Another One On Odd Behaviour, Or Perhaps It's Normal Options

[Jenny.Wren]

Say Ellie is laying on my bed, all comfy and snugly , I then get into bed and with the movement, she gets off – quite abruptly too. Or if she gets on the bed in the night and I move an arm or leg or god forbid turnover , she gets off again. She never used to do this when she first came to me

She will also move from where she’s resting if Sam settles too close to her. Does she just like her own space?

She’s always happy to come to me for attention and cuddles, I just dont get why she leaps away in the other circumstances.

[rynkybrown]

How old is Ellie?

Spider went a bit sensitive at the start of his arthritis

[muttlover2]

My dog does this. I think he gets the hump if he's disturbed from a light sleep and issues a terrifying growl and moves off - not totally with it.

he always lies touching and then the slightest move of my foot and it sets him off.

It might be more that she's a little tense or something. I personally don't worry about it with my dog - he's not aggressive in the least and his loud growling is just a complaint and to tell you he's there. What he wants is for us to lie there together blissfull - with me like a ramrod not moving a muscle. Well it aint happening!

[coinsky]

I posted in my Shilah thread that he does the exact same thing. Very occasionally he won't move when I get on the bed but usually he does.

Having thought about it some more, my last GSD did the same thing from a puppy. Hated to be touched at all by another dog when he was lying down, he wouldn't leap up but he would growl if a dog touched a hair on his tail..lol He was like that all his life and didn't mellow until about age 14.

Probably like people, some dogs like physical contact and some don't?

[Dalsmum]

Murphy is the same- he gets up and moves if you brush him with your feet when he is lying on the floor beside your chair.

He even grumps and moves away at training if a dog as much as lightly touches him.

Everybody accepts 'it's just Murphy, he doesn't like being touched'.

Cuddles and strokes are quite acceptable.

[muttlover2]

I was told at a recent BC talk at dogs trust that bcs can be quite oversensitive to touch and some get too oversensitve . I think with my dog he can startle if he's half asleep. Perhaps she is more sensitive to touch than your other dog and Shy is the same. Mine is that way. He didn't used to be that into strokes and didn't like certain parts of him touched at all when we got him. But he is really good and handlable now. He likes contact and sometimes asks for strokes and tickles. I still think his ideal is touching for contact but me ramrod and not moving and him going to sleep.

[Jenny.Wren]

thanks for the replies. Looks like it's not an unusual behaviour then. She's so funny.....sometimes if I'm sitting on the floor, she comes up to me and sticks her head under my arm for attention or she happily rolls over for strokes and cuddles, then last night, she was cuddled up to me on the sofa in and out of sleep, then I move my leg and that's it, she leaps off No sounds or growls, just moves, funny girl

[rosiemongrel]

then last night, she was cuddled up to me on the sofa in and out of sleep, then I move my leg and that's it, she leaps off No sounds or growls, just moves, funny girl

Barney is like that. He LOVES bodily contact, the closer the better. He will jump into bed with us, squish himself as close to us as possible, making sure that as much of his body touches us as possible. Then he falls asleep like that. If we then dare to move a leg or rotate our hips he leaps up and goes away. You cannot ever persuade him to stay, it's like he says "You've had your chance for a cuddle, hoomin, and you blew it! -- I'm off." Then he walks off and goes to sleep in his own bed. No grumbling or growling, he doesn't even look startled or upset, he is just very business-like and determined that he has to leave, NOW, because you dared to shift your position .

[T-DOG]

My collie girls like their own space to sleep so its not unusual. Diva will lie upstairs on her own, usually in the bathroom or spare bedroom, then at bedtime when I go upstairs with the others, she often goes back downstairs to sleep on her own.
She usually comes back up when its time to get up and jumps on my bed for a cuddle, but she definately likes her own space when she's sleeping

[celia]

About the over sensitivity aspect.
A long time ago I was researching something and found out that the size of the aperture ,or window, in which the nerves pass through the spinal column can vary in dogs, and presumably in everything with a spine. If the aperture is either too big or too small, I think it is too small but don't quote me on that, anyway if it is too, call it ,small then the animal will have a propensity to be overly sensitive to pain and also tickling type things.
My Barney has a very low pain threshold and is also overly sensitive to skin tickling , the up side is he adores being brushed and fussed, the downside is he screams if he is almost nearly hurt (eg squatting in long grass to do a poo, the time a twig snapped beneath his paws, and the time some honeysuckle got tangled up across his wrists )and leaps if you move when close to him as if you have really barged into him. It is as if you have electrocuted him by moving.
My Beth however has a high pain threshold and grumps if you shift about because she is the queen of all the beds in the world.
This is possibly not relevant ,but the fact that there is a physical reason for this over sensitivity interested me.

[nikirushka]

That is very interesting celia, thanks for that


Raine will leap off if I move sometimes but with her it is totally to do with her issues - she'll only do it if I touch her tail or back feet/back of her back legs accidentally because she is ubser sensitive about being touched and handled round there. She's ok about it if she knows it's going to happen, but if she's snoozing in bed and I do it when I move she just has a mini panic and runs off. She's fine once she's off, it's just that momentary panic.

On the flipside Linc won't move unless I tell him 'come on, shift' and tap his side twice - otherwise he does what Remy also does and just uses any movement on my part as an opportunity to get closer/warmer

[Jenny.Wren]

Barney is like that. He LOVES bodily contact, the closer the better. He will jump into bed with us, squish himself as close to us as possible, making sure that as much of his body touches us as possible. Then he falls asleep like that. If we then dare to move a leg or rotate our hips he leaps up and goes away. You cannot ever persuade him to stay, it's like he says "You've had your chance for a cuddle, hoomin, and you blew it! -- I'm off." Then he walks off and goes to sleep in his own bed. No grumbling or growling, he doesn't even look startled or upset, he is just very business-like and determined that he has to leave, NOW, because you dared to shift your position .

OMG - you have just described Ellie word for word

Sometimes I lay in bed like a rock, daring not to move - it's madness

sometimes, she's so close to me that her face can share the same pillow, then I move my arm and that's it, it's like I've blown my chance - women eh?

[Susieh]

I wish Diz would get off my bed when I moved! More like I want to move and lie down elsewhere when she's kicked me in the belly for the 4th time that night

My first dog sounds like Ellie though. She would always jump up for a cuddle and fall asleep happily, but slightest movement and she'd be off. I always used to try and not move all night too - ridiculous

[EmCHammer]

Tekno used to very much like his own space in relation to other dogs, if it was of his making, he would quite happily tromple over and lay on the other dogs but if they came to lay near him when he was tired or sleeping (including puds) he would growl and move away.

Since he has been a bit better from being ill he is much better at sharing space and they will curl up together now (he won't seek it out but if it happens and puds comes over) he happy to nestle up together.

[GOTTZ'S]

My Collie x is the same, when I am sitting on the sofa he lays as close to my feet as possible but if my foot were to touch him he's off. He doesn't run away, just gives me the look and wanders off to his own bed.
He is the same with other dogs. He always lived as an only dog until I had him at 11 years old, he loves Winnie but he doesn't like physical contact. When he is laying down Winnie hovers over him for ages trying to work out how to lay close without touching him but if she doesn't judge it right it he grumbles and goes off, poor Winnie just wants a cuddle. I put it down to him being a grumpy old man