Agressive with food and toys
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| I would be very concerned about adopting this pup. I would highly recommend attending obedience and having one on one consultation with an animal behaviorist who practices postive training.
If you do adopt this pup go into realizing that you will need to spend money and time on training. Never use forceful training with a pup with behavior issues. With my dogs I went through a horrid time with resource guarding with a rescue. What I did was enforce the NIFIL policy, what ever the dog received she had to earn. Want to go out, sit, wait and then let the dog out. Feeding time, sit, wait while I prepare your dinner put dish down then give the OK to eat. First of course you need to teach the pup a few commands. I also found the "off" and "take it" commands were life savers. What I did was take a treat in my hand and hold it on the palm of my hand, or you can put it under your shoe. Have your dog sit in front of you, show the treat, when he lunges or grabs for it cover the treat up and say "off" continue doing this until the dog stays in the sit position and finally looks away or looks down...then open you hand and say "take it". Continue doing this to reinforce. When using a toy, when the dog goes to grab it out of your hand tell the dog "Off", have the dog sit then play fetch or what ever other game (any thing except any tug of war games). Have the dog bring the toy back, never chase the dog down and try to pry the toy away. If the dog doesnt come back with the toy have lots of treats ready in your training pouch. Call the dog back to you, and tel the dog "off" when she drops it give her the treat, pick up the toy and throw it again. You need to teach the dog to trust you. The worst food resouce guarding I have seen are from insecure dogs, a dominant/confident dog does not have a need to guard toys, food etc. A mistake that many people make going into resource guarding training is going into it thinking that they have to be an "Alpha" of some sort  The word Alpha really doesnt have a place in the terms for dog training. There is no need to dominante a dog to train it. Most times by trying to dominant a dog you are teaching it to be fearful and not to trust you. These can seem to work, but, in the long term it will make things worse.
I also highly recommend some books for you to purchase and read BEFORE you take in this dog. Because if you approach this the wrong way you may be inadvertely putting this pup to an early death. Mine!: A practical guide to resource guarding in dogs, by Jean Donaldson (Limited Availability) summary of book Dogs that become demonic around the food dish, snarly on the sofa or grouchy when chewing on a bone are all-too-common. Finally, here's a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help you recognize, evaluate and treat resource guarding in pet dogs. From the author of The Culture Clash, this book may just save your sanity and your relationship with your pet pooch. "A totally comprehensive and practical treatment of a common and very serious behavior problem. Jean Donaldson translates complex animal learning theory into useable procedures without sacrificing scientific accuracy. Anyone who works with dogs will benefit from reading this book."- |
| Hi,
I have a similar problem with Max, my 3 month old puppy. He seems to get frustrated after being in his crate or after a bath. Today after I gave a bath, I tried putting his collar while he was chewing on his bone. I tried to take it away from him and he bit me harder than any time before, his teeth went into my hand pretty deep. This is very disheartening, I dedicate alot of time and have a lot of patience for him to have this type of behavior. I don't know if I am doing something wrong or he is just simply too aggresive? Somebody help!!!!  |
| in my opinion and from my experience with a dog with every kind of aggression in the book, i think food and toy aggression is the easiest to deal with. out of all the problems ive had with walter these are the only 2 ive been able to almost completely control. if you are willing to take this girl to obedience classes and willing to work with her i think you should give it a try. not every puppy, especially the ones that need to be rescued, are going to be angels... especially sheepies haha.
things you can try right away: get some really good little treats, like litlte pieces of hot dogs or cheese. give the pup her favorite toy and put the treat in front of her nose and say "drop it" or "out" or whatever command you want to use. your pup will drop the toy, and shes now associating good things with you saying drop it. iw as skeptical at first that walter would only drop toys if i had a treat in my hand, but after about 6 months of this he would drop things without any treat. for food... you can try handfeeding her. after a while she will know that the food comes from you and that there is no reason to guard it. another thing to try is to go over to her foodbowl when shes eating and drop something really good in there like a piece of chicken... she will associate you being near her foodbowl with getting treats. i still have a little problem with this with walter, he still gets tense and alert when i walk over while he is eating, but weve come a lloooong way from him biting anyone that walked by. i can put his water bowl down next to him now, put things in the bowl, and walk around freely without worrying about getting bit. i hope this helps a little... not all pets are perfect. most puppies have a few issues, and i think food and toy aggression is more common than people think. as long as you are committed i think you can end up with a great dog. |
| I don't think you will have too much trouble with that pup if you are willing to commit yourself to educating your pup... He will for sure be a great addition to your family.
HOWEVER, from personal experience, it's difficult to overcome some unwanted behaviour. Lennon is very friendly with the kids outside, likes to romp with them when we allow him to play with larger kids, but he's always had some issues with babies and small children when they come over and visit. Since he's not used to be challenged by children, he can growl at my niece and we have to keep an eye on them constantly to avoid accidents. She stays for a few days usually, and by the end of her stay, Lennon is pretty much used to the routine again and he tolerates her. You should consider very carefully trying to socialize your pup with babies and small kids if there's the possibility of them coming over and visitng often. Besides that, I'm sure you won't have any trouble. Lennon was possesive with his toys and bowls, but training changed that, so there's light at the end of the tunnel. Good Luck! |
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