Dutch Shepherd Forum

Sacha growls at me when I tell her to get off the bed or come close to the bed. When she growls I make her get down and sit/stay. I've been reading posts and was wondering if she was just talking to me, but she looks aggressive. Usually, her "discussions" with me are of a nonaggressive sort...any suggestions?

There should be no talking back when you tell Sacha to do something. The only talking I allow are the groans when scratching, or when they are happy about something. She could be telling you she is unhappy but you dont want that to escalate to her telling you she will not bet getting off of the bed. She seems to have that as her territory and wants to stay there. She should be earning that right and if she is talking back to you then she dosnt get to go on the bed until she earned it.

Yup, what she(Lisa) said. Sounds like she has decided to claim the bed, and is telling you, or warning you rather, "no, this is mine". I would definitely not allow her on the bed anymore (and anywhere else she may act like this...couch, etc), so she learns that it is YOUR bed, not hers.

She is challenging your pack leader position, and by not allowing her up on the bed, you are establishing rules and limits, without having the challenge for "top dog" that could escalate into a bite.

One day, once she fully respects you, you may be able to allow her on the bed again, but she needs to earn it, like Lisa said.

How old is she? My last Mal went through a testing phase when she was about a year old. She started getting on the couch and would growl at me when I tried to tell her to get off or push her off. I just stayed firm with her and made her get down. I used a strong firm voice which also seemed to help. After a few times of her not "winning" she stopped doing it.

Mine is a big talker and it's very easy to tell when he's growling and when he's just trying to tell me something. Either way, he knows when to get off if he gets commanded. I would do like the others suggested and suspend all bed/furniture privileges until your dog leans an off. I keep an agility pause table in my living room (along with a lot of other agility equipment) and it's great for doing reminder ups and offs. Sometimes I make Odin do them for his dinner or when he needs a few reminders.