Possesive behaviour

Pennyhp

Pennyhp

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We have recently aquired a puppy. He is now around 4 to 5 months old. We have had him around 8 weeks.
His mum is an austrailian sheep dog & dad is a German sheperd.
He is very good natured and likes kids although still a little boisterous.
Right from the start I made him sit and wait for my command before eating his food and he picked this up really well. Also I make a point of removing his food for a few seconds now and again and he is fine.
However recently if you touch him or stroke him when he is chewing a toy or chew he will go still and look up at you and has even growled and snapped (not at all hard but it feels like a warning).
also whenever he has something which he thinks you might want, he runs away so you can't take it off him.

I would love some advice on how to deal with this problem, before it becomes a set patern of behaviour.

He is such a nice dog in all other respects.

Penny
 
only give the toys on your terms ie dont leave them lying around. Once you've decided when playtime ends, toys/chews go away. I would actually not use chews atm. Make sure dog is fed last, if he is still on 2/3 meals a day he should see you eat first, even if its a slice of bread-establish that pecking order! insist that you/other family members go through doorways before him,keep him off furniture. Also, sit in his bed occasionally.
With a slightly dominant dog like this it pays to be quite strict now IMHO wrt boundaries. above all be consistant, dont let him get away with somethig one day and not the next.
Are you doing any formal dog training with him?
 
I would agree with some of the above.....definatley take the toys/chews away......and when u do want to play with him....choose one good stimulating toy....i.e a ball and try and get him to retrieve it....and recall him to sit and ask for the ball....if he gives it reward him with praise/treat as a reward for handing it over, effectivley he is assosiating handing over one object for a tastier reward...and will assosiate u with the exchange.....give a command .ie. GIVE.
Only allow the toys to be played with outside and not in the home...(your space)when finished training with the toy....take it away and place it somewhere he cannot access it without supervision.
When u feel confident with the toy and he responds well try the exchange with the treats....offering an exchange for something tastier, but never add lib and never overdo it with the treats....maybe when is is spending long periods alone....if u come home and there is still some chew left over remove it.
if he already does so....as mentioned above....keep him off the furniture and keep him from going up stairs.....treat him as a dog......and dont allow him access to the whole of the house when displaying this type of behaviour...esp as he is going to be a potentially big dog.
I think if he is typically nice natured...u have to keep on top of the possesive behaviour he is showing..and definatley think about a training class where he can learn basic commands and u will get ongoing advice.
Try and built up a trusting and consistent relationship and....by way of excersise, training, and some one on one time.
 
I have never agreed with the 'being able to take the dog's food away if I want to' procedure & it is something I seldom do without good reason.
It is not a natural behaviour, as even a low ranking canine will defend its food once allowed access to it & I truly believe it fosters resentment & confusion in the dog rather than an accepting, submissive response, often creating just the scenario you describe with toys, chews etc.
Better to drop food INTO the dog's bowl to create a more positive association with approaching hands etc.

As you are already experiencing some problems, I suggest you try the 'swap for better' approach perhaps, offering a treat (used with caution as CALA said! lol) in return for giving you, or letting you take, his current plaything.
However, he would also benefit from further training in 'give' or 'drop' & a more controlled form of play, 'throw & fetch' being pretty harmless, as opposed to 'tug of war' games for example!

Possessive behaviour is usually the result of either true dominant behaviour or the fear (& expectation) of having something unfairly removed. The latter is mainly a confidence issue, the former requires a broader level of general training to sort out, though even small things such as insisting the dog always move out of YOUR way rather than the other way round, will make a big difference quite quickly!
 
my reply was kind of short on the more positive/kind aspect of training (I blame the long hours and the vino!). I wasnt meaning to sound as if you had to be mean, just set boundaries. excellent advice from the other posters and would again recommend a good training class.
 
I had this problem with my old lurcher who in every other respect was a complete angel. He was 13 weeks old when I got him, had already had 4 homes and was quite wild. He attacked me the first time I took a stick of him when he was playing but that's the last time he did it too!

If you think of the psychology of the dog it may make sense of why he's doing it and how to stop it. As far as he's concerned it's his toy/chew and he wants to keep it. The growl and aggresive posture is telling you 'keep off, it's mine' and by backing off in fear you've reinforced what he thinks, that he's the boss. He has to learn that he will get it back, but that you are the boss and you will remove it when you want. I wore a thick gardening glove, held a treat in the other hand and showed the dog, made no eye contact and simply removed the chew with the gloved hand, gave him the treat and gave him lots of praise, then immediately gave him the chew back. I repeated this over and over again, several times in a row and on random one-off occasions until he was relaxed and gave it up easily. Later on you can replace the returning of the chew with lots of praise or a game he likes so you don't always have to give it back but he won't resent you for taking it.

He's still very young and has lots to learn about fitting in with his humans and as a cross between 2 intelligent, dominant and fiesty breeds you'll have your work cut out for you. Good luck!
 
PS I have to admit that my dogs have free run of all the house except the spare bedroom and the 'good' sitting room, sleep on the bed and the furniture and have access to toys and bones and treat balls all day and night, they eat first and do all the other things dogs shouldn't do but they are all 3 immpecably behaved and do whatever I ask of them with no grumbles.
 
QR, they are all diferent. I have a rescue that I've had since 2yo and have to constantly be aware of keeping boundaries as he's shown fear aggression in the past with possesive behaviour. The other I've had since a pup and can do anything with him-he could be allowed on furniture, could have access to chews/toys etc etc and I really dont think it would ever cause any problems.
 

Thanks all of you for the replies and the very good advice. Some of this we have already implemented.
My husband used to let him get up with him on the furniture.
We had already decided that his idea of the place in the pack was not the same as ours.
He is already not allowed in the bedrooms but we havn't been as strict with as we should and wil now remedy that.
Just to clarify, we havn't at any time backed off in fear and he is really not that bad, but I can see the potential for trouble.
Our last dog was a rescue dog and so much at the bottom of the pack that anyone could take anything off him and he was greatful for anything, therefore he could be allowed free access to all areas and endless cuddles on the settee etc.
As has been pointed out he is going to be big and his breeding carries with it certain personality traits and intelligence.
We will start formal training with him very soon and also as we live on a farm and he doesn't meet many other dogs we will start to take him to the free run dog park this week too so that he can learn to socialise.

Thanks again for the good advice, will let you know how we get on.

Penny
 
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