Sofa Guarding: A Common Post-Adoption Behaviour

There is nothing more exciting, and nerve-wracking, than taking your newly adopted greyhound home.  

You  have planned and prepared, envisioned all the adventures and fun things  you’ll be doing together and how great it is going to be to snuggle up  with them on the sofa and watch a movie of an evening…

So,  what happens when that vision comes crashing down to the reality when  your newly adopted hound starts growling, potentially even snapping, at  you anytime you approach it on the sofa?  Sadly, in most cases, it is  assumed that the dog is aggressive, dominant, resource guarding, and no  longer appropriate for the home.  They are then swiftly returned to the  rehoming centre.

But, is it what  it seems?  No, it’s not.  Defensive behaviours like these, often  perceived as aggression and dominance, can occur in the initial weeks of  taking a new hound home.  Most commonly in relation to the sofa!

While  it can be scary, the behaviour is far from being genuinely aggressive,  and has nothing to do with dominance.  Growling is a warning, a way of  creating space between the dog and what it is that they’re uncomfortable  with AKA the human approaching them or unceremoniously plonking  themselves down next to them.

Many points of body language will have been missed on the approach, leading the dog to vocalise their discomfort.

This  behaviour can escalate to air snapping and is rarely done with the  intention of actually making contact and biting.  It is a defensive  behaviour to further communicate discomfort and a need for space.  If  the dog feels the need to escalate things that far, there are likely  other factors at play.

But why does it happen at all?  

Yes,  the behaviour is a form of resource guarding, but it does not mean the  dog is predisposed to the behaviour in other situations or in life  moving forward.  This behaviour is most often situational to the  settling in period, and is a reaction rooted in stress, anxiety, and  lack of trust with the hound’s adoptive family.  

If we look at the situation from the dog’s perspective for a moment, it’ll all become clear.

During  their racing careers, while they get a lot of human interaction, it is  primarily outside of their kennel.  They have very routine lifestyles,  with set feeding and exercise times, always knowing when the humans (who  they see every day) will be coming in and out.  Most importantly they  have undisturbed sleep in their private beds during the day, and  particularly of an evening and overnight when the humans are nowhere to  be seen!  
They spend their formative years in kennel  environment, and for some, they do not retire into homes until they are  past five years old.

So, to  them, everything in their kennel, or that enters their kennel, belongs  to them.  It’s all they know.  They have never been taught ‘no’ or  boundaries because they haven’t needed to know them.  Their bed is their  bed.

When that hound, that has  only ever known that environment, routine, and private space, retires  into a home it can be hugely overwhelming.  It’s a massive change for  them, and where they previously had a private living space to  themselves, they are now having to share everything…all the time!

They  don’t know the first thing about living in a home, and the humans that  they are living with are complete strangers!  They don’t want you being  all up in their grill, especially when they’re comfortable in what they  have established to be their safe space, aka the sofa.  Hence the  guarding behaviours!  They are asking for space.

To  put it another way, say you’ve decided to rent out your spare room and  have gotten yourself a lodger!  You barely know them, they’ve literally  only just moved in, and they’re lying on the sofa watching a film.   You’re not going to want to go up to this person, shove their legs out  the way and settle in next to them!  
Apart from it  being a very weird violation of their personal space, you’re assuming  that they want that kind of contact.  There is no previous relationship  between you, and there is no foundation of trust there either.  You  don’t know each other’s boundaries or preferences yet, so, you go sit on  one of the other chair.  You co-exist in the same space respectfully  until you get to know each other better.

It’s exactly the same thing with a new dog.

Sofa  guarding is often a very short-lived behaviour that is part of the  settling in process.  It can come and go depending on the situation,  such as times of increased stress when visitors come over or you may  find that these behaviours only show of an evening.  The latter  coinciding with the time they would typically be bedded down in the  kennel environment, and that they have no human contact or disturbance  after that time, and so just want to be left in peace.

However, with some simple steps and boundaries, it often remedies itself quite quickly.

One  of the easiest ways to prevent sofa guarding, is that the dog is not  allowed on the sofa.  It doesn’t have to be forever, even just for those  initial 2-3 weeks when the dog is decompressing, settling in, learning  their new life, routine, and boundaries.  

But  it must be universally understood by everyone in the home.  It can’t be  that sometimes they’re allowed on and other times not, this creates  mixed messages and confuses the dog.  Manage the household so that the  dog is not able to get up on the furniture unawares.  If they do, this  reinforces that it’s ok to sit on the furniture – you want to be able to  block this from happening.

Only  when you are ready, and you have a strong foundational trust with your  dog, which goes both ways, you can start allowing them access to the  sofa.  Not only does this prevent sofa guarding, but it also prevents  sleep startle incidents in those early days that could lead on to a more  long-term issue.

When you are  allowing your dog onto the sofa, you want to teach them ‘off’ or ‘down’.   This can be done very simply by using high value treats, or if they  are particularly food motivated, their normal kibble.  Every time they  get off the sofa, say the word and reward them with a treat.  This  establishes a clear and positive association with getting off the sofa,  while building a positive relationship with you as the owner.

You  may find the dog only sofa guards toward certain members of the family,  and this is through a lack of trust or from a negative association with  the person such as being forced off the sofa or told off.

Ensure  that each member of the family is involved in the dog’s day to day  care, routine, play time and training.  This prevents a reliance on, and  preferential treatment, for the primary care giver, and creates a  universally positive relationship with everyone in the home.  

Never  physically force the dog off the sofa, try to pick them up to put them  on the floor, or otherwise try to punish or dominate them.  It can be  very dangerous, as your behaviour will be perceived as a threat, leading  to more serious behavioural responses either immediately or down the  line.

At the end of the day, dogs  get on the sofa for the same reason we do…they’re comfortable!  It has  nothing to do with dominance, and while some breeds are predisposed to  guarding behaviours throughout their lives, it is quite uncommon in  greyhounds.  

Whether you want  your dog on the furniture or not, always make sure they have access to a  comfortable, warm dog bed (or beds), and that the bed(s) are a  human-free zone where they can truly relax.  Especially after dark!
You  can further reinforce their beds as their safe space and preferred  sleeping area by positively reinforcing the dog for choosing to lay in  their beds by giving them treats when they do so!