Agressiveness?
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Agressiveness?
Submitted by Anonymous on April 20, 2010 - 6:01pmBruiser is 14 months old, and has NEVER displayed any kind of agressive or assertive behavior besides insisting on being the center of attenion. Yesterday he was eating a treat. It was a large rawhide chew. Normally I do not give him these, but he left the vet's office with it in a bag. He knew it was there and very much wanted it. He had one and Bama, 17 weeks old, had another. First of all he would not let Bama have hers. He would drop his and take hers. I would just give her the one he dropped. This "take away happened several times until Bama lost interest in either chew. They played fine for another hour, then as Bama started to play, basically on Bruiser's head he gave a growl-bark(a serious one). It was definitely directed towards Bama. She shrugged it off and went on her way. I decided enough was enough with the rawhide so I tried to take it away from Bruiser. He knew what I was about to do and took off. When I restrained him and reached for his mouth he growled at me. I don't tolerate that kind of behavior. I took his face in my hands, told him no, and gave him a long hard stare. Then in a much softer tone I coaxed him into letting go of the rawhide, which he did looking a little ashamed of himself.
OK, What did I do wrong/right, and what can I do to ensure that this type of behavior does not Adminse again.
Let me say again that Bruiser is normally not aggressive with treats, toys, or food. I ususally can and do reach in his food bowl, reach in his mouth to take things out, and he has never been mean to Bama in any way. As a matter of fact in the beginning I thought Bama would be the dominant dog. He normally lets her chew on his nylabone's and kong's even when he is chewing on them. Thanks
Rawhide
Our last girl Lucy was the most timid and gentle bully ever. But when she had a rawhide, she changed. The cat couldn't even walk by her when she had it and she would charge at him. However, she was never agressive towards us even if she had it. It was only with rawhides, nothing else.
Thank You
I will check it out.
Trainers and reading
Betsy,
Trainers in St. Louis
Dorene Olson
314-956-1310
Lucy Bailey
314-727-6880
"The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson is a good book, easy to read.
Good luck
Lynn K
Practice object exchange
With both dogs. Dogs are not born with a sharing gene. A couple of times a day, when they are chewing/playing with a toy, take a yummy treat, show them what you have, toss the treat a few inches from their nose, when they go for the treat, pick up the toy. Praise for good behavior, have them sit and return the toy. Do this with any object they have, especially ones you dont want them to have ie. shoes, remote etc. It teaches them to "give" without the power struggle. If a dog has an item they truly covet, you can end up getting bit, so practicing object exchange teaches them that giving is a great thing.
That said, rawhide bones are not recommended, they become soft and can get stuck in their throats or digestive system.
Smooches to the babes
Lynn K
Lynn K. can recommend a good trainer...
I'm sure she'll be looking at this board and when she sees this, she'll post some names for you.
Smiles,
Jeanne
Behavior
I am interested in learning about the dynamics of canine behavior. What are some books that you trainers out there reccomend. I live in the St. Louis Mo area. Can anyone reccomend a good trainer in the area.
Rawhides
Yes I usually don't give them to him either, when he does get them I stay right there with him. When it starts to get soft in the trash it goes.
Betsy...
I asked a similar question about new toys. Lynn explained to me that new toys are great treasures/prizes to dogs. I really hadn't looked at it that way. Some people responded that they hide the new toys in the bottom of the toy box. Others that they try to rub the scents of old toys on the new ones.
However...I do not believe in giving rawhide chews to Bullies. They get soft and can get stuck in their throat. They can be very dangerous.
As to aggressivness, I would say no. Just too special a treasure and he wanted to keep it.
I'm sure others will have other answers as to how you could have handed this.
Hugs to your babies,
Jeanne