Growling!

Molly was happily chewing on her teething nylabone ring type thing tonight and our other dog Watson wondered over... cue Molly growled at him!! Would anyone be able to offer advice as to the best response to this? We took the toy off them both. Watson would never dream of growling at her, he's a massive softy.

Although we just gave the toy back and she didn't growl when he took it off her....! I think she's just trying to learn about what works etc

Advice very much appreciated.

Francesca

early days of toy posession and you've doen the right thing by removing it , you need t keep on the ball with this kind of behaviour and nip it in the bud early

Do we say no firmly at the same time as removing it?

And should we give them a toy to share so that we can observe it (forcing the situation to arise as such) and remedy if necessary?

Questions questions!

I think sharing a toy would be a good step forward , or the moment and only when growling remove it and say no but it must be immediate and not after the fact. Perhaps if you could introduce them to some tug games so if you get a problem then a no and shortly after follow it with a tugh rope so they learn more about playin gtogether

Thanks Dave Will get a rope toy over the weekend

Just one thing with the rope toy though , don't leave it with them to destroy , my 2 can go through them like wildfire and then they eat it and it's not good for them

Agree with the advice Dave gave. You have to nip the toy aggression in the bud early.

Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

ANattyRat wrote:Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

Good advice , it's always better to come from experience

ANattyRat wrote:Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

You will get away with this with a pup and some dogs but other dogs you won't, I have been bitten when I tried to take something off a dog. Bones are very high resouce to a dog, once given they should never be taken off them.

A friend's partner kept taking toys and treats off her dogs, he ignored what she said so one day he was eating his dinner, as she walked past she picked it up and took it off him, he went mad but got the point.

If anyone tries to take my chocolate off me they will soon be dead.

It isn't fair to a dog to give him something then take it away, we wouldn't like it ourselves or do it to our children, a gorgous dog recently was pts because he bit his owner when he tried to take a biscuit off him, it seems this owner often done this, the dog got fet up and bit him so hard he had to go to A & E.

But I don't get it; I thought that, as long as your dog isn't possessive, it understands that if you want to take something from them, you can? I mean, this woman I know, her dogs will share their things with her (toys, bones, etc.), so I assumed that if you deal with the actual possessiveness, they'd be fine with it?

Cyril baby wrote:

ANattyRat wrote:Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

You will get away with this with a pup and some dogs but other dogs you won't, I have been bitten when I tried to take something off a dog. Bones are very high resouce to a dog, once given they should never be taken off them.

A friend's partner kept taking toys and treats off her dogs, he ignored what she said so one day he was eating his dinner, as she walked past she picked it up and took it off him, he went mad but got the point.

If anyone tries to take my chocolate off me they will soon be dead.

It isn't fair to a dog to give him something then take it away, we wouldn't like it ourselves or do it to our children, a gorgous dog recently was pts because he bit his owner when he tried to take a biscuit off him, it seems this owner often done this, the dog got fet up and bit him so hard he had to go to A & E.

I can see where you are coming from and know you are studying in this field but sorry I don't agree with you. A dog has to learn you are the master and they must obey. Consequently you should be able to lift food, remove toys etc without a problem and if you don't intervene (with great caution) then I believe you are creating a big problem. What happens if the dog is not used to being unpossessive and a child goes close or tries to take a toy away , something they are not used to , I can only see this as going wrong.
The whole point is to get the dog used to not owning things so you don't get these kind of reactions. We are not talking about teasing a dog with possessions we are talking about the dog knowing its place.

Dave wrote:

Cyril baby wrote:

ANattyRat wrote:Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

You will get away with this with a pup and some dogs but other dogs you won't, I have been bitten when I tried to take something off a dog. Bones are very high resouce to a dog, once given they should never be taken off them.

A friend's partner kept taking toys and treats off her dogs, he ignored what she said so one day he was eating his dinner, as she walked past she picked it up and took it off him, he went mad but got the point.

If anyone tries to take my chocolate off me they will soon be dead.

It isn't fair to a dog to give him something then take it away, we wouldn't like it ourselves or do it to our children, a gorgous dog recently was pts because he bit his owner when he tried to take a biscuit off him, it seems this owner often done this, the dog got fet up and bit him so hard he had to go to A & E.

I can see where you are coming from and know you are studying in this field but sorry I don't agree with you. A dog has to learn you are the master and they must obey. Consequently you should be able to lift food, remove toys etc without a problem and if you don't intervene (with great caution) then I believe you are creating a big problem. What happens if the dog is not used to being unpossessive and a child goes close or tries to take a toy away , something they are not used to , I can only see this as going wrong.
The whole point is to get the dog used to not owning things so you don't get these kind of reactions. We are not talking about teasing a dog with possessions we are talking about the dog knowing its place.

Agree with this Dave, I think a dog has to learn that people can remove things from them. I've done the same thing as ANattyRat with my two and can remove toys, bones etc from them.

Dave wrote:

Cyril baby wrote:

ANattyRat wrote:Loki started growling a while back (at us) over bones. Not meals, not toys, just bones. I'd say no and take it off him, but I'd also, before I gave him it, make him sit and stay while I put it on the ground, and he had to wait until I said he could take it so he knows it's not his to get possessive about. I'd also take it off him after a few moments and then give it back after just a few seconds so he knows that taking it away doesn't always mean he can't have it. It's all worked for me, Loki isn't growling anymore, though I still make sure to do it. I don't know if that'd help you because it was another dog, but maybe it will; if she understands that these things aren't hers, they're yours, maybe she wont growl at the dog either.

You will get away with this with a pup and some dogs but other dogs you won't, I have been bitten when I tried to take something off a dog. Bones are very high resouce to a dog, once given they should never be taken off them.

A friend's partner kept taking toys and treats off her dogs, he ignored what she said so one day he was eating his dinner, as she walked past she picked it up and took it off him, he went mad but got the point.

If anyone tries to take my chocolate off me they will soon be dead.

It isn't fair to a dog to give him something then take it away, we wouldn't like it ourselves or do it to our children, a gorgous dog recently was pts because he bit his owner when he tried to take a biscuit off him, it seems this owner often done this, the dog got fet up and bit him so hard he had to go to A & E.

I can see where you are coming from and know you are studying in this field but sorry I don't agree with you. A dog has to learn you are the master and they must obey. Consequently you should be able to lift food, remove toys etc without a problem and if you don't intervene (with great caution) then I believe you are creating a big problem. What happens if the dog is not used to being unpossessive and a child goes close or tries to take a toy away , something they are not used to , I can only see this as going wrong.
The whole point is to get the dog used to not owning things so you don't get these kind of reactions. We are not talking about teasing a dog with possessions we are talking about the dog knowing its place.

It is by disagreeing and discuss things that we learn, I have learnt a lot through this.

First, I don't want to be "Master" of my dogs, I don't believe in this way of teaching any animal or human, yes it may work but at what cost. Think back to when we were childlren, which teachers did we learn best from, those that were "Masters" or those that taught by reward? I learnt a lot more and better with the teachers that rewarded what I had done.

The principles of teaching is the same no matter what species you are teaching, the difference is learning about that species, what they are designed to do, what their bodies and brains allow them to do etc we have to take a lot of things into consideration when we teach.

I used to have a an ex racing Greyhound, if I tried to take something off him he was go for my face, being a tall dog he was at a good height to re-organised my face, I had to find a way round this. If I passed his dish when he was eating again he would warn me away. How I solved this problem was to put a little of his food in his dish, when he had eaten it I walked past and dropped a little more in and continued doing this until his food had gone. It took 24 hours for him to look forward to me going near him when he was eating, being the master and demanding obedience doesn't teach a dog this quick for this problem.

For the guarding of items he had, I put treats in a tin and kept it in the kitchen once I had taught him that nice things are in the tin, if he had something he shouldn't I would run out of the room saying, "Look what I have got", get the tin and make a noise with it. Merlin would come racing out, he had done what I wanted, dropped the item and followed me so was rewarded. Greyhounds are known for having a poor recall, Merlin's recall was incredible as long as I said "Look what I have got".

We should also be teaching our dogs to "Leave" on command, that takes longer so you manage the problem, safety always has to come first.

Small children should NEVER be allowed near any animal that is eating, dogs, cats, horses etc. older children should have been taught never to interfer with animals eating, if I could teach my sons this anyone can teach it to their children. No matter how good a dog is, if they are feeling off colour or in pain and a child goes near them when they are eating they can and often do warn the child away by growling, air snapping and in some cases looking like they are going to attack, it is dangerous to let a child near a eating animal.

Dogs don't own things, they possess them, those with multiple dogs will understand this more, when a dog is playing with a toy and drops it, another may pick it up, it then becomes this other dog's. If food drops on the floor the dog thinks it is for them and takes it.

By taking a dog's food off him you are teaching him that there is something to fear when you do that, by leaving him to eat in peace he learns that he doen't need to fear his food being taken away.

About 6 weeks after I taught Merlin that nice things happen when I go near his food dish, I had reason to remove his dish, can't remember why, I walked up to Merlin and spoke to him, then moved his dish away with my foot before picking it up then rewarded Merlin with a yummy treat, he was quickly given his food back once I had dealt with the problem. Merlin just stood waiting patiently.

Teaching a dog to drop what they have in an emergency it is a lot quicker to get something dangerous off them than trying to force it off them so safer for you and the dog.

My dogs all know their place, they sleep on my bed and the furniture but when I ask they get off immediately, they all have a very good recall, walk nicely on a lead and next to a mobilty scooter, they sit, lie down etc but I never showed them who is "Master"

I hope this post doesn't look like I am attacking you, I am not, just trying to put things clearly which can be difficult when you are trying to put into words what you are thinking.