my dog when he's sleeping will bite me if i wake him up, is that normal?

Never ever happened to me.

Sounds like he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Did he serve in the military?

Let sleeping dogs lie.

No, he has trust issues. If you got him as a puppy you are either a bad parent or he really has mental issues, or it could be due to relationships with other pets or members of the family. - trust issues.

If you got him from the pound he does have P T S issues and probably will be fine as he becomes more condfident in his position in the family.

LOL... my pom puppy is the sweetest most lovable little dogger...

until you try to move her when she's sleeping. Then she goes all Cujo on you.

She doesn't bite because she's not like that but she growls real deep like she means it.

I hae a friend with a little daschund that does that! He hates his sleep disturbed!

This

Most people would do the same if you woke them up. Yeah I think it's normal.

Are you thin? I mean like a bone, or something?

Dogs will have nightmares and stressful dreams and such, and just like humans, there's a period of time between sleeping and waking up that the conscious mind needs to adjust to the varried realities.

I wouldn't say that was normal, but I couldn't say it was adnormal behavoirs for a dog.

Sounds to me as if you have an unfixed male.

yea, if someone wakes me while im sleeping for their own amusement, i'll punch them in the throat...let the dog sleep.

In a word, NO.

I do the same.

Nearly all of our 'rescue dogs' came from 'bad homes'. They spend their puppy-hood (akin to childhood) in an abusive or neglecting home. Due to this we have had dogs 'act strangely', such as snapping when being awaken.

Thus I would say that most likely your dog has been abused in some manner. Either by you or someone else in the family.

Another thing that nearly all dogs can have are 'nightmares'. When you dog is 'running' its having a nightmare. It may look funny, but for the dog its a 'trauma event' especially if its whimpering or snorting or making other noises.

Dogs are affected by sleep disorders, so you might want to check with a vet if you can positively rule out abuse.

Anxiety and 'waking up like a bear' happens with some dogs, then what you are dealing with is an instinctive attack when startled awake. This may be due to nothing, or be linked to a health issue (physical or mental/emotional).

I strongly suggest you take the dog to the vet and get the dog checked out to rule out things like rabies, organ issues and other ills that may have the dog in pain.

Then you need to start talking to the dog. Call it name softly and lovingly, repeating and getting a little louder each time until the dog wakes up. Say its name a few more times (usually should bring on a tail wag) then reach for the dog and pet it, being soothing.

Get the dog used to you waking it up, thus it will be less likely to 'attack' when startled awake.

If this is due to abuse, or you suspect the dog has been abused, take the dog to a behaviorist. Like the TV Guy who whispers to dogs. There are many tools you can learn in order to bridge the gap and to help the dog overcome much of its abuse.

Mind abused dog will be 'off' for the rest of its life, it requires a lot of patience, love and more attention to keep the dog in a 'safe place' mentally and emotionally.

If you work 10 hours a day, give the dog up for adoption to someone who can spend more time with the dog. Special needs dogs usually require more human time.

The Mouse used to growl whenever my sister's dogs would climb up on the bed if she was already under the covers. Maggie would get mad and growl and let them know,"Hey! I'm under here! Watch it!"

Only a scared little rat type dog would do that, don't tell me its a rottweiler, because if it is then it needs to see a dog shrink.

I always thought, and am sure, the dog dreams of pleasant things when he "runs" and "barks" (high and quiet)... Like playing with a beautiful bitch or haunting a rabbit etc...

I wish i knew what my dog is dreaming.

i got a black & tan coonhound. sometimes he has a dream where he is running and probably killing something. his feet twitch and he growls. its funny to grab him and shake him awake cause it freaks him out. i have to be careful because he tries to bite the hell out of me, which is unlike him.

either leave your dog alone when its asleep, or if you're like me and love terrorizing your pets (lol not in mean terrible ways), be careful.

I doubt this too, I think my dog's dreams are generally pleasant. She even wags her tail while dreaming sometimes, emitting muted and rapid "whoofs" that sounds exactly like laughter (which it isn't of course). If she is awakened by us for some reason she just wags the tip of her tail and wants to cuddle.

On OP's question, my dog has actually snapped and growled at me once when she was younger, when I woke her up. She faced the immediate consequences of me growling a firm "NO" while taking her forcefully by the neck and claiming her sleeping place for myself. She never did that again, instant learning occurred.

I guess this is part of a dominance testing behavior that can happen with dogs of all sizes. It goes without saying that it should never be accepted as "normal grumpy behavior" (dogs are no humans to begin with), and cannot by any circumstance be accepted from a large potentially dangerous breed. Just deal with it with a firm and loving hand.

Let sleeping dogs lie!

Like they said above --
Let sleeping dogs lie.

Why do you feel the need to wake him up?
Give him his own protected space away from people and children. I'm hoping he isn't a large dog.

Of course, I'm assuming he doesn't bite at all when he is awake.

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I'm thinking he had probs as a puppy. Think about it. Puppies sleep all cuddled in piles. Lots of dogs love to cuddle when they sleep. Mine sneaks into bed to cuddle. But, I've had him since he was a pup.

Last Edited by Enaid on 06/23/2010 07:58 AM

my hound is pretty laid back. i have a rule... if i get bitten as a result of fucking around with him when he's trying to sleep, its on me. i dont act pissed at him (black & tans are weird.

they're bred with a real real high pain threshhold so they can hunt in thick brush. i pull big briars out of mine's head every day when he comes home. but they're emotionally sensitive as hell. i can scold him for something, he pouts for 2 days. if i scold him really bad, the fucker will actually fake an injury and limp around until i calm down. lol. if you ever want to experience true passive-aggressive behavior, get yourself a coonhound.

If the dogs body language is submissive (non aggressive) afterward then I would not worry about it. You startled him, and he growled or snapped. If once he saw it was you, he snapped out of it, nothing is wrong.

lol

Yeah, i know i do. :ankle_bite:

My female small dog just growls I just say her name an pet her till she decides to get up just like a kid she don't like to get up right away. Just talk to your dog till he/she wags his tail then pet him/her. My mother in law had to do that with her dog when he got old he just didn't want to move to fast in the mornings.

This happened to me twice this week. Had the dog since 3/2012 and never happened. It sounds weird but she did get into horror movies both times. Been watching this movie genre for the last couple weeks. She gets startled when the loud noise and bass hits. First time was a 5 second cujo to the face reaction. Thankfully blocked her and let her realize her surroundings. Last night she did get two punctures to the arm. She's a very friendly dog but both these instances were due to her dreaming or nightmares and my natural reaction to wake up and kind of tap her with my foot to wake her up.