Oscar (AmBull) Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Oscar is now 6.5 months old. Oscar is running away from me as soon as he gets a bone and taking it anywhere out of my sight and eating it there. It is really frusterating. I have never taken a bone off of him and if I ever take anything from him I have always swapped it for something else. He had this issue when he was a small puppy but we overcome that, I simply held onto the end of the wings bones etc for a few seconds as suggested to me by DOL members. It has now started again and I have no idea what to do to try and stop it, so I am turning to all of you again for some much needed help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I am assuming this is an issue because you want to supervise him eating the bone. Feed him somewhere he can't get out of your sight - his crate, laundry with baby gate up, enclosed porch.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar (AmBull) Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yes because I want to supervise him and also I don't want it to turn into a bigger issue such as resource guarding. If I feed him in a smaller enclosed area will he get used to it and then eventually not care if I am there or will I always have to feed him like this as long as I want to supervse him. Am I just worrying to much? Could this turn into a larger issue or is it a fairly normal/common thing for a dog to do? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) I would say it was normal for a dog to take a "good prize" away and eat it in peace. Feed him in an enclosed area and practice whatever you did before for swapping one thing for another. He's older now and possibly decided the rules don't apply to all things at all times. You can still hold on to the food but swapping it for something better is probably a more productive thing to teach him. I'm not a big believer in taking things off dogs just to prove you can but I am a big believer in being able to in case of an emergency, and also not making their food/food bowl something they need to guard from anyone. Edited September 23, 2009 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 (edited) Crate or smaller area, bone with little meat on it and plenty of raw meat in hand. Sit at a distance (remembering that if you confine the dog and go too close, he may then feel the need to guard because he can no longer move the bone away) and throw him the raw meat while he's munching away. I'd do this a number of times as soon as possible. ETA- and agree with what Sandra said Edited September 23, 2009 by Cosmolo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Is where hes eating it a problem?? In our house when bones are dished out the dogs go in there sep ways & eat quietly.If for any reason we need to get it they just hand it over no big deal. It seems maybe your dog is feeling intimidated that everytime he eats something like that your standing there waiting & the dog is moving off to feel more comfy. You need to respect his space & allow him privileges to learn .The more you hover around the more inclined he will be to guard or feel uneasy around food. As said buy a crate if its a big issue or place in the laundry (which will be messy) or simply allow your dog to eat the bone as is happy & content. Dont create issues that arent there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlosmummy Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Harlo does the same thing she runs all the way to the end of the yard or under the decking to eat her bone, i think they just like to enjoy it and have quiet time sometimes, such as when i have a bickie and coffee sometimes i will hide away from the dogs so i dont have to look at there begging faces! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 My boy was also like that when he was a pup - manically concerned that he'd lose this prized possession to me. I would give him a bone and leave him to it. But I'd work in the garden in the yard where he was. By doing this I was completely focussed elsewhere and walking around the yard - sometimes closer to him, sometimes away. When I got closer to him, I still ignored him chewing his bone. As he became more comfortable over a few sessions of this (my garden was very up to date ), I'd pause on my way past and give him a pat, then move on. Once fine with this, I'd include a touch of the bone with my hand in my 'pat'. During all this time I had taught him 'relinquish' with other items of value - but lesser value than the bone. Before too long, he accepted the relinquish of the bone. I hardly ever bother with it now and quite often he will bring his bone up to me for me to look at. I take it, tell him it's a lovely bone and offer it back to him. It makes me laugh because he's so proud of himself when he does this. One thing to avoid IMO is to not seek the relinquish of a bone too often. Not saying you do, but I think people place too much store in it and practice it too often and if I were a dog, this would bug me and I would be likely to prefer to stay away so I could feel as though I could eat in peace too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar (AmBull) Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 Thanks so much for all the great input and suggestions, it has really helped me get my head around what is going on. I think I will just leave him to it and as Erny said just wander around the garden and practise "give" "take" some more with him and his toys. One thing that I am concerned of is we will be getting another dog in the future, not any time really soon as we still have a lot of work we want to do with Oscar before adding another puppy. But will this have any impact if we had two dogs and fed them both bones? Oscar gets Raw Meaty Bones daily so I wouldn't want this to be come an issue when adding another puppy to the pack. Again thanks so much all the responses were great and much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Thanks so much for all the great input and suggestions, it has really helped me get my head around what is going on. I think I will just leave him to it and as Erny said just wander around the garden and practise "give" "take" some more with him and his toys. One thing that I am concerned of is we will be getting another dog in the future, not any time really soon as we still have a lot of work we want to do with Oscar before adding another puppy. But will this have any impact if we had two dogs and fed them both bones? Oscar gets Raw Meaty Bones daily so I wouldn't want this to be come an issue when adding another puppy to the pack. Again thanks so much all the responses were great and much appreciated. Depending on your other dog at that time i owuld be more inclined to give bones separate or crate one. Here all can happily eat bones etc etc without hassles but we also dont create an opportunity for something to happen.You must be smart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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