i have a question for u guys. my chi does the weirdest behavior. at night when he winds down he becomes very very crabby. he starts to growl if u touch him while hes laying down and while he grows he starts kissing u. never snipps at us but has a very aggressive behavior. cant help but laugh at him cause he sounds like a little car engine trying to rev up while hes licking your face. i dont get it. hes also very protective too when company comes over. i know we spoiled him to much in early stages. hes a male,6 pounder, thats a little over a year old. he sleeps with us in bed too. cause were big push overs and didnt like him whinning by the bed and felt bad. plus we love to cuddle with him. what can we do except yell at him to stop when he does this growling kiss thing? what caused this to happen?

Welcome to the wonderful world of chihuahuas!

My Zorro, almost 4 years old, also doesn't like to be messed with when he's sleepy. He growls and fusses when I move him while we're sleeping. He also sleeps with my husband and me; well to be accurate he sleeps with me.

My husband moves too much for Zorro, and if he's being disturbed too much he'll do that growling thing. If you actually wake him up he'll snort or kinda grunt at you and move somewhere else to go back to sleep. He's VERY opinionated.

As for this being an aggressive behavior I would say no. Well with Zorro, it's just his way of saying, "Don't do that!" Could be that your baby is that way too. Zorro also makes that same sound when he's playing/wrestling with my husband. He wrestles with Brian, but only wants to snuggle and kiss on me. It's like Brian's his playmate, and I'm his snuggle partner. And I suppose Zorro would say that we all know you don't mix those two together. LOL.

As for protective of you with company, I have a little girl, Peca, who belongs only to me. She's Zorro's daughter. She refuses to even let my husband touch her unless she's sitting on my lap. She gets all anxious when he tries to pick her up.

And as far as company, she's like that just isn't happening! I've gotten to where I now put her in "Our room" as I call it so she can snuggle in our bed and smell me. She sleeps with my husband and me too, and just freaks out if there's a door closed between her and me. She even has to go to little girl's room with me. I just can't stand to hear her cry and carry on.

I guess you could say I spoil my babies in the worst way ever. I told Brian that now that I'm working again (I was out of work due to health issues for a while) my main goal was to get a fence for my "children." And I buy their favorite dog food for them, because they deserve it you know. We even have doggie doors for them so they can go out and come in as they please. I guess we're just "dog" people, but maybe we're "pet" people cause we have two cats too. Oh well....all these words to say I don't think your baby is abnormal unless mine is too.

I hope you enjoy many years of bliss and love with your young one!

In Christ,

Crys

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Love,
Torie, Binki, Zorro, Nieva, Peca, Bitsy, Grande, and Crys aka "Mommy"

I dont think there is anything bad about wanting to spoil your dogs, but i do think you should stop the growling when you touch him.
Darla has started to do this when she is sleeping on my lap and i have to get up.
I firmly say no and dont show any fear cause that could lead to being nipped in the future.
I keep touching her and hold her when she looks like she may snap so she knows i am not scared of her.
They do still have to know who is boss without being nasty of course.
I love both my girls and give lots of praise and love, but they also know when i am not happy at something they have done like that, and then they want to please.

I just think even little things can escalate in the future once they are set in their ways and think it's ok.
Just my opinion.
Oh and i have noticed an improvement in Darla's grouchy sessions since i stand my ground, lol

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Start "NILIF" Nothing in life is free now before it gets worse. You can google the training program. Basically it is a rewards system where he has to do something for you before you allow him to do things as such as get on the couch, get on the bed, eat, etc... This is a way to gain your pack order with him as you are losing pack leadership over him and it WILL get worse if you do nip it in the bud now. There is nothing wrong with spoiling them but you have to maintain control

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The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten....

Charlie does exactly the same! He doesnt growl any other time, but sleeps on my dressing gown on the bed and once he has settled for the night if you touch him or speak to him he growls. He also kisses you at the same time. I dont see it as aggression, just that he is saying go away but kissing you to say sorry at the same time. We laugh at him.

Most behaviorists will say that if you have any aggression issues at all (and yes, growling is aggression) the dog should NOT be allowed to sleep with you. That totally erases the pack order. Dogs don't see sleeping in bed with us the same way we do. It elevates them to our equals.

If you have a dog with no aggressive tendencies, there's no problem. But a dog that growls (whether he's licking you or not) is confused about his place in the pack order and putting him in bed with the "alpha" doesn't make sense to them. It certainly can and does accelerate aggression and a dog bite could very well be in the future next time you go to move him and he doesn't feel like moving.

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

Bella does the same thing. When she gets sleepy she gets crabby and will growl if you mess with her. When I'm tired, I don't like to be messed with.

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Amanda and Bella

I don't like to be messed with if I'm sleepy either. I never thought of it that way. I'm so glad to hear that other Chi's that do the same thing as Zorro, and that other people agree with me that he's not showing aggression. Well, have a nice afternoon.

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Love,
Torie, Binki, Zorro, Nieva, Peca, Bitsy, Grande, and Crys aka "Mommy"