I would stop them and discourage any attempts of stealing (body language). This can lead to fights down the road and I've seen it with my dogs. Even good natured dogs get pissed off, like mine for example.

To me, it is also a sign of being a bully.

 

Thanks. That's what I try to do, but don't always catch them in time. Sometimes they can play nicely, each with their own toys; sometimes Katie is a snot and very definitely a bully. Not sure how to address that.

 

You can redirect or verbally interrupt/correct or remove them and keep them tethered to you (loss of freedom) for not listening. The more times you correct verbally, the less they will do it again or at least the more responsive they will get overtime with just a verbal phrase. At least this is the case with my big pest dog. I say "leave her alone".

 

Between Maisy and Squash I really don't do anything unless it seems like they're getting overstimulated. They pretty freely take stuff from each other and play keepaway, but they both obviously enjoy it and don't resource guard from each other. If it actually caused conflict with them, I would just try to separate or run interference so it didn't happen, or give the "victim" something else when the taker took something.

Pip resource guards, so I generally don't allow toys at all when all three are together. In the yard, he will hoard sticks and I keep a close eye on things but honestly, the others are very responsive to his signals and I haven't seen them try to take anything from him since Squash was a rambunctious teenager who didn't know any better.

 

I don't do anything. None of my dogs resource guard at all with toys or chews. They trade around frequently. It's not targeted, bullying type behavior though. Any sign that the dog who has it really wants to keep it and the dog trying to take it backs off. So for us it's just not a problem.

 

Ryker is a bully and steals from Gypsy if she isn't vigilant with whatever she has. Sometimes he will just lay there and watch her intently while she chews on a ball. He wont take it out of her mouth or anything, but if she lets her guard down and looks away he will snatch it up. Gypsy usually doesn't care, but if she really likes whatever she has she will growl at him and he will back off. Sometimes I will separate them if he's being too much of a jerk or take away the toys.

 

This is Jewel to a T. She won't actively take something away, but the second a foster drops it or walks away, Jewel nabs it.

 

Thanks. I'll watch closely and see what seems to be happening. Right now, Tyson generally gives up what he has readily, but I wonder if that will continue into adulthood. I need one of you to come to my house and explain my dogs to me. I can tempt you with an assortment of BBQ meats and a visit to a lovely arboretum.

They (um, Katie mostly) do get overstimulated at times, but as I've said before, if they intended to do damage, it would have been done already. Plus, Tyson runs right back to Katie given the opportunity.

 

if you catch it before they successfully steal it,, you call the attempting thief off to you to give a food reward for letting go and coming to you. (attempt to give them another toy) which usually doesn't work lol ... I take the opportunity to teach out come, and work on OB work with the attempted offender.. in hopes to distract them long enough to let it go , have a full belly to be content to go lay down and sleep it off.. and get in some good distraction work at the same time...


If they do steal... again with the OB skills... come sit give... food reward, food reward the dog who loss their toy but didn't eat the other dogs face off for doing it... give the toy back to the 1st dog...

same with work on ob skills of the taker
or work on a 3-some of me and two dogs taking turns catching having the toy then releasing letting it go , and waiting still so the other dog can have a turn at it...

got to take your opportunities where they come for teaching better interaction skills.. so always teaching better way to handle it that will help in the future for the group.... and not correcting over it...

 

I keep identical toys and bones out at all times. Eeyore still takes items from the puppy by threatening him, but then I'll grab something similar and enjoy it with the puppy. That way E misses out of the fun if he steals. Then, if E grabs something else than the stolen item and wants to play, I'll reward that with attention. If he keeps taking Tippex's toy, I just grab the one he just abandoned and keep interacting with the puppy, or shut him out of the room if he's being mean. I can't say much about the result so far, other than that it doesn't escalate anything and by the end they're both hppy with their own item again.

Most of the time they play nicely with each other, and can gnaw on the same bone or play tug with noses touching. But if Tippex is annoying Eeyore and not listening to his signals, I'll remove T. To me that's the same thing, to make sure the dogs feel I care about their boundaries and they're allowed some integrity, and that they don't have to escalate into conflict to get left alone. Obviously T doesn't do that yet, but I don't want him to just snap the day he grows old enough to stand up for himself.

 

As others have said it really depends on the dogs involved and what THEY think of the stealing. With some of the fosters and Jubel they frequently take toys from each other and it either becomes a game or they just don't care one way or the other. If Jubel really wants to keep something he will give a little warning growl to say back off and usually re-position himself and the toy away from the other dog. Usually the other dog will respect that and back off, if they don't I will step in and redirect the other dog, I trust Jubel to not escalate it without giving good warnings.

Some fosters do NOT want to share toys to varying levels. For some it's "all the toys are mine and don't you dare touch them," in that case all toys are picked up to avoid conflicts. Others simply want to be left alone if they have a toy, the vast majority of the time Jubel respects that and leaves them alone. Currently Lizzy is a little possessive of toys, not enough that I can't leave them out (dogs are always supervised when together) but that I do need to actively monitor if she has a toy. She snarked at Jubel when I was playing fetch with her and he decided he wanted to join the fun and chased the ball too. So now if Jubel wants to play too I make them take turns, this requires holding her collar for now on Jubel's turn but she seems to be getting the idea. Last night she pulled both nylabones up on the couch with her, wasn't chewing either but they were near her. Jubel came over to take one and she snarked at him over it. Since she gets the small dog pass from Jubel and he ignores her rude behavior it's just a matter of management for me, if she was staying long term I'd work on sharing games with them.