Slight Toy Possessiveness?

[OntarioSheltie]

Bailey isn't toy possessive. Probably because my other dogs don't care for toys. However, she sometimes is treat dispensing toy possessive. What has helped her is making sure she knows the toy is mine and learning to share. I do this by loading up the ball with treats. First I give the ball to Cali. While I place it down, I say "Cali's turn." I let her play with it for a minute, then I take it away, give it to Bailey and say "Bailey's turn." I also give them a treat for letting me take the ball away. I go back and forth with them for a few minutes. The last time I did this, it was very successful. There was no aggression on either side. At one point, Cali had the ball and it hit Bailey's leg, a treat fell out and she let Cali take it. This really helps them learn to share and excited because they know they're going to get their turn soon.

You can maybe try this with a regular toy. Give a toy to Saide, say "Sadie's turn" and let her play with it for a few minutes. Then take it away, give her a treat for letting you take it away and give it to one of the other dogs. You can even give the other dogs a treat for waiting patiently while one of them as the toy.

I never thought of that. I can see it working for Sadie and Toby, but not Ginny. Ginny does not share, period. She won't get mouthy and snap, but she HAS to have what the other dogs have, no exceptions.

I tried giving both Sadie and Ginny raw hide (their favorite), and leashing Ginny to keep her from stealing Sadie's. Ginny will not eat her own raw hide, she'll sit and stare at Sadie's (I tried it without a leash too, same result). I tried switching raw hides, to see what happened. Ginny was happy for a couple of minutes before again realizing that Sadie had something that she wanted. Then Ginny dropped that raw hide and watched Sadie again.

I'll give your suggestion a try, although I have no idea how to factor Ginny into this equation.

 

[labgirl]

If it was me I would remove the toy as soon as any signs of aggression were shown. It is a situation I worry about as I have heard Cadbury growl over a ball around other dogs - when that happened I removed the toy and everything went back to normal.

Of course Cadbury can not back up a growl! He went through an odd phase in the summer of these behaviour and then it just passed. But perhaps that was because I always removed the toy when he did it?

I would probably also only have toys out when I was around and any toys I knew brought on this reaction because they were 'special' to a dog I would keep out of the way during joint games.

It is something I wouldn't tolerate, just as I don't tolerate the cat stealing food from Cadbury's bowl - and stopping a cat is way harder than a dog! They don't understand the word 'no!'

 

[OntarioSheltie]

If it was me I would remove the toy as soon as any signs of aggression were shown. It is a situation I worry about as I have heard Cadbury growl over a ball around other dogs - when that happened I removed the toy and everything went back to normal.

Of course Cadbury can not back up a growl! He went through an odd phase in the summer of these behaviour and then it just passed. But perhaps that was because I always removed the toy when he did it?

I would probably also only have toys out when I was around and any toys I knew brought on this reaction because they were 'special' to a dog I would keep out of the way during joint games.

It is something I wouldn't tolerate, just as I don't tolerate the cat stealing food from Cadbury's bowl - and stopping a cat is way harder than a dog! They don't understand the word 'no!'

I did take the toy away as soon as he did this this morning, I just said 'NO!' also. They understand my tone of voice, if not the word.

 

[SheepOfBlue]

Cats understand no they just don't value your 'opinion'

I would stop her unless they are just stealing to establish dominance (it sounds that way) then I would take it from them and give it back to her.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I would stop her unless they are just stealing to establish dominance (it sounds that way) then I would take it from them and give it back to her.

I'm not really sure what's behind the stealing. Ginny steals everything from the other dogs, she really only wants what they have. No matter how hard I try to stop it she ALWAYS does it. Its like a compulsion with her. I like it when the other dogs stand up for themselves because she is SUCH a pain, but don't want to encourage aggression.

Before Toby I was ok with letting Sadie snap at Ginny. Now with Toby I don't like Sadie and Toby snapping at each other, but I don't mind if they snap at Ginny. But with the 3 of them I don't think I can have that double standard or even enforce it all the time.

I'm just not sure how to handle this...if I see somethings been taken from Sadie I tell whoever stole it 'NO!' and give it back to her. But if I don't see who started it then I take the toy away.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

More Possessivness Problems

I'm having more issues that I'm not sure how to deal with. I guess these are two separate issues.

Toby and Sadie have worked things out. When Sadie has a toy or chew, Toby doesn't try to steal it and vise versa.

As I mentioned the last time, this is not the case with Ginny, who will try to steal anything from anyone.

Toby still makes loud noise and snaps at Ginny when she tries to steal something he wants, and he's started doing this around the food bowls as well. I don't think he'd actually bite, he just makes a lot of noise and snaps. He's fine if I take toys away from him or take his food bowl away. I make him sit and wait before he gets his dinner and if I remove his bowl while he's eating, he lets me, then sits and waits again before I put it back down.

Also, this weekend when we were at a friends and Toby snapped at their border collie X when Toby had a bone and James approached him. When we get together, their other dog, an Aussie X is the alpha and he snapped at her about a week ago too when they sort of collided. This is something that she doesn't usually tolerate (she usually snaps and makes a lot of noise but doesn't actually bite). I'm worried that if he keeps doing this to the bigger dogs he's going to start a fight with them.

Should I be stepping in in these situations and if so, how? I've never had to deal with this type of behavior before and it seems to me that scolding him may just encourage aggression.

I'm just not sure if they would fight (I don't think so...), it seems likely that they'll just snap back at him, only louder and put him in his place. I've seen Jesse, the alpha, do this with Sadie before when they both want the same toy, then they go right back to being friends afterward. Maybe Toby is just trying to figure out his place in this sort of extended pack?

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Threads I start seem to get bumped alot and no one ever answers them. This seems to be one of them.

 

[corbinam]

Hey Melissa, wish I could answer your questions. There is such a tough line between appropriate behavior "Hey that's mine!" and inappropriate. I often say that Bentley should stand up for himself more (Lexi steals stuff from him all the time), but yet I don't allow any snapping.

I can tell you that Lexi isn't a fan of other dogs (outside of her pack). If she feels cornered, and a dog gets in her face, she will show her teeth. To me, that's okay. If she doesn't want dogs in her face, then she can, and should tell them so. In your example where a dog collided with Toby and he snarled, I think that's okay (but I wasn't there, so it's tough to say). Also, one time a dog snuck up on Bentley and pawed him and Bentley turned around and snapped. I immediately got his attention, but I don't think I can say that his behavior was inappropriate.

I think in your examples it's just so hard to say where the line is.

 

[Calliesmom]

I'm having more issues that I'm not sure how to deal with. I guess these are two separate issues.

Toby and Sadie have worked things out. When Sadie has a toy or chew, Toby doesn't try to steal it and vise versa.

As I mentioned the last time, this is not the case with Ginny, who will try to steal anything from anyone.

Toby still makes loud noise and snaps at Ginny when she tries to steal something he wants, and he's started doing this around the food bowls as well. I don't think he'd actually bite, he just makes a lot of noise and snaps. He's fine if I take toys away from him or take his food bowl away. I make him sit and wait before he gets his dinner and if I remove his bowl while he's eating, he lets me, then sits and waits again before I put it back down.

Also, this weekend when we were at a friends and Toby snapped at their border collie X when Toby had a bone and James approached him. When we get together, their other dog, an Aussie X is the alpha and he snapped at her about a week ago too when they sort of collided. This is something that she doesn't usually tolerate (she usually snaps and makes a lot of noise but doesn't actually bite). I'm worried that if he keeps doing this to the bigger dogs he's going to start a fight with them.

Should I be stepping in in these situations and if so, how? I've never had to deal with this type of behavior before and it seems to me that scolding him may just encourage aggression.

I'm just not sure if they would fight (I don't think so...), it seems likely that they'll just snap back at him, only louder and put him in his place. I've seen Jesse, the alpha, do this with Sadie before when they both want the same toy, then they go right back to being friends afterward. Maybe Toby is just trying to figure out his place in this sort of extended pack?

so I got this book - should have gotten it before I became a three dog home but better late than never. I haven't finished it but there might be some tips that could help you. It's called How Many Dogs? Debby McMullen. it's all about getting a multiple dog household to coexist peacefully. I'm only on chapter 4 - about sleeping arrangements. anyway, it might be useful and if I get to a part that seems relevant, I'll let you know

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Hey Melissa, wish I could answer your questions. There is such a tough line between appropriate behavior "Hey that's mine!" and inappropriate. I often say that Bentley should stand up for himself more (Lexi steals stuff from him all the time), but yet I don't allow any snapping.

I can tell you that Lexi isn't a fan of other dogs (outside of her pack). If she feels cornered, and a dog gets in her face, she will show her teeth. To me, that's okay. If she doesn't want dogs in her face, then she can, and should tell them so. In your example where a dog collided with Toby and he snarled, I think that's okay (but I wasn't there, so it's tough to say). Also, one time a dog snuck up on Bentley and pawed him and Bentley turned around and snapped. I immediately got his attention, but I don't think I can say that his behavior was inappropriate.

I think in your examples it's just so hard to say where the line is.

Yeah, thats my problem, nothing seems to be just black or white, all of these instances seem to be in a grey area and I'm just not sure what to do.

Sadie will object to being bumped or having things stollen from her in much the same way, only quieter. I think they should be able to stick up for themselves but the noise Toby makes when he objects is startling and I'm worried the other dogs will react to it. Is that being silly? Toby has enough issues, interacting with other dogs isn't one of them right now and I don't want him to have a bad experience.

so I got this book - should have gotten it before I became a three dog home but better late than never. I haven't finished it but there might be some tips that could help you. It's called How Many Dogs? Debby McMullen. it's all about getting a multiple dog household to coexist peacefully. I'm only on chapter 4 - about sleeping arrangements. anyway, it might be useful and if I get to a part that seems relevant, I'll let you know

Yes, let me know if you find something relevant. If you do I'll definitely pick it up too.

For the most part our house is peaceful, except for the wild pack of sheltie racing around, lol. They all have their own sleep spots which works nicely for them, btw.