Congratulations on your new adopted puppy!

I read that a dog awoken by touch may snap out of instinct

Yeah, some dogs do that, especially when they are touched during a deep sleep. I have experienced that with my Shiba Inu. He was sleeping by my feet, and I accidentally woke him up. He air snapped because he thought he was under threat. I imagine that is where the saying “Let sleeping dogs lie” comes from.

Now, I usually get him to go to sleep in his own bed. He also has his own crate where he can go to when he does not want to be disturbed. In addition, I make sure he is aware of me before handling him, so that he is not startled awake. Handling desensitization exercises are also helpful with him.
http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging

I reached my hand in to grab it and again, without a growl or any warning she bite me hard enough to draw blood.

That sounds like resource guarding. As described above, most dogs guard resources from people because they have learned to associate people coming or grabbing with the loss of their stuff. When they use aggression, people tend to back away, which reinforces the aggressive behavior.
http://shibashake.com/dog/resource-guarding-shiba-inu

For a dog that is causing puncture wounds, it is best to contact a professional trainer. A good trainer can observe the dog in real time and read his body language accurately. In this way, he/she can identify what are the triggers that are causing the aggression, and how to best retrain the behavior.

With my own dogs, I try to teach them the following-
People coming near them and taking their stuff away = They get more stuff in return

- I teach them the Drop and Leave-It commands which helps me to communicate with them, and teaches them to give me objects willingly.
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding#drop
http://thedoginc.com/dog-eating-poop#leave-it

- I play the object-exchange game with them so they learn that giving up an object, does not mean it is gone forever. In fact, they usually get it back with more stuff. I describe the object exchange game in the article above.

- I try to show them that they get the most resources by working and cooperating with me (Nothing in Life is Free program). I have rules, but I make sure I am consistent and fair with those rules.

- Most of all, I try to set them up for success and try not to place them in situations where they feel compelled to use aggression, to protect themselves or to protect their resources.

I just (3 days ago) adopted a 5 month old yorkie havanese x from a young girl who had her as a “boob broach.” Never been on leash, not dog socialized (other dog in the house was an agressive poodle) or socialized with children.

In the three days she has been around my three year old non stop and my four year old medium sized rescue special dog (who is pretty dis interested in her.) On day one while wiping her eyes (runny) she growled and snapped. I held her mouth closed and said “no” as she growled. Within the day I was able to wipe whenever I wanted. So real progress.

She has spent hours at the farm, dog parks, and at home in three days. My problem is possible kennal agression. She is curious, out going, submissive, and affectionate all day, but when she is cranky and tired at the end, she will growl or bite if you touch her where she is trying to nap. My son reached in her kennal today when I wasn’t looking (three days of lots of new things) and, without warning, she snapped at him hard enough to give him a small puncture wound. I read that a dog awoken by touch may snap out of instinct, so I let it slide. When he cried she was beside herself trying to lick him better.

However, same evening, she was playing under a blanket on the couch when I heard her munching on something edible. I reached my hand in to grab it and again, without a growl or any warning she bite me hard enough to draw blood. I grabbed her muzzle and said no.

So in one day two bites. She is tired and having full days of new things, but she growled from the very beginning when it came to her bed. Wondering if you have any advice on dealing with kennal agression. I know I may have surprised her, but I can’t have her biting. Period.

Any advice?

So two hard bites not in play in one day.

Congratulations on your new puppy!

Both my Sibes are very food focused as well, so they always get excited during meal times. I always make sure that all my dogs are calm and in a down position before I do any food preparation. If they get up, then I no-mark (Ack-ack) and stop preparing the food. Once puppy is calm, I ask for a Down. If puppy does a Down, then I go back to preparing her food.

In this way puppy learns that -
calm and Down position = food preparation continues and food comes soon
jumping = food preparation stops and no food

I also make all my dogs work for their food either through handling exercises, bite inhibition exercises, or obedience training during the day. Whatever is left over, I put in interactive food toys so they must work for that as well. Interactive food toys also help control the speed of eating.

Hugs to Thor! Would love to see pictures if you have some up.

From working with my own dogs it seems that they guard resources not so much because of dominance/alpha, but because they have learned two things-
1. People coming near them means that their stuff gets taken away.
2. Using aggression gets people to back away, which means that they get to keep their stuff.
Shiba Inu Sephy’s Early Resource Guarding Issues.

Dogs may also guard resources from other dogs for the same reasons. Therefore, to teach my dogs not to guard resources with each other at home, I do the following -
1. “No stealing” policy. I do not allow them to steal from each other. When one tries to steal, I no-mark the behavior (Ack-ack) and body block them away. Very rarely, one of them will manage to sneak something off, in which case, the thief goes to timeout (i.e., loses his freedom), and loses what he stole. The victim (if he remains calm) gets the resource returned with an added bonus. This also teaches them that I enforce the “No stealing” rule, and they do not have to do it themselves.

2. I hand out all resources. I teach them that I hand out all resources and if there are any conflicts over resources, I will deal with it. When they have disagreements, they will usually let me know by vocalizing, and I will resolve the matter for them in a fair and consistent way.

3. Set them up for success. I try to always set them up for success. There are certain things that are very high priority, such as bully sticks. When I give those out, they each work on their own stick in a separate area. In this way, they won’t be tempted to steal, and they can work on their bully stick in peace. Similarly, when I am not around to supervise, I do not leave any high priority objects or food items lying around.

Finally I make sure to reward my dogs well for working together and staying calm together. In this way, they learn that by cooperating, they get the most stuff.

Here is more on what I do to keep the peace at home with my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

For dog-to-dog aggression during walks, I did a fair amount of desensitization exercises with my Shiba Inu. I also make sure to always create enough space, and to make dog-to-dog encounters neutral and calm.

I start desensitization exercises slowly, with a calm dog that is not doing anything. Once Sephy is comfortable with that, I very slowly increase the challenge, for example, by putting a very low priority item close to the other dog, etc. Here is more on dog-to-dog desensitization-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

As you say, it is surprising that she would suddenly vocalize. Has anything changed in her routine or in the routine of her family? Sometimes, it could also be triggered by physical discomfort.

Big hugs to your furry pack and let us know how it goes.

You have some very useful information that I will be putting to good use! Our Am. Bulldog/Boxer/Mastiff mix just celebrated her first birthday and has not EVER in the past year shown food or toy aggression towards us or other animals (we also have a Jack Russel & black cat). She is fed twice a day, is given treats regularly (when being a good girl; letting us know she has to ‘go’ by ringing the bells hung on the back door, sharing toys, coming when called, walking well on the leash-still in training for that one, etc.) She takes the treats ever so gently!

However just the other night she showed food aggression towards me when eating and all I did was stroke her back once in passing(something I have been doing all along)! And all it was, was a growl, but one of those deep down ‘don’t mess with me’ ones – no teeth showing or snarled lip that I could see. You could have knocked me over with a feather upon hearing it.

Hoping my response was in the right direction; With authority told her ‘NO’ and used my legs and body weight to shift her away from her food, which she allowed me to do with no problem. At the same time I picked up her bowl and removed it. I puttered around the kitchen for about 5 min. then proceeded to make her sit and wait while I put down her bowl again. Once she had permission, she started eating, I repeated the back stroke – getting a half hearted growl – so I repeated again. Third time was the charm; I even sat next to her petting her the entire time – on her back, back legs, neck, head and belly.

I would love to say this one time ‘fixed’ it – but am continuing to show her there is no need for her food aggression.

Any other time she is a loving, kissing, snuggling, 75 pounds of solid muscle mass just waiting to love and be loved – so I am sure you can see why I want to nip this in the bud.

There are also other factors that can affect a dog’s mood, his level of tolerance, and how he reacts to others. When my Shiba is in a bad mood, he is a lot less tolerant, and is more forceful at warning puppy Lara away. Other times, he is happy to play and lie down next to her.

In many ways, this reminds me of when I was young. Sometimes, I was willing to share my coloring book with my brother. But when I was in a bad mood, I didn’t want him coming near any of my stuff.

I always step in and stop any guarding behavior, before it escalates. This teaches the dogs that guarding is not acceptable, no matter the circumstance. By the same token, when I see that Shiba is in a bad mood, I make sure the Lara does not go over and bother him.