5 month old Irish Setter puppy (playfully?) growling at us at bedtime only

Hi all!

Looking for some advice on how to get ahead of this. We have a 5 month old Irish setter puppy that has so far shown very few signs of aggression – I’d honestly say this was the only one. She is very talkative (supposedly it’s a breed thing) to begin with but is very bonded with my husband and I.

From previous dogs I have had we do not let her sleep on the bed with us as we know it can lead to behavioural issues. We do let her on the couch with us but will stop if recommended.

Essentially what has been happening is that every night at bedtime she will go out for a pee, then go to the spare room where her kennel is. She always jumps on the bed and my husband says ‘time for bed’. At that time she always rolls over and shows us her belly. However, once we try to pick her up – she will make like a moaning sound that’s not quite a growl. She doesn’t try to bite us but she will throw her head around a bit. After like a minute or so, she always goes to her kennel and right to sleep.

I just don’t know if she’s protesting sleeping in her kennel or if this is a behaviour I need to correct. Either way, advice on how to proceed is welcome and appreciated.

FYI:

She naps in her kennel and sleeps in her kennel throughout the day. My only other concern is that she may be getting too big for her kennel now and maybe that’s why this behaviour started because she has not always done this.

We are also not worried about her being injured as we can pick her up at any other point in the day and she will not react like this. It is only at bedtime!