Question about dog sitting

[Izzysdad]

Tobey is very patient but the little tyke is pushing his limits. Tobey was having breakfast and Kenobi got free and tried to stick his face in Tobey's bowl, while Tobey's face was in there. Tobey growled, and I would think rightfully so. Then the Kenobi was chewing on Tobey's tail which led to a growl and a bit of snap in his direction. Izzy has been a saint.

 

Should I be concerned at all? Or am I stressing myself out?

 

Oh, and we are giving the puppy corrections. But the little man is FEARLESS.

 

Tim

[desertranger]

Yes you should be concerned but don't let yourself get stressed out. There could be some resource guarding going on. Watch them through dinner and feed them on the opposite side of the room from each other. If one eats faster then place that dish dowbn after the slow eater gets a start. The object being they shoud finish at the same time. for the same thing with chewies and don't let them get into the habit of one taking something from the other.

[Izzysdad]

^^^That's what we've been doing. Tobey and Kenobi both shared a water dish just fine. Tobey did try to take a chewie from the puppy but I put an end to that. I think I was over reacting more than anything.

 

Izzy can stick her face in Tobey's food bowl and he doesn't say a word, I'm guessing Tobey was surprised to see a new face in his food bowl.

 

All is well.

 

Tim

[Jumpin Boots]

Make sure you give your dogs timeouts from the puppy, whether this means crating them, and/or crating him they should all get a break from one another. Often pups, seems more so with those that don't live with doggy friends, don't have clear boundary lines, and can be pushy in the way they approach other dogs, which it completely sounds like is happening. So I would make sure that you are watching these boundary lines and protecting you dogs. I wouldn't feed them at the same time or in the same room at all or if you had to I would leash the pup so that he couldn't go mess with the other dogs. I don't consider having one dogs head go into another dogs bowl resource guarding if that dog growls, to me that's protecting their diner from a theiving puppy. Now if they even think about growling at me, or if they growled as another dog walks by, different story and completely unacceptable; but if someone came and started eating off my plate, you can bet I'd growl, ask dbf I've been known to poke the back of his hand with my fork for trying to steal a fry, there are just some boundaries that should not be crossed.

 

Have fun with the visitor I'm sure you're all going to be exhausted when he leaves.

[Lewie'sMom]

I'm not an expert; I just like to pretend I am.

 

But really, it doesn't sound like anything other than puppy naughtiness is going on. And the best puppy teachers are dogs.

 

I agree with Jumpin Boots to allow your dogs some puppy-free time but I think your visitor is just being a normal puppy. Your dogs are just teaching him doggy etiquette. As long as the pup respects his elders' discipline, let him be a puppy. If he gets too pushy (and we all know pups can be!) give him a time-out. I've found that removing over zealous puppies from the situation helps to get the point across; just a three minute time-out can work wonders.

[Carson Crazies]

I realize that by now the pup has probably gone home, but just thought I'd add my two cents here. I have a rule in my house - nobody bothers anybody else at meal time. Period. End of story. There is no faces in each others bowls, and each dog is allowed to relax and take their time and eat without being messed with by another dog. This means most of my dogs are crated, or in a different room or what have you. I think your dog was perfectly within it's right to express displeasure with puppy face in his bowl - and I think as the human it's your responsibility, IMO, to see that THAT doesn't happen to begin with.

 

I see alot of this on different boards - humans getting upset because dog A puts it's face in dog B's bowl while dog B is eating - and a growl, or even a fight ensues. Why even allow dog A to go over there? I ask my dogs for a lot of tolerance over certain social things - but I do give them every opportunity to at least eat in peace.

[Izzysdad]

^^^Yup, and I think the same way. The puppy managed to get to the bowl before I could. No problems with that for the rest of the weekend.

 

Tobey did try to put the pup in it's place when it appeared he got too mouthy and may have nipped Tobey's ear or cheek, not sure as I had my back to Tobey, but there sure was a lot of growling on Tobey's part. It would have escalated into a fight had I not intervened.

 

Izzy and the pup got along very nicely, except when Izzy forgot her size and knocked him down a few times

 

The puppy will need a puppy class/socialization as I can see he will be a handful, but of course the in-laws think they can train him themselves without help and of course they've never owned a dog before.....hopefully they wise up.

 

Tim

[JohnLloydJones]

I see alot of this on different boards - humans getting upset because dog A puts it's face in dog B's bowl while dog B is eating - and a growl, or even a fight ensues. Why even allow dog A to go over there?

Right. When a new foster comes in, I sit in between the new dog and mine and make sure that everyone learns the rules. It only takes a couple of days and we're OK. Sure, they look to see if I'm watching even now, but every one knows the rules and that I will enforce it, so peace prevails. [Norwegian: 'matro' {m -AH-t-r-oh} : mealtime peace]