Jealousy among my dogs

[k9mom24]

I would certainly recommend getting Jean Donaldson's book, "Mine!". What I would recommend if you were a training client of mine is this... Always remember... Dogs do what works! If your dog does anything at all that is followed by something he likes he will do it again. Having said that let's think about the situation at hand. One dog being petted. Good for dog. Second dog approaches for petting. Bad for dog #1. Dog #1 growls and snarls at dog #2. Dog #2 backs off and no longer solicites attention from person doing the petting. Great for dog #1!!! Bad for dog #2. So here is what I suggest. If you are sitting on the couch petting dog #1 (resource guarder), dog #2 approaches, dog #1 growls and snarls, ****person stands up and walks away having said nothing to either dog and acting as if there are no dogs in the area for approximately 30 seconds****. This is basically the person's way of telling dog #1 that the resource guarding behavior will not be tolerated and dog #1 WILL NOT be reinforced for that behavior. It would be pretty obvious to dog #1 to do this on your camping trip. Can you imagine an entire group of 6 or 8 people getting up and walking away from dog #1? Dog #1 says, "Ugh! Not the reaction I was hoping for!" His brain begins to tell him, "Growling and snarling at approaching dogs while I am being petted makes everyone leave!" Not good for dog #1! I hope this helps! Good luck!

jessi

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Thank you Jessi. That is an excellent way to deal with such an issue and very similar to how I handle these cases in my behavioral practice.

Another way I have handled the situation is to never give my dogs petting type attention when THEY solicit it from me. I wait until my dogs are calm and not bugging me then I call them to me together and pet them together. That way, neither dog learns that she can receive attention from me without MY instigating it and therefore there is no reason for them to be jealous of one another. But that was used primarily for my own two dogs and I use this technique for other multi-dog households.

The technique jessi describes can additionally be used outside of the home with dogs other than those with whom a guarding dog lives.

 

[NIck]

I had this same problem when kya was about 8 mths old. Whenever I would pet any dog, no matter where she was in another room outside she would come up to the other dog snarl and attck her. This ONLY happened twice. All I did was grab her by the scruff of her neck and during her episode held her therre and stared her in the eyes And said NO very sternly. This NEVER happed again she will comeup to me if I am petting another dog but thats she will stand there and and wait until its her turn. I couldnt believe this worked. I cant say this would work for anyone else but Kya has never exhibited any behavoir like that again.

Nick

 

[TracyLynn]

I read and still use the mthods in "Mine" a lot also. My Rita is a resource guarder and I am what she guards. The methods are GREAT, but do not expect something quick with the counter conditioning because it is a slow process. I am guessing you would also need two people - one would have to hold Griffin on a leash. The reason it is so slow is that there is little room for error. If Griffin attacks again after starting the process you have to start back at square one. I had a very hard time finding the book also, and ordered from a website Dan provided.