Snapping at me
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| How old is the terrorist in training? It sounds like resource guarding. One safer way to deal with this is to play the trade up game. Scenario: she snags something, you say nothing, quietly go to fridge, grab something truly delectable, call her to you and offer her whatever. Since she can't chew both let's say the roast beef and the purloined slipper at the same time, she has to drop one to get the other, ideally in your hand.... In her case I wouldn't wait till she snags something you're worried about but if she plays with toys, maybe get a head start on the game that way. And it doesn't always have to be trading up with food. Some dogs love toys so much let' say she's carrying her tennis ball, you offer her some other toy in exchange for the ball. The goal is to make giving you things a really great deal she can't pass up. Right now when you take things away all that nets her is....nothing. Most dogs will let the human get away with that because they respect that human has certain rights that go against the canine code of ethics. It helps to imprint this in them from the time they open their eyes and jaws...BUT, in the canine world possession really is the law and even a dominant dog cannot walk up and grab something away from any other dog - they have to wait for the other dog to drop it and let it out of their immediate vicinity. Some sneaky wenches, I mention no names, learned that the quickest way to get what she wants is to run to a door or window and stand there barking at it. The dog who has whatever she wants will almost inevitably jump up, leaving, say, the bone Ms Dominant covets, and run to the door and bark with the other dogs. At which point the instigator sneaks back, picks up the bone and now it is HERS and no one (but me) can take it away from her. I figure I have some things to learn from her... It's not natural for dogs to voluntarily give up high value items for no good reason so you're going against nature here and will probably have to work it for some time. It absolutely could be an issue with kids, much more so than adults. That has to be worked separately and very carefully, and only with kids who are old enough to understand what you're trying to do. Younger kids just have to be managed. Kristine |
| She is almost 15 months! Thanks for the great reply. I have tried the trade thing but feel like I am rewarding bad behavior. :-/ |
| When I started the trade thing I felt that way too. When I tell Zeke to trade now, he knows to drop whatever it is, and I take it right in front of him and make sure he sees me take it. Only then do I give him the trade. Eventually you want to be able to tell him 'trade' followed by an immediate drop. It takes time and being consistent. Keep at it Shellie |
| Yes I definatley think we are dealing with resource guarding. Khloe was under the dining room table with nothing this morning and the baby went into the room and she snapped at him and sort of lunged. It scared us. I think she views the under side of the table hers. She must feel threatened when anyone comes near. Should I have him toss treats to her if he is going to enter or what? |
| Not only resource guarding it is getting serious with you and especially with your youngster and Klohe being unpredictable now. Lunging and snapping at kids or anyone, is just not on and now entering a very dangerous stage, with the risk of your child being bitten if Khloe when she snaps and lunges makes contact. Advice, time to call in a behaviouralist or one on one trainer into the house to help you deal with how she is and how she is bahaving in her enviroment and to give you professional advice on how too deal and remedy this type of unpredictable behaviour she is displaying. I would also take her to some form of obedience classes as well, along with getting some one in to help give you advice & one on one tips to dealing with Khloe now, she is not the baby puppy anymore and definately needs along with you some one in the know to stop this altogether before it turns into a tragedy with "My dog Bit My Child" It would of scared the hell out of me too with how she was under the table and her actions towards you son. Be safe and get in a professional now.  |
| One of the things you can also try is to make the underneath of the dining table no longer available to her. Block off the room if possible. Don't let her get to "her" table anymore. |
We had issues with resource guarding when Inca was a 'teenager' too - it got worse before it got better and it took a lot of persistence and vigilence on our part, but we got there  . I wouldn't say it's not an issue any more (Inca is now 4 years) - but we know how to handle it. For Inca, we were advised to keep her on a house line at all times, and then you can remove her from wherever she shouldn't be without having to get close. This didn't work out that well for us (having cats who loved to chase the line wherever Inca went  ) but I can see the point of it. What we typically did was recall her (she had a pretty solid recall) and she would drop what she had in her mouth and come for her treat. In the meantime, the 'stolen' item could be removed without her around.Once we had a plan for how we would resolve anything that was stolen, we then had to be super vigilent that we didn't leave anything lying around that she would want to steal. This was where it got worse before better (one time she even 'guarded' a pile of dust/dirt when I'd been sweeping the floors  ) but we just stuck with the plan and she eventually learned that she didn't get any attention for stealing or guarding. I can't actually remember the last time she did it now - very very rarely - but I know her body language instantly when she's 'guarding' so I just apply the rules and we've had no growling/snapping for at least 2 years.I really wish we had played the trading game with her from an early age - we did this with Saxon (now 13 months) and we have no issues with guarding from him. I don't think I could have done that necessarily with Inca once she had stolen an item, but teaching with non-valuable items (e.g., toys for an even better toy, or toys for a treat) would probably help to reinforce that dropping what she has is actually a good thing and help her to transfer it to the stealing/guarding scenarios. Inca's Human |
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