Territorial Domination?

[Winniee]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I was just curious as it only seems to be with Teddy, he want's to play and stay with every other dog we see on walks. I also thought he might have been trying to bully because of the size difference.

Buster turned 1 on the 1st of May and is a casual one, he won't fetch sticks or anyting he will chase a ball sniff it and then chew it, he just wants all his stuff around him. He even growls at me a few times when I stroke him as he is chewing a bone, I just leave him to it now as he obviously doesn't want me to take it away.

PS, Haven't been able to reply sooner as the site forums have been down for me so couldn't access until I tried today. Also that video of Cami made me feel alot better, he has only made noises that sound that malicious on 2 occasions. Once when the window cleaner walked through the gate, hair sticking up, back end in the air barking his head off and he had a snap at the 2 yorkie behind us the other day. One nipped his nose I think haha.

Cheers agian guys, think I'm gunna stick around here.

 

[srennie]

He even growls at me a few times when I stroke him as he is chewing a bone, I just leave him to it now as he obviously doesn't want me to take it away.

I'd definitley be working on this. He should be willing to hand over anything and everything to you. Not only is it showing a lack of respect to you...it can be a safety issue if he has something dangerous and you can't retrieve it from him.

 

[EAO76]

He should not be guarding things from you. There are some easy training exercises to work on this behavior. The best way to start is by practicing trading. He has a plastic bone (or whatever) & you trade him for a treat (you always trade up so he is being rewarded for letting go). Then when he relinquishes nicely he gets his bone back. I would definitely work on that ASAP. A great book on the subject is MINE! - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO RESOURCE GUARDING IN DOGS by Jean Donaldson

Here is an article that may help you http://www.4pawsu.com/Donaldson.pdf

 

[happycamper]

I agree with everything posted so far. I don't see anything in that video that would be cause for alarm - nothing overly aggressive. Just two dogs interacting with each other. Regarding the growling at you, thats a bit of a different story. You need to nip that in the but right away. He MUST submit to you at all times, and with everything that he considers "his". He's right at the age where he is going to starting testing his boundaries, including trying to establish dominance in the pack - perfectly normal behavior. Now is the time to make sure he understands that you are the one and only "top dog".

 

[Winniee]

I see, we picked him up when he was about 16 week old and he was in a right state, could see his bones and was fretting whenever somebody went to stroke him. I kinda left it down to that but I don't wanna get bit trying to teach him. He is happy enough to obey me before I give him the bone. "Sit, paw" then when he has it it's a little different. I tried yesterday, stroked is head and he looked up at me, then I went to grab (No intention of taking it. Just testing the waters) and he put his ead down on top of it so I couldn't get it, not sure if he would have growled or bit me but I left him.

 

[srennie]

It sounds like you are a little afraid of him so it would be a really good idea for you to enlist some help from a professional. The more you 'give in' to him, the more power he thinks he has. Every time you let him have his own way with the guarding, it will get worse because his tactics have worked and he knows he can boss you around. I know it seems easier to leave well enough alone but this could create a monster and be a safety hazard to him. I would strongly suggest NOT doing any 'testing of the waters' until you learn the proper way to deal with this behavior. Every time you try and fail he feels he has won and it becomes a power struggle...almost like a bully situation rather than a partnership and friendship of mutual respect that I'm sure you want to have with him.

 

[EAO76]

you shouldn't just be trying (or pretending) to take the object. You should be trading for something else. Essentially you are teaching the command "drop it". Here is a quick article on how to teach drop it. How to Train Your Dog to Drop It | eHow.com If you'd like more info you can google "teaching dog drop it" and tons of info will come up including YOU TUBE videos that will give step by step instructions. Also if you are nervous about picking up the object you can show him the treat and then lead him slightly away from whatever he is guarding. If your training treat is yummy enough it should make him forget about the other item...which greatly reduces the chance of him biting. If you follow the instruction in this article its actually fairly simple to teach. And once the dog realizes he is going to get something even better he will drop the item without a second thought.

 

[ehayes21]

Here's another good article on guarding.

ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- Help for Object Guarding