Protective/possessive Foster Dog

[jaybeece]

I've had Fender the foster terrier here for a while now (5 months!) and he's been a pretty good little fella so far, but lately he's started to become a bit possessive of his people when it comes to my dog.

If they're left outside together alone, no problems. They'll run around a little and generally just chill out. When I step out the door and my dog starts bouncing around me, Fender gets all antsy and starts barking at my dog. It used to be more of a play/excitement thing but it seems he's getting a little too serious about it now. The other day he actually had a bit of a go at my dog's leg which my dog ignored. Fender got yelled at by me though and they were seperated straight away.

Then yesterday he did it again and my dog had a bit of a go back, nothing serious at all though and he stopped the moment I yelled. It was just a "leave me alone ya silly little bugger".

This isn't happening inside the house at all and if I'm vigilant and tell off Fender for looking like he'll be a jerk outside is also fine. Keeping my dog calm also seems to stop Fender stressing out. I'm not taking any chances though so they're not being left alone (not that they were before) and I'm limiting their time outside together to the times when I'm out there supervising every moment.

I'm not really all that certain what else I can really do to discourage this behaviour from Fender now though. I don't think it's a really big issue from him, my dog's a lot bigger than him and clearly Fender just gets a bee in his bonnet about him occasionally. I guess being both boys you can expect a little bit of rivalry at times and they're great with each other the rest of the time.

I already treat them the same, make sure they get their individual time alone and Fender's now banned from my bed completely, my dog is still allowed occasionally when he's invited. They both sleep in their crates at night. I'm not allowing Fender on the couch anymore either. They eat seperately too and I make sure that they mind their manners with each other as well as the cats (ie. no barging in for attention, no chasing cats, etc).

NILIF is not really happening with Fender as he has next to no obedience, but I'm having some success with sit and stay so hoping to start using that very soon. It's not a huge issue as it's easy to keep them apart and/or verbally control them but I like zen like harmony in my house and don't want Fender being a stress head over it.

Any other ideas?

Edited October 6, 2008 by jaybeece

[alanglen]

Have you chatted to the group with whom Fender is a Foster? They may have a trainer that can help.

[jaybeece]

I've spoken to them, all good Just thought it'd be nice to get some input from people here as well.