My dog keeps tearing up the bed sheets, he growls at me when i say ';no';?

Everytime at night i hear our 1 year old chihuahua tearing up the bedsheets while im asleep and i say no, he'd growl at me. he never growled at me until a month before when i went to go to sleep while he was on the bed, eating a treat thinking id take it. anyways, when he growled at me before when i told him no cuz he'd tear the sheets, i told him to go (to get off the bed) and he growled at me again. i was going to pick him up and put him in his dog room (we have an extra room for him) but he bit me! %26gt;.%26lt; he's usually so nice and i have no idea whats making him do this all of the sudden. my husbands mother said that the reason why he's growling is because when i take him away from our bed, it makes him think that we're abandoning him and he didnt like the thought of it? what should i do to stop him from growling at me or tearing up the sheets at night when we're asleep? its winter so i dont want our chihuahua to get cold cuz if he had his own sheet in his little bed, im afraid he'll tear that up tooMy dog keeps tearing up the bed sheets, he growls at me when i say ';no';?
It sounds like he's guarding his resources. First he guarded the treat he was eating, now he's guarding the sheets that he's claimed as his. It's a natural behavior that you can definitely work to improve. Here's a thorough, helpful explanation of resource guarding and some great tips about dealing with it:


http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resour…


http://dogstardaily.com/training/guardin…





I don't think your mother-in-law is correct. She's humanizing your dog too much. The dog is not going through some complex through process about how you must not like him because you won't let him sleep on the bed or something, don't worry about that!





Do you have the heat on in your house? You should be able to keep it pretty comfy in your house. You could even have a radiator near his sleeping area to keep him warm, if he tends to get cold. If you use a plastic crate for him, he'd be well-insulated in there, too.





If he isn't crate-trained, I think it would be wise to introduce him to crates. Crating him at night would solve the problem of him wrecking your bedsheets at night. This should help you crate train him, if you don't know how:


http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pe…





Then, when he's in the crate, he can chew on something appropriate (like a bone) and will not be able to get to your sheets while you sleep. As far as teaching him how to relax in the crate and chew on appropriate chew toys goes, these tips might help:


http://dogstardaily.com/training/errorle…








EDIT: Yikes! Please get over Cesar Millan's methods. He makes some good points, but just as many bad ones. Remember the disclaimer at the beginning if the show: don't try this at home! Please read these pages about ';alphas'; and Millan:


http://dogpublic.com/articles/article.as…


http://www.drsophiayin.com/dominance.php


http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profes…





When you grabbed him by the back of the neck, of course he growled, you threatened him and evidently had never taught him to happily accept such handling. I mean, dogs need to be specifically desensitized to rough handling:


http://dogstardaily.com/training/handlin…





He probably gave up and stopped resisting because, well, he just gave up. It's called ';learned indifference.'; He finally accepts it and gives up. It's like numbness. He isn't submitting to your control and acknowledging you as alpha, he's giving up and accepting his fate. Shutting down.





You mustn't punish him for growling at you in this case for two reasons. The first reason is that when you punish a dog for growling, you run the risk of punishing the growl out of him. A growl is not aggression -- it is a warning. And when you punish him for warning you, you end up with a dog that bites without first growling. A dog who strikes without warning is the most dangerous. Secondly, the issue is that he does not trust you with his valued possession (the sheets, for instance). Every time you punish him, you reinforce his mistrust. You're basically proving his point.My dog keeps tearing up the bed sheets, he growls at me when i say ';no';?
the best thing to do i found out is to not let your dog get on the couch or get on the bed, this fixed the problem fast.

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after a few days of doing that, i can get to my bed after my husband without my dog growling at me anymore =D or anywhere! ^^

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Dont be afraid of it. its a little dog. push it a little or something thats what i do when my dog digs. i scold and then get it off balance so it stops digging
u need obedience training.. that will most likely solve your problem
Well, you have to realize, he is a Chihuahua.





And YOU are the boss. Your Chihuahua is NOT the boss of you. When he does these things, don't give him a bone, no, you show him who's boss and he gets to sleep in the other room till he realizes he can't chew your sheets and he CAN'T growl at you.





Be firm, ';NO!'; Pick him up regardless of his reactions, but him in the room, turn off the light and close the door.





The reasoning is not that he thinks your going to take his bone (maybe?) because I'm sure you he hasn't had a bone every time he has done this. If so, take the bone away.





The reason is probably that he is guarding one of you two. Either you or his other master. Chihuahuas are attached to normally one person, and that person only. He is trying to protect them, or he just doesn't like you two at the moment and is giving you attitude.





Regardless of the reasoning, you need to put a stop to his behavior. You are boss, and if he bites you then he gits a light pat on his behind, another bite, a firm no, and a ';BAD DOG!';.





Don't hit too much or yell too much.Chihuahuas have a tendency to be nervous dogs, don't overdue it and good luck.

















p.s. another reason he acts like this is because he is a Chihuahua, to be honest they are just nasty, snotty, rude dogs.
This is dominant behavior. The dog needs to be corrected every time he shows aggression towards you or it will get worse. At 1 year old the dog should be on a leash when in the house so you can correct him instantly when you need to like when he chews stuff he's not supposed to or growls at you -hint hint-. Crating the dog when you're not awake and supervising him would be a big help. Sleeping with a 1 year old pup loose in the house is always going to end with your stuff chewed up.
maybe your dog doesnt respond well to ';no';


instead try to encourage him to come to you by using positive praise, saying things like:


- come here! (and if he turns to you get more enthusiastic), yes! now thats a good boy! (when he comes to you praise him even more) yes! what good boy! yes, you are a good boy! etc..





positive reassurance will make your dog feel good, more confident, rathe than scolding.





Maybe try removing the item he is chewing on, or keeping him out of that room.





I hope you take my advice and that it works!
This is actually a pretty easy, obvious one to answer. Your dog is the alpha, not you. Every time he growls, bites, jumps on the bed without being invited, etc., he is showing dominant behavior. This should be unacceptable. Most chihuahuas behave this way, because their owners don't treat them the same way they would treat a great dane... with control %26amp; without letting them get away with everything.





You need to watch some Cesar Milan. He explains this very well, and what to do about it. It has nothing to do with the dog feeling abandoned... he is simply being dominant because he can. You should be able to take anything away from him without him so much as looking at you sideways.





When the dog exhibits unwanted or dominant behavior, you need to make a noise the dog doesn't normally hear. They hear the word ';no'; all the time, even just during regular conversation. Try ';ah-ah!'; in a firm, low voice. Touch him on the neck %26amp; say it again if he doesn't listen. You want to snap him out of his mindset when firmly touching him on the neck. Also, take him off the bed when he behaves that way, and do NOT allow him on the bed unless he's invited.





You need to get a handle on this now before it gets worse, because I promise you, it will.
After the first growl incident your dog should have received a hard correction for the unacceptable behavior.


Then his privileges like access to the bed where you keep the bedsheets should have been restricted %26amp; put in a crate with bedding.





You should be able to take anything away from your dog without it attempting to bite.


The dog needs to be clearly taught what is acceptable behavior %26amp; have it embedded with consistent training %26amp; immediate firm corrections.





Your Chihuahua needs firm leadership %26amp; consistent obedience training. A dog with a pushy temperament needs an immediate firm collar correction for errant behavior, whereas a dog with a soft temperament may well respond to a firm no.





Implement NILF %26amp; train your dog to respect you as the person as the person who controls every aspect of his life. Good luck.





http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/…


http://thedogdude.com/using-nothing-in-l…