Grumpy, snappy puppy when he is tired - advice please

Hello,
this is a new problem for me as far as having a puppy goes. Ted, our 14 week old Border terrier is an absolute joy for 99.9% of the time and behaves in a very typical manner.

However, every single evening he growls at anyone who touches him when he is in his bed and he has snapped at both my dh on a couple of occasions. We have no need to bother him except for when we go to bed and we would like Ted to go outside to relieve himself before we all settle for the night. Sometimes Ted will fall asleep by about 9pm and we go to bed between 11 and 12pm so he often has quite a full bladder by then. He refuses to get up or walk and so we often pick him up and carry him outside where he then wees. I can reduce his grumpiness by taking a long time to gently wake him up and offer him treats to make him get up but am I setting us up for a life time of this?

Is this a terrier characteristic? to be so grumpy when tired?
I am worried that one of my children (or anyone else) could get bitten if they ever went to stroke him when he is asleep. They are told to leave him alone when he wants to rest anyway but I am still unhappy that he behaves like this when tired. I am hoping he will grow out of it but is that a possibility?

When fully awake I have never heard him growl at anything (other than one guest who swooped down on him far too quickly on his week day with us); and once he is awake enough in the night (ie after a wee) he is also fine to be touched or picked up and will quickly go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

I have waffled rather, sorry for that. Dh is now referring to Ted as "your dog" rather than "the dog or our dog" as he says he does not want to live with a grumpy terrier. Any tips or advice?

I`m just wondering why he`s so tired?
What do you think is making him so weary?

I do not think he is over-tired per se, but once he enters a state of deep sleep he is reactive before he knows where he is I think.
Ted gets 2 or 3 walks a day in the fields by our house. These last for 10-20 minutes and he runs about for about half of that. He plays ball a few times a day for a couple of minutes at a time, plays with the cat and generally zooms around the garden as he wishes. He often comes out in the car for short rides and on some days he'll have a half hour play-date with a friends dog. I do not think he gets exhausted.

One of my terriers is just like Ted. Jack is 8 years old and gets very upset if he's disturbed when asleep......growling, baring teeth.
However he has an injury to his leg, which happened when he was a pup but still gives him trouble/pain now.
We've put the growling down to his ''survival instinct''.
He's never bitten, seems more like 'stay away in case you hurt my leg'.

I remember hearing (many years ago now) that sometimes the terrier breeds can react by instinct first and common-sense later, especially if approached from above because it stimulates their genetic memory of dealing with foxes and badgers etc. This was given as a reason for a friend's JRT being snappy if surprised by people by the trainer who was consulted. It made some sense to me at the time.

I hope that Ted is not in any pain. However, he had his 2nd puppy jab about 10 days ago and has since been very very itchy again. The vet gave him a clean bill of health and declared him flea free too.

Chloe, my 3 year old Tibbie gets very grumpy and snappy if she's woken up in the evening .... mind you she's always full of apologies when she realises it's only me!

With her though I'm pretty sure it's not a case of being overtired from too much exercise but rather that because Tibbies were originally breed as watchdogs, she rarely sleeps during the day, so by night time she's tired from a long days "work" and is ready for a good nights sleep.

The trouble is as well as being a brilliant watchdog she's also an excellent time keeper and if I don't go to bed at my normal time she'll plonk herself in front of me and glare. If I'm not up by my usual time of 8am she'll bark in my ear and jump on my head ..... no peace for the wicked?

dogs who snap at humans ,when there woken up,is a problem, usually cured with basic training.there is some sence of no respect.one of my foster dogs was rally bad for this.after basic training .the dog sees whos in charge and learns boundries.iv got pit bulls whom i cant allow this type of behaviour.so think of your dog as a dog who could do serious damage, its all in your attitude and how the dog sees you.be the boss and take a firm stance on this ..dont forget to reward for better behaviour.

Try waking him up with a sausage.
That might change his attitude.

I too think that there is something not right in the 'human - dog relationship'.

I don't think that a puppy should believe that it is ok for him to growl at people. Definitely some relationship restructuring needed.

Is he asleep when you first approach? If so, wake him up with your voice first.

It sounds to me, from your description, he's being startled out of his sleep rather than guarding his space???

However, if he's snapping whilst he is awake then some remedial work may need to be carried out.