OH's poodle-any advice on this behaviour?

my OH and his mum have a toy poodle (think its toy i always get muddled!) who is 6 years old.

he has some very strange behaviours, which i cant work out why he does them. OHs mum reckons its down to him being spoiled by her and him getting away with everything, but i dont think this is it, because he can be quite obedient, and he does the usual what i call "pet" things of sit, down and paw.

the thing that worries me is he growls, for no reason it seems. hes been checked over by a vet and there's nothing wrong with him in that sense, and the OHs mum says shes been doing it for as long as she can remember.

you can be stroking him, he will clamber up to you to say hello, want a fuss, then the next thing you know he starts growling for no reason it seems.
he does this when hes lay on the floor by the fire, if you walk too close or your foot goes near him he will growl. i think this is a possession thing, or personal space, as this is the best bit in the house for warmth.

he has also bitten the OHs mum, a couple of times im led to believe. he has never bit the OH (they think this is because they know the dog knows it wouldnt get away with it)

so far he hasnt growled at me, but i respect him and give him his space, let him come to me if he wants, and as a result we have had lots of fussings where hes been quite happy and brought me toys etc, and not had a growl.

the OH does wind him up sometimes, and ive told him this has to stop.
i just wondered if you could give me some advice on why he does it? and what i could do to help them? obviously im limited because he isnt my dog, although i have started walking him every day now when i can.

Shamus does this - he always has. At first we thought he was afraid. Then we figured it was arthritis. Now we think he`s just a miserable old g*t.
Sorry.
We ignore it (and him) and it stops. He does it when the other dogs charge about and disturb him as well.

see he is fine with other dogs, fine with mine, and her partners 3. hes very submissive and wouldnt ever growl at another dog unless there was a serious reason. i dont know why he does it.. i guess being more doggy than what they are it annoys me more as to why he does it

My pal's Jack Russell used to do this too. Thing was - it demanded your attention - wanted you to stroke and tickle it - and then growled at you the whole time you were doing it! Very nasty sounding growling too. She had another one - a female - who never did this.

She said she put it down to her other half constantly tormenting and 'fighting' with the male one.

I've no idea but it did it as soon as you reached for it or touched it and it was constant.

*wouldn't it be great if we could just ASK them? WHY are you doing this?

I think they are the Victor Meldrews of the Dog world.

This brings back scary memories of my grandmothers Toy Poodles. They were all like that and that was just their personality. I learnt to keep well away from them in the end.

There is growling and there is growling
Can you get more info about the biting?

When he growls when being given a fuss what else's is he doing? Hard eyes stiff body? Or still asking for a fuss?
My friends staffy cross was all growly when he was enjoying attention, but you could see he was loveing it
But he hated being groomed so often had tummy knots and he would growl and move away if you got them
Not nasty just letting you know

Mia if she is all comfy on the sofa and you move too close to her will growl
But then she will get up and go somewhere else so really its more of a grumble than a warning

Benjie growls for no reason. We put it down to nerves..

I know an EBT who does a growling/grumbling noise... I think it is actually really cute I've never heard a noise like it, and it isn't what I consider a 'growl'. He does it when you give him a fuss, and when he sees that he is about to get a treat It's like an excitable grumble

info on biting he only ever bites the OH's mum, and hes has bit her on her face before now, when he has asked for a fuss, and then suddenly just gone for her. hes very unpredictable. i know more about dogs than what they do and sometimes i cant work him out.

sooty hates being groomed, so they dont try very often, he does get clipped but he goes to the groomers, where he acts well behaved according to them.

sometimes he goes stiff, but he always asks for the fuss first, and now when he starts growling she just ignores him and puts him on the floor.

hes never been funny with me, yet im sure there is time, but when ever he comes to me for a fuss and a cuddle, he has never gone stiff, always wiggly and then brings me a toy to play fetch with.

they always say how horrible he is, but i dont see him has horrible, just a bit strange