she bit him! - Paw Talk

Angelnstuff · #1 01-03-2007, 12:16 AM

Allie bit david on christmas eve, she had her new toy on the couch, and david was kinda pretending to take it away, she growled a little warning, then she snaped at him, shes done it before but never actually made contact, or left marks. we took her toy away for like a week. gave it back to her and she played nice awhile, tonight she was playing on the couch again, i came and sat next to her on the couch to pet her and she went off again, didnt bit but sure tried to..

what can we do about this? besides stop giving her toys.. i really want her to be able to sit on the couch with us and play with her toys like she used too.. and at some point in the future i'd like to get another dog, and with her like this with us, i'd hate to think what would happen with another dog.

Angelnstuff · #2 01-04-2007, 08:29 PM

um, bump?

Ambieruns10 · #3 01-04-2007, 09:10 PM

Oh man, that sucks. Katie snapped at Brian once, but she was protecting me. It was went we first started dating.

Anyway, have you thought about seeing a behaviorist? Dogs should not be protective of toys or food when they are around humans.

How old is she? There are some positive re-inforcement things you could try.

CoCo Chanel · #4 01-05-2007, 02:55 PM

there was an article i read last night about this.... let me look for the link... and post it later...

but one of the suggestions was to not give back that toy...

also... it says something like if an object, usually food, is in a dog's mouth, it generally means its theirs...even in a pack.... its respected...and has nothing to do with dominance issue...

but let me look for this article.

Angelnstuff · #5 01-05-2007, 04:07 PM

We usually do take her toy away, for a few days atleast.. but im soft and usually end up giving it back to her, Allie cant really run and play like other dogs, so i feel bad for taking away a toy she really likes to play with. Sometimes she'll sit on the couch next to me play so nicely, and other times..she just doesnt want us near her. i think its partially davids fault cuz he likes to tease her, he wants to try and get her to play tug-a-war with her toys, but allie thinks hes just taking her toys away.. i dunno, if you can find that article i'd really appreciate it.

Amber- Allie will be 2 this coming april.. i dont think theres any behaviorist around here, this is a small kind of old fashion town, but there is a lady who write an article in the paper every once in awhile that leaves a number, next time i see one maybe i'll give her a call.

kathydip · #6 01-05-2007, 06:11 PM

What about making a game of taking toys away and giving them back? Maybe you should not start with that toy though. You could also give her treats when you take a toy away so that it seems like a good thing. I taught Frank "wanna trade?" that means if he drops what he has he gets a treat. It works well. Although lately he has been dropping it further away and he will try to get his treat and get back to whatever it was he had.
And you may just have to take the toy she is too agressive about away. Belle is banned from any rawhides for this reason.

Angelnstuff · #7 01-05-2007, 06:28 PM

if we pull out her treats shed prolly forget all about the toy, as we've tried to get her to play with her toy on the couch while we have dinner or something, that never works.. food overrides toys.. and as far as using a different toy.. allie either loves a toy or totally ignores it.. so using a different toy wouldnt really work. i dunno, its getting to the point where im thinking we are either gonna have to stop getting her toys, and just stick to giving her her kong in her crate.. her kong is the only toy i feel safe about leaving her alone with, her other toys she only is allowed to play with when shes on the couch with us, so that we can be there incase she gets a piece off or something..