possessive aggressive puppy

[Indydog]

Hi,

 

We just adopted a 9 week old rescue puppy named Abby. She had a rough begining. She was born in the country and the owners abandoned the littler of pups at 4 weeks old and moved away because their property was foreclosed. Only her and her brother survived. They had some food but it was in grease. The people from the bank found her and her brother 2 weeks later.

 

Our 9 yr BC is adjusting and very patient. I noticed something couple days that alarmed me. I gave her a bully stick to chew on while her bed. When I got closer, she started to growl. I asked my girlfriend to approach her she did something other. When my girlfriend try to get the bully stick, the pup acutally snapped her.

 

Abby doesn't do this with her food bowl even though she eats like a savage. So now when I give her food, I kneel down right next to her, tell her she's a good girl and pet her. I also move the bowl around and make her sit. I do the same thing with the bully stick. I hold it in my hand let her chew on it. Then I'll give to her and come back a few minutes later and do the same thing.

 

Is there anythign else I should be doing to nip this aggresion thing in the butt? You can blame her but we need to stop this right now.

 

Thanks.

[notailabigail]

Teach your puppy the trading game - you need her to associate you being around her possessions with really, really good things. If she starts learning that when she growls then her treat gets taken away, there is a chance that she will escalate the guarding behaviour. So instead, find something that Abby likes even more than a bully stick. Little pieces of cooked liver would work well, for example. Let her chew the bully stick while you hold it, then let her smell the liver treat in your other hand and trade her bully stick for liver treat. Start pairing her letting go of the bully stick with a 'drop it' command.

[nowwown]

9 WEEKS? She's just a baby! Teaching her to sit and expecting that all the time is pretty stiff requirements at this age.

 

Just wondering -- why are you already giving her a bully stick? I'm not sure her teeth are ready for major chew stuff like that. They make chews and Kongs for puppies and I'd be careful with her puppy teeth. Also make sure you are 100% overseeing any chewing so she doesn't hurt himself.

 

And while it's important to nip this bad behavior in the bud right now, I can see where she definitely needs some adjustment time in adjusting to being an indoor pet, not a feral animal that had to scrounge for everything.

 

I think being near and around her while she's eating, getting her used to seeing your hand and arm and leg near and around her food, is a great way to teach her that it's YOUR food and you are letting her eat it.

 

I do that today with toys and treats. They're MY toys, MY treats, and I only let Cody have them when he has done something for me (NILF method -- NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE). Google that for some great training info or search these boards for more information. We got Cody when he was 8 weeks old so I can empathize with those early days.

[PSmitty]

I know we've had this discussion before and all kinds of folks are going to jump on here and say, "I'll be damned if I should have to trade my puppy for anything! If I want it, she better give it up willingly!". BUT, I agree with Jody's approach. This is a tiny puppy who is used to telling her siblings to back off with growls. Oh yeah, and it's NOT aggression. It's resource guarding and totally normal dog behavior.

 

Of course you don't want it to continue or escalate, so start now teaching her that giving up her stuff doesn't mean she'll never get it back. Do the trading game just as Jody suggested and be sure to give her the bully stick (or whatever it is) back. That's how she learns that it's ok for you take something from her, and that way, she'll never know whether it's one of the times where she gets it back or not. Eventually you will not have to offer her a trade, she'll just willingly let you have it with no questions asked. What I do with resource guarders is warn them first, not just reach and grab it away...I might say "Can I have that?" then reach for it, and offer the trade. If she growls, I'd tell her "no". Work on this a few times a day and you'll see progress.

 

Also get her used to you or others being around her food by hand feeding her. Again, not all the time, and only so that she learns it's ok.

 

And let me stress again, this is not aggression.

 

ETA: Duh. I just read your post more carefully and see you're doing some of this already. Sorry!

[RaisingRiver]

I don't think 9 weeks is too young to expect a pup to sit, if you've taught them what it means. I've had 2 pups that could both reliably sit at that age because I taught it. They also learned stay really fast by using the food bowl - both had 10sec sit/stays by the time they were both 12wks old.

 

Anyway, both my puppies (both got at 8wks) growled at me when I went near their food bowl and bones. I agree that I think it's guarding from siblings behavior. Because puppies are so small, you can do things you can't with a full grown dog. Like literally snatch the object away. That's what I did with mine and yelled No in kind of a growl voice (not a freaky at it sounds, but just getting pup's attention). Waited a sec then either traded it for a nice treat or gave it back. Only took 2 times with River and once with Aero before I could do ANYTHING I wanted with the food/bones - and I tested for it specifically over the next few weeks. I don't test anymore after that no reason I need to stick my hand in their bowl and take food out but am confident if I needed to, I could take anything away - and have taken bones that were causing guarding issues between dogs. (at this point Leave It is used since most things are preventive measures, not reactive)

 

I do try to trade things they found to chew on (like a shoe) for one of their toys, so it wasn't just taking the shoe away for nothing. It's the same concept stated above. I say unhappy No as I take away the bad item and say happy Yes as I give them the appropriate one.

 

I do let my dogs guard items from one another if they care to, and after a month or so of adding a new dog, they figure out the limits (if they can take it from a dog or get close, etc) of each dog and I don't usually have any issues. It never translates to humans though. Humans can do whatever they want with their stuff - and they figured that out on their own pretty quick.

[Lenajo]

Guarding from a human is not the same as dog/dog guarding unless you are talking about an unsocialized feral dog. For the sake of this discussion (and in most training books) RG (resource guarding) is about what the dog does with humans.

 

RG is genetic, but can be *moderated* with training . Moderated so well, in the less serious case, that you wouldn't know it started out that way. It cannot be eliminated because it is..well, genetic.

 

I breed BCs, and I work with many other breeds and litters, as well as rescues. Non-RG puppies do not growl at people over food. They never even entertain that idea. (again, this is not the same as dog/dog interaction, where the same puppies can and will, because it is normal). You can also train the dog:dog stuff, but lets leave that out of this foe now.

 

Contrary to popular belief most dogs that RG are quite well nourished, often fat, and are not that way because they have been mistreated. Don't believe me - rescue some dogs. Most of the starving dogs I've met were pitifully greatful to you for food. They did not guard, they would share with anyone at their worst The dog that scares me is the fat little brat who owns the world LOL

 

NILIF is helpful, "trade ups" etcs. Jean Donaldsons book "Mine!" has some helpful items, and imo you can't beat Sue Sternburg's book Successful Dog Adoption and methods for testing a dog to find and determine the level of RG in a dog.

 

RG can be *extremely* dangerous if they guard more than food, and/or if they are in homes with children.

[MrSnappy]

I have nothing to add that would not be redundant. But Lenajo's post made me think back upon resources guarders and the WORST one by far I've ever had through rescue was like 30lbs overweight when he came in. Which is almost twice his normal weight. Definitely not a starving dog ;-)

 

RDM

[Alaska]

All I have to add is a link that goes into more detail on the suggestions provided above. This is excerpted from Ian Dunbar's "After You Get Your Puppy", which I find to be a valuable and reliable resource:

 

GUARDING VALUED OBJECTS

 

I really recommend picking up a copy of the book, but if you can't, there is a good bit of it excerpted elsewhere on that site. Just click on "Training Textbook" at the top of the page.

[Indydog]

I don't think 9 weeks is too young to expect a pup to sit, if you've taught them what it means. I've had 2 pups that could both reliably sit at that age because I taught it. They also learned stay really fast by using the food bowl - both had 10sec sit/stays by the time they were both 12wks old.

 

I saw a puppy training video on you tube of someone teaching an 8 week old bc pup to sit. I tried the same technique and 5 minutes later she was sitting. The next day she learned how to lay down.

[PSmitty]

Alex and I were just hanging out with my friend and Jet, her new, 9 week old BC puppy. Jet has already been taught to sit, and they're working on down. I don't think either is unreasonable to expect, as long as you keep the training sessions very short and positive.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

I have nothing to add either. I generally agree with what's already been said, and with some patience, she'll get it figured out. By the time these puppies were rescued, it seem's like they've had very little human interaction, which maybe part reason along with the genetics point.

 

Daisy was /is like this with red meat. (I joke that she's actually part coyote) We've been very diligent with her and for the most part anyone can take anything from her. We started by hand feeding, or when walking by her dish or when she's chewing on something tossing a treat, or trading a treat, we still to this day do this to keep it instilled that this stuff is ours and we have given it to you. BUT, I always supervise her if someone new is in the house and she's chewing on something.

[hpjoe2001]

Teach your puppy the trading game - you need her to associate you being around her possessions with really, really good things. If she starts learning that when she growls then her treat gets taken away, there is a chance that she will escalate the guarding behaviour. So instead, find something that Abby likes even more than a bully stick. Little pieces of cooked liver would work well, for example. Let her chew the bully stick while you hold it, then let her smell the liver treat in your other hand and trade her bully stick for liver treat. Start pairing her letting go of the bully stick with a 'drop it' command.

 

 

THIS WORKS VERY WELL! I had to do that for my new rescue. Took a couple of weeks but now I can put my face next the bowl as she eats and even reach in her mouth!

[bc4pack]

Here is a good site for all puppy parents.

http://www.dogstardaily.com

Click on training textbook

 

In case y'all were wondering.... Ian Dunbar.... :D