George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 when my dog is chewing something, like a bone or toy, and he sees another dog, he becomes aggressive, barking and growling at the other dog. He is fine with people coming near him when he's chewing, but not other dogs. I have tried taking away all 'high value' items like bones and toys when others dogs come over to play, when I take him over to my friend's house or when mine and my friend's dog play together in neutral territory, but as soon as the other dog shows interest in something eg. a stick, my dog suddenly decides he wants it and bites the other dog. This then starts a small fight between the two, and often ends up with my dog whimpering and slinking off, but he still does it. How do I stop this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 I hope that all made sense... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 Come on...Someone please help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 put it like this like a kid who has a toy then the other kid wants it. But only because someone else has it. It is called I GOTTA HAVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 But how do I stop it? He's actually hurt my friends dog doing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOE Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Sorry I cant help you there I would speak to an animal behavourist they would have an idea. I bet your dog is an only child, if so he thinks everything is his as he does not have to share with anyone normally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 He's a five and a half month old puppy and he's been like this since I got him. He is an only child but has lots of contact with other dogs, but he wasn't socialised before I got him (at ten weeks). I think he was removed from the litter at 8 weeks then sent to animal rights and rescue then up until ten weeks he only had his sister for a companion and he was the dominant one. I think that's the problem. Anyone else got any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARF_Katie Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Not sure if this helps, but there is Jean Donaldson book about it: See: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB740 Katie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachiie Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 (edited) Make sure you are supervising when the dog is playing with your friend's dog. If you notice your dog starting to get over-protective of something, REALLY get mad. Don't physically hurt it or anything, just growl at it. Get close to it's ear and say "NO!" in a really growly voice, like an older dog reprimanding it for doing something it didn't like. If he does it again, "NO!". If he keeps doing it, grab his snout (carefully) and force him to look at you, then growl "NO!". You have to teach him that being protective of things is NOT ON, and neither is hurting other dogs. ETA: You have to be dilligent. Make sure you tell him everytime he tries that it's NOT ON, if you don't do it once, he will that that's it's okay to do it. You have to show him what the rules of your pack are, and they are: share. Edited April 16, 2005 by rachiie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Leila has GOT TO HAVE IT syndrome, never plays with her toys unless there is another dog and gets cranky if the other dog tries to take it away. I have 2 dogs now with GOT TO HAVE IT syndrome, so they have to be supervised, it's kind of a catch 22, because you don't neccessarly want to interfer with the Dominant dogs ability to handle such a situation but sometimes you have to step in and it has been us stepping in in what has been sorting it out, however the dogs give up as well. We're fortunate in our situation that no one gets hurt but I still think you have to supervise until you fix the problem incase it esculates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidoney Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 I can give you ideas on what to do if it's a person he's being possessive with, but not sure about whether that would translate to it being a dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 I'll try that...But it would be hard to reprimand him before he went to attack the other dog. I've tried all the rescource guarding things that apply to people (eg, handling food bowl, trading high value items for treats etc, etc) he still does it with dogs though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidoney Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 (edited) Yeah, that's the thing, hard to get dogs to trade ... It's that he wants the item the other dog has, is that right? So having lots of items wouldn't cut it? What if you give the other dog an item in front of your dog, and then immediately pull out a much higher value item and give it to your dog or play with him with it? Or maybe play with the high value item with your dog and sometimes toss the other dog a different item? Or maybe something like play with your dog with an item, and then leave him with it and play with a different item by yourself, and somewhere in there let the other dog have an item? Or something like that? I'm brainstorming here, these ideas may be terrible, but just putting forward some possibilities. Edited April 16, 2005 by sidoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George my Doggie Posted April 16, 2005 Author Share Posted April 16, 2005 He tends to just focus on one thing and guard it, or try to get what the other dog has, so I don't think that would work... Maybe if I could focus his attention on something more interesting like a game while the other dog is chewing or whatever. But then the other dog would probably want to play too and trigger the behaviour again. I could try throwing lots of balls for him to chase one after the other so he can't focus his attention on just one object, the only problem with that is I don't have an endless supply of rubber balls. This wouldn't be such an issue if I weren't going to get a German Shepherd sometime in the future. He wouldn't be able to boss a dog like that around... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 For our 2, it didn't matter what you gave them, it would still be an issue. We had to supervise all the time and control the situation, making sure they didn't try and take what each other had even if the item was exactly the same as what the other had, it took two people, one for each dog to supervise and wait until they settled and then moved away, now they are a lot better and can share most things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 George: but as soon as the other dog shows interest in something eg. a stick, my dog suddenly decides he wants it and bites the other dog. George, you say he's actually 'hurt' the other dog? No nice way to dress this up for you I'm afraid... I think you need to start confronting the fact that you may have a dog aggressive dog. This kind of behaviour can be dealt with but right now the best thing you can do is think hard about what triggers him and record any incident that occurs. You also need to consider his safety and that of other dogs - if he tries this on the wrong dog, you may end up with a serious incident. Other dogs will be far less tolerant of this behaviour as he matures. Whilst you might think me calling this dog aggression is an exaggeration, it doesn't matter WHAT the reason for biting another dog is (dominance, resources or whatever), if your dog has done this on more than one occasion and so early in life, you are being given very clear signs about what may turn out to be an increasingly difficult problem as he matures. Only by confronting this issue, can you begin to deal with it. I speak from personal experience on this one by the way, as I had a dog headed down the same path for a while. IMHO, this is no job for anyone other an a professional dog behaviouralist to be dealing with in terms of reducing the aggression. However, as an owner, you can do a great deal to manage the situation. Step one (you're already doing this) - work hard on obedience; the ability to recall your dog becomes very important in managing him around other dogs. A 'drop it' or leave it command will also be very useful. Step Two - remove all obvious 'triggers' for aggression - food, toys etc. If you cannot control his behaviour, then he needs to be onlead (even if it is a long line). Step Three - ensure that you can break up these incidents, QUIETLY AND CALMLY. Read the threads here about how to safely break up fighting dogs. If he starts to become aggressive, he needs to be told 'no' firmly and for playtime to end. There is no place for raised emotions in dealing with this. Do NOT under any circumstances get physical with your dog or put your face near his after such an incident - you are asking for trouble. Step Four - for the safety of other dogs, I would strongly consider muzzling him in any situation where you feel there is a chance of a fight. That way, you and any other owner can relax and that relaxation sends an important signal to your dogs. Step Five - learn to watch your dog - there are usually changes in posture and expression that precede this kinds of incidents... 'hard' eyes, curled lips etc.. THAT's the time to intervene and de-escalate things. The earlier these issues are dealt with, the easier they are to solve. However, if he's prepared to bite another dog, then you really do need to act NOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 (edited) I'm not sure I would point the finger and label the dog asagressive, it's certainly something to keep an eye on and work on modifying the behaviour just as you would with an over excited pup. I would take perhaps the 'radical' step in suggesting this kind of behaviour is partly instictive in the terms of guarding food and so forth. I'm not sugar coating the issue, imo I don't think labeling the dog as agressive and treating as so would be a solution. I'm not animal bahviourist, I'm always interested in hearing other peoples feedback, I could be completely wrong. Edited April 16, 2005 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 Dogs don't share, it's not natural. He is obviously scared of the fact that something he has in his posession is going to be taken away by another dog. Standing over the object, growling, posturing, lifting their lips, and snarling are all fairly normal ways of saying "it's mine and I'm warning you - don't come near it!!" Biting a dog is usually a last resort, and the other dog has to be fairly inept to not read the signs especially if they are adults. However if your pup is not going through those motions of communication and biting first -asking questions later - I think it might be an idea to get a behaviourist to at least take a look at it first hand. It's too hard to give any advice about aggression issues here- without seeing what your dog is doing and what the other dog is doing as well. Their body language needs to be read, and your dog needs to be assessed in other situations with dogs to get a clearer picture. Cheers Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxSpots Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 There are some great articles on this website that might help http://www.k9force.net/trainlinks.html K9force is also a member on DOL but I'm guessing he doesn't get time to contribute to the forum anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 My dogs share now, then what is classed as sharing? Not getting stroppy when the other sog wants to play with your toys to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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