Advice needed please

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to ask about my parents dobermann (now I know this is the staffy site but it also has alot of experience within it too!).

My brother Ivan was staying over for the night at my mum and dads house. He and my other brother James got home at half 2 in the morning (been on stag do with local friends). James went over to Bella (dobermann) on the sofa and tried to kiss her head/stroke her generally. She responded growling and showed her teeth (I wasn't there).

My mum was already awake as the dogs had barked when they heard the gate. So she then came downstairs at which point James was still sat next to Bella, she wasn't growling at this point and seemed reassured to see my mum. Mum told James to leave Bella alone and move away from her if she ever growls, its a verbal warning that she's not comfortable as such. But also moved Bella to her bed.

She's not done this before although James never comes over late at night (Ivan always stays over when he's up from the south).

Should my parents be overly worried? She doesn't do this any other time during the day etc. And its an event which was completely out of routine which we can aoid happening in the future.

So it was at night time, they'd been to a stag do (which I'm guessing involved alcohol), and he went into Bella's personal space. I think those factors are what caused the growl.

With it being night time, she may have been more protective over your mum. The protectiveness would probably have escalated when she heard the gate, so she would have been on edge. When your brother came over to her, she may have been uneasy if he'd been drinking - not that he'd hurt her, of course, but a lot of dogs just don't understand it.

If she was already uneasy, she might have felt threatened or uncomfortable by the approach. In my opinion, I don't think it was aggression - just a nervous dog warning him to stay away, as she wasn't comfortable with him.

So no, I don't think there's reason for your parents to worry about it.

Thank you. And yep they'd had a few drinks for sure.

Ah, there you go then! Don't worry, Dempsey's not comfortable around people who've been drinking either.

Echo what Eleanor has said, don't think need to worry
The old phrase "Let sleeping dogs lie"  

Sounds like the dog was in protective mode with it being night time and everyone else had gone to bed.

Thank you everyone So glad to have this site!