Teacup Poodle Foot Fear

Question
Our five and a half pound teacup poodle is a terrific dog. She's super well behaved and obedient but for two odd things. One, she is a social eater who refuses to eat alone and sees eating as a game. She'll bring a piece of food from her bowl over to me and fling it in my lap, paw at it, and wait for me to insist she eat it (normally I have to almost growl at her "eat it NOW" and she'll finally growl back and eat it, looking up at me the entire time she chews, like she's showing me she's a good girl). It's clearly a game, and she knows to paw at her bowl when she's hungry and wait until I release her from a sit when I am done filling her bowl with food. If I give her a treat (one she normally devours) but then immediately leave, she will wait hours until I return home to eat it.

The other weird thing she does is she will growl (this time for real, not a game and not nice) and ocaasionally warning bite at our feet at night if our feet are under the covers and they stir her at all. Even if our foot movement pulls at the covers she's on she'll jump up and growl. I've started ordering her off the bed at night when she does this and she's not to come back up until I ask her to, but it hasn't stopped it from happening again a few nights later. Is all this pretty normal for poodles? What changed should be made?

Answer
Hello Courtney,
With the eating thing, don't give in to her game.  She will eventually eat if she is hungry enough, just wait her out.  You can put her bowl at your feet at night if she wants to eat near you, but don't do anything when she throws the food at you and ignore her when she demands that you tell her to eat.  

When she growls at you for real, you will have to hold her down in the submissive position and make her stay there for a short time until you let her up.  
Instead of letting her on the bed some of the time, keep her off the bed all the time until she will come up only when you say for her to.  When she understands that its you that will tell her when she can come up then she will respect you when you do let her up.  

I know that some Poodles will get dominate of their space and will growl and bite anything that comes into their area.  

Give this a try and let me know if you have any concerns about it.  
Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim