Bone Aggression

[BC Crazy]

Hi Olivebaby, Stella was a very fierce resource guarder when I got her at 12 weeks but only with her chic wings. When I gave her her very first wing, she snatched it off me & when I went near her

she bared her teeth,ears flattened, growled & charged at me. She meant business. I was very upset about it but in her eyes she thought I was going to take her precious wing.I stepped back (big mistake)

should of stood my ground but like you,I was frightened. In every other way she was great,could do/take anything out of her mouth e.t.c. As I had lost my confidence momentarily OH took over her 'chic wing' time.

With advice from very helpful Doler's & Stella's breeder OH played the 'give & take' game all the time. He would have 2 wings, give her 1, then swap with her or he'd walk up to her & take it off her then give it straight back.

with praise. There was never a sign of aggression again. Thankfully this method worked really well for us & we still play the game occasionally just to keep her on her toes.Hope this was of some help.You know this doesn't mean

that Olive is a BAD puppy.Just protecting something she really treasures. Having said that it is not something to be taken lightly as it can be very dangerous if left to continue.If you are not confident or unsure,get

professional help ASAP. Good luck, keep us posted

Edited July 29, 2011 by BC Crazy

[Olivebaby]

I am happy to report some progress with olive thanks to all your advice. So Olive only eats her bones in one part of the yard. Today I took a small brisket bone outside and let her lick it and my hands while I was holding it. Then I gave it to her but stayed sitting in her spot, I don't think she knew what to do so she stayed as well. Ahe let me pat her and praise her, no growls Or signs of aggression. I walked away and came back with liver treats and then threw them in front of her. She left her bone and ate the treats. I gradually got closer and closer until she was eating them from my hand tail wagging! I left her in peace and she continued happily munching on her bone. Might try doing this a few times before I start swapping bones with her. Thanks again for all your help and support :-)

[persephone]

Thanks for the update, Olivebaby ... go slowly and keep things calm...

[Flyntahn]

Try having two bones and playing swappsy. She may not feel so threatened then. She will also get used to you taking them from her.

[Weasels]

Sometimes I wonder how i'd get anywhere with my dogs if they weren't so keen for treats Glad to hear she's doing so well already

Edited July 30, 2011 by Weasels

[Maddy]

Agree with Poodlefan about professional help and only giving bones when the dog is crated.

You shouldn't take anything out of your dogs mouth, that is just encouraging the aggression because your dog feels that it needs to protect the bone from you, and even scarier is that some dogs will start swallowing things if they think you are about to take it off them, trust me that is not a situation you want to be in, very expensive vet visit.

I'd have to disagree with this one.

I can take things straight out of my dogs' mouths with no trouble- they know they'll get it back (unless it's a bit of bone that I know they'll have too much trouble with, in which case it gets swapped for a new one, so no loss for them) and no one tries to swallow or growls at me.

Teaching a dog to accept having things removed from its mouth, in my opinion, makes them safer; if they're eating something dangerous, you can get it back without a fight. If they've stolen someone else's dinner, you can get it back. If they're choking or having trouble with something in their mouth, no issues with sticking your hand in there (I've had to do this once before and I'm very grateful my dogs are used to this sort of thing).

Obviously this requires training but given the ability to tolerate that sort of handling could literally save your dog's life, worth doing.

Experiences are only negative if you make them negative for your dog- remove bone, insert treat, praise, give back bone- positive experience for the dog.

[Weasels]

Hardy's Angel I don't think they are saying you should never take things out of their mouths, just not take things away unnecessarily while the aggression problem is still being treated. Then work up to taking things out of their mouth.

I also like to have a rock solid "drop it" command because then I can stop them eating bad things even if I'm not in grabbing distance.

[Odin-Genie]

Agree with Poodlefan about professional help and only giving bones when the dog is crated.

You shouldn't take anything out of your dogs mouth, that is just encouraging the aggression because your dog feels that it needs to protect the bone from you, and even scarier is that some dogs will start swallowing things if they think you are about to take it off them, trust me that is not a situation you want to be in, very expensive vet visit.

I'd have to disagree with this one.

I can take things straight out of my dogs' mouths with no trouble- they know they'll get it back (unless it's a bit of bone that I know they'll have too much trouble with, in which case it gets swapped for a new one, so no loss for them) and no one tries to swallow or growls at me.

Teaching a dog to accept having things removed from its mouth, in my opinion, makes them safer; if they're eating something dangerous, you can get it back without a fight. If they've stolen someone else's dinner, you can get it back. If they're choking or having trouble with something in their mouth, no issues with sticking your hand in there (I've had to do this once before and I'm very grateful my dogs are used to this sort of thing).

Obviously this requires training but given the ability to tolerate that sort of handling could literally save your dog's life, worth doing.

Experiences are only negative if you make them negative for your dog- remove bone, insert treat, praise, give back bone- positive experience for the dog.

My goldy had a resource guarding issue as a puppy. Her trainer asked me to use the swap option. So everytime I asked her to drop the bone, I gave her a slice of raw meat. That way she saw my approach and my picking up the bone as a rewarding event. However, i picked up the bone only after she had almost finished it.

Today, at three years of age, I can take any bone right out of both of my dogs' mouths, without even using a reward, and be 100% sure that there will be no reaction.

[poodlefan]

I'd have to disagree with this one.

I can take things straight out of my dogs' mouths with no trouble- they know they'll get it back (unless it's a bit of bone that I know they'll have too much trouble with, in which case it gets swapped for a new one, so no loss for them) and no one tries to swallow or growls at me...

Experiences are only negative if you make them negative for your dog- remove bone, insert treat, praise, give back bone- positive experience for the dog.

Let me guess.. none of your dogs is a serious resource guarder? I too can take things from my dogs - but we're not talking about my dogs or yours.

Weasels is correct. I'm saying that approaching a growling dog who is warning you off to take something from its mouth is nuts.

Better to manage the issue and work on a fix that doesn't involve an aggression incident than be a microsurgery patient... and it does happen.

[Maddy]

I'd have to disagree with this one.

I can take things straight out of my dogs' mouths with no trouble- they know they'll get it back (unless it's a bit of bone that I know they'll have too much trouble with, in which case it gets swapped for a new one, so no loss for them) and no one tries to swallow or growls at me...

Experiences are only negative if you make them negative for your dog- remove bone, insert treat, praise, give back bone- positive experience for the dog.

Let me guess.. none of your dogs is a serious resource guarder? I too can take things from my dogs - but we're not talking about my dogs or yours.

Weasels is correct. I'm saying that approaching a growling dog who is warning you off to take something from its mouth is nuts.

Better to manage the issue and work on a fix that doesn't involve an aggression incident than be a microsurgery patient... and it does happen.

*Eye twitch*

Just lost my whole post..

The short version.. Yes, one of my dogs was a serious resource guarder. No, I wasn't suggesting the OP just stick her hand in the dog's mouth and hope for the best- it takes a lot of training to get to that point but that is, in my opinion, the point you want to be able to get to.

[poodlefan]

The short version.. Yes, one of my dogs was a serious resource guarder. No, I wasn't suggesting the OP just stick her hand in the dog's mouth and hope for the best- it takes a lot of training to get to that point but that is, in my opinion, the point you want to be able to get to.

No disagreement here.