominance theory to address so called dominance behaviours - such as holding down, you could create a confused, fearful dog. That's more accurate.

What about my comment was unclear? The part where I said you provided misinformation, the part where I reworded your quote, or the part where I said I wasn't nit-picking?

 

I think wording is important in forums because it's open to the public, and if someone gets confused and applies damaging techniques to their dogs the dog is the one getting harmed in the long run and that's the opposite of what anyone wants!

 

@McKenzie

I didn't say your comment was unclear. I said your comment was unhelpful. And I think your comment was antagonistic and disempowering.

Since you took the time to reword my comment, I think you could have said something like 'it sounds like you're saying that 'dominance' will create hierarchy, is that what you're saying? Just to clarify are you promoting this or just using an example? I don't think dogs form packs with humans so I'm not sure about this' - that would have been friendly, helpful and engaging. Hell you even could have said - I agree with the other parts or something positive because I wrote a lot more than that paragraph! But you homed in on that because you could say something contradictory about that.

Since you seem to have been confused by my post I will edit. I will try to be far more explicit to prevent confusion in future.

 

You said my comment "didn't seem to elucidate it either." Elucidate - make clear, explain.

Thanks for telling me what I should have written. There was nothing argumentative in my first couple of posts - I even said I wasn't nit-picking AND added a smiley face. My goal wasn't to make a new best friend, I was simply correcting some misinformation that you had put out there - you are the one who changed the tone by telling me my comment was useless and irrelevant. If you think my posts are antagonistic and disempowering you'll get an eye opener if you hang around this forum a bit longer!

Anyway, I think in the end we agreed that dominance is rubbish so let's leave it at that.

 

OP - your pup most likely just doesn't like being picked up when he's asleep or trying to sleep and is comfy.

Lion Dog - McKenzie was not disempowering you. She disagreed with you, and in a very diplomatic way.

 

I realise that my first post was a little vague. Allow me to pad it out a bit.

My wife and I only ever pick our pup up to take her outside, to do the toilet thing.
We take her to puppy class, the girl that takes the class recently advised that maybe we shouldn't take her outside so often, and that we should wait for her to tell us when she needs to go outside.
She is housetrained, but we haven't until Friday, been confident enough to give her the responsibility to do this.
So it's been three days now and it's going well.
As for pinning her down and holding her paws together, I said that in a light-hearted manner. Hence I said that "if I did that, my wife would do the same thing to me".
For a forum dedicated to dogs, there seems to be a lot of 'cat ladies' on here.

 

The forum is dedicated to all pets. Hence the title.

 

The forum is dedicated to all pets, no particular species. Or do you mean 'cat' as in 'catty ?'

 

Or even 'cat ladies' as a euphemism for 'mad cat women'.

 

You got it.

 

How rude.

Members have gone out of their way to try and help you and you choose then to insult them.

Very nice.

Don't be surprised if nobody bothers in future.

 

So.... you come on to a forum and ask strangers for help. Said strangers give you that help for no reward and you insult them cos it not exactly what you expected to hear.

Nice.

 

@Sweety

I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm not trying to enforce anything as 'police' would infer.

I'm confused as to why you think I'm telling people what they should and shouldn't be doing. This was not my intention. I was hoping to share my experience of being a new member on this forum. I then reflected on what may have made my experience, and possibly the experience of others, more welcoming and ultimately more beneficial. These were my thoughts only, hence why I used phrases such as 'I think', rather than 'you should'.

What you choose to do with what I say is up to you - either reflect on it, engage with it or write me off as pompous! You're more than entitled to your opinion and how to share it - no matter how rude that may be!

I seem to have caused some offence to you. For that I am sorry as I don't mean to offend anyone I don't know, particularly over an online forum. I have acknowledged my reaction to @McKenzie 's comment was exactly what I was accusing their comment of being (unfriendly, antagonising and unhelpful) and have contacted them to acknowledge this privately as not to derail this thread more - and because you are busy attacking me in here.

Sorry if this is lengthy again.