growling behavior while on bed

Question
My newly aquired(a rescue) female Rott. has basic taining, playful, smart. She growls a low growl at me when I touch her while she has food or is lying on her bed.We have had her about 2 wks and this behavior does not seem to be getting better as she gets more acclamated to our home. She is kept primarily indoors and is around our family almost constantly. Is this normal for a dog to want to be left alone while sleeping? We just lost our male to cancer but I could put my hands anywhere on him anytime with no growling  ever.

Answer
Hi Karen,

While it is certainly normal for MANY dogs to want to be left alone while sleeping (don't you remember the old saying "let sleeping dogs lie"?)and while you don't say how old your new dog is, the fact that she growls when you touch her while she has food is of great concern. As with every rescue, you propbably do not know her history.  Were there children who tormented her while she ate or slept? Is she sore and that's why she wants to be left alone while sleeping? Has she had any training?

Growling at you while she has food probably indicates that she is resource guarding her food. She may in fact be resource guarding her bed, I don't know since I haven't met her.  However, I would urgently recommend to you to locate a positive trainer in your area who has experience with dogs who resource guard. There are many exercises you can do with her to teach her that humans approaching her food is actually a good thing and nothing to worry about. One such exercise is to walk over to her food and drop something even more delicious into her bowl than what she is currently eating. I would be very cautious about touching her until you begin a program to teach her that you are safe. Otherwise, someone just may get bitten.

Good luck, I think this can be worked out with the correct professional help.

Jaz