Possesive over a bone

829 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by LilasMom, Mar 7, 2012

Zairah

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2012

My normally very well behaved not an aggressive bone in her body 1 year old lab/poodle/cocker mix nearly bit my husband last night.

We bought her a bone as a treat, which we do often, though this was a different kind. She was happily eating it and my husband went to take it from her because it was bed time, and she growled, lowered her head, but her paws over the bone. My husband was confused as she has never done anything like that before over anything, not a bone, food or a toy. He proceeded to try to take the bone and she growled more and opened her mouth like she was coming to bite him. She was all tensed up, not herself at all, completely possesive of the bone.

Do we just never buy her this type of bone again? Is it a warning of things to come and we need to do something about it? Was he wrong to take the bone at all?

We ended up putting her on her side and making her submit. We then practiced taking it away from her a few more times but were not sure if we were doing harm or good. She growled at us again and kept trying to protect the bone with her paws.

Oddly I gave it back to her this morning and she was hardly even interested in it.

Any advice would be very much appriciated!

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Amaryllis

· #2 · Mar 6, 2012

Okay, please do not put a dog on her side to make her "submit". This is old alpha theory and does tremendous harm to your relationship with the dog.

What she was doing is called "resource guarding". It is a very common thing and not a sign of dangerous aggression. It is also quite treatable, but not by alpha rolling the dog. Search this forum for "resource guarding". There are lots of good threads with great advice that will help you and your pup.

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Zairah

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 6, 2012

Thanks! I shall search right now!

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Zairah

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 6, 2012

Reading some threads now. Just so you don't think I'm over here pushing my dog to the ground every 5 minutes...We taught her all tricks and commands with positive reinforcement (treats) and only make her lay on her side extremely rarely when she is doing something we considered aggressive. It was kind of her punishment. Now that I'm reading about it here, I'm having some regrets for even doing it those few times.

Thanks again for the reply, I'm glad to know it was her being agressive!

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LilasMom

· #5 · Mar 7, 2012 (Edited)

Zairah said:
Reading some threads now. Just so you don't think I'm over here pushing my dog to the ground every 5 minutes...We taught her all tricks and commands with positive reinforcement (treats) and only make her lay on her side extremely rarely when she is doing something we considered aggressive. It was kind of her punishment. Now that I'm reading about it here, I'm having some regrets for even doing it those few times.

Thanks again for the reply, I'm glad to know it was her being agressive!

It wasn't aggression. Aggression is different from resource guarding. And I agree about the alpha stuff, even as "punishment", it isn't a good idea. Like in the wild, when a dog is getting alpha rolled it can mean they are about to be fought and killed, which can instill great fear in a dog. Instead of punishing a dog you should redirect and show them what you want them to do instead. They don't know you are punishing them, all they know is that "mom" is mad now. Next time you need to take something, "trade up" and offer something tasty in return for the bone. At night when it is time for the bully sticks to be put up (chew toy made out of beef), I give a little treat in return for the stick. I distract them with the treat, and while they are eating the treat I take the bully. I break the treat up really tiny and spread it out so I have time to take the stick away.

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