Uni's acting strange with her new bully stick!

[capt_noonie]

My shipment of Minksheen and bullysticks arrived today. I was so excited. I opened up the box and gave her one. At first she acted the same as when I give her any new bone. She carried it around, looking for the perfect spot to hang out and chew it. She finally chose at spot after 10 mins (which happened to be just her regular old spot anyway). She was "burying" it, and digging it back out, chewing it just fine. Then, a girl came in (to my shop where we are now) who was in a few hours earlier with her older sis to show her how "cool Uni is".

Well I know when Uni's got a new toy, she's not gonna want to see anyone, even her loyal admirers. I took the bully away from her so the girls could play with her but she just kept looking at me. So i gave it back. Then the first little girl picked up Uni, no problem. Then the second girl went to pet Uni and she started growling. I knew she was going to do that. So the girls put her down, and off she went back to her spot.

I looked down at her from my laptop, and what do I see? The bully on the ground and a huge puddle of pee! Uni never has accidents! She pees on spots when she's trying to make a point. So I'm wondering, did she think the girls were going to take away her bully, so she was going to pee on it to make it gross and no one would want it??? (BTW, no pee actually got ON it) I've seen this behaviour in my mom in law's rat terrier, but Uni has never been this protective of anything before. Are the bullys really that delicious???

So I put her on a ten min time out on her bed. I didn't give the bully back, and as I type this she is pawing at my leg and whining for me to give it back. Any one help me out on this one? This happen to anyone before? Should I give it back to her?

[yorkiepaws]

I don't know what it is, but I had posted before that my dog takes her treats and puts them on her wee wee pad. It's almost like she is saying no one will want it if its near pee. It is very weird and she does it with any treats or bones. If she is not going to eat it right away, off to the wee wee pad she goes.

[yorkiepaws]

Oh and yes they must be that delicious because when I gave Laya a bully stick she tried to bite me when I took it away because it got so small. So now I hold it while she eats it so I can get it back. I don't know what is is about bully sticks but they go crazy over them!

[capt_noonie]

She's never peed on any of her stuff before. i wonder if it was b/c of the girls coming in. There's another set of teen girls in here now, let's see what happens. ( I gave it back to her already.)

[yorkiepaws]

By the way, Uni is adorable.!!!

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by yorkiepaws

By the way, Uni is adorable.!!!

Uni says thank you! Your's is too cute too!!!

I'm going to a roller disco bday party tonite, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow!

[yorkiepaws]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Uni says thank you! Your's is too cute too!!!

I'm going to a roller disco bday party tonite, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow!

Have a great time, sounds like fun

[Nancy1999]

Lol, that's too funny, it would make a cute ad for Bullysticks, "I'll do anything to protect my Bullystick!" You know, females mark too, and I think she was marking her property, dogs don't think of pee like humans do, and remember pee is relatively sterile so unless she has a bladder infection, you need not worry about germs. I think, perhaps, because the stick was new, she reacted this way, was it a different brand? The only thing I'm not sure about is giving her a "time out" in her bed, if by bed you mean kennel, I've read that you should never use the kennel as punishment, it should always be a safe haven. If, however, you meant bed, than there is nothing wrong with that. How you get her to stay, I don't know.


When Joey gets protective of his bullystick, I just put it away for a while. Usually it's because of another dog, however Joey treats human children as if they were dogs, he doesn't seem to think of them as dominant over him, so if these were younger children, under 12, that might have been part of the problem. As soon as the coast is clear, and she won't be interrupted I would give her stick back, or maybe put her in a kennel with her stick, that way, she would feel protected. Have fun at the party!

[capt_noonie]

Thanks for your reply Nancy. I guess she was marking her bully stick then! She's never behaved like that before with any of her things. Well I tried giving it back to her last night, and just acting like the bully wasn't a big deal, and she started to calm down, but bf and bro in law kept provoking her thinking it was funny how she gets so mad when they got close to her. Of course I told them to stop, of course they ignored me.

whenever she's got the bully she is so tense, she's shaking, and her body is so stiff. Like all she can think about is protecting her bully. I swear she turns into Gollum (sp?) from Lord of the Rings! She turns to a little monster!

As far as the time out, Uni doesn't have a crate. her beds here at work are one actual bed, then another that's just her blanket (that used to be MY Jack Sparrow blanket but now it's hers) that's in a cubby hole. She knows when we are upset at her, and we say "go to bed!" and she willingly goes herself. We say stay, and she will stay until we give her the ok. Well yesterday, she was softly growling to herself while she was on timeout, like telling us she was so pissed off at us! Shes' such a character.

So I tried again w/ the bully this morning, this time I was holding it and wanted her to chew while I was holding it and petting her. But she would just come up to it and do one bite, and she learned i was not going to let go she got frustrated and started running around the couch. So I just put it away. maybe we'll try again later. I wonder if I had a thousand of them just laying about would she value them as much? She must think it is something so special and she may never get another one, so that's why she's being so protective?

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Thanks for your reply Nancy. I guess she was marking her bully stick then! She's never behaved like that before with any of her things. Well I tried giving it back to her last night, and just acting like the bully wasn't a big deal, and she started to calm down, but bf and bro in law kept provoking her thinking it was funny how she gets so mad when they got close to her. Of course I told them to stop, of course they ignored me.

whenever she's got the bully she is so tense, she's shaking, and her body is so stiff. Like all she can think about is protecting her bully. I swear she turns into Gollum (sp?) from Lord of the Rings! She turns to a little monster!

As far as the time out, Uni doesn't have a crate. her beds here at work are one actual bed, then another that's just her blanket (that used to be MY Jack Sparrow blanket but now it's hers) that's in a cubby hole. She knows when we are upset at her, and we say "go to bed!" and she willingly goes herself. We say stay, and she will stay until we give her the ok. Well yesterday, she was softly growling to herself while she was on timeout, like telling us she was so pissed off at us! Shes' such a character.

So I tried again w/ the bully this morning, this time I was holding it and wanted her to chew while I was holding it and petting her. But she would just come up to it and do one bite, and she learned i was not going to let go she got frustrated and started running around the couch. So I just put it away. maybe we'll try again later. I wonder if I had a thousand of them just laying about would she value them as much? She must think it is something so special and she may never get another one, so that's why she's being so protective?

Well, I've got to say all the teasing didn't help; it kind of reinforced her need to protect it. Of course, if you ever learn how to train men to listen, let me know. I love the fact that you can tell her to go to bed and stay, and she'll do it! The little growling under her breath cracked me up. When you gave it to her this morning, why didn't you just give it to her, what was your strategy? I think this also makes her think it's something special. Joey, in the beginning, even if he didn't want to chew on it, would hunt for a place to "bury" it. He would spend hours searching for the right place, and if we touched it, he would retrieve it and go find another place. He was never like that with toys, only bully sticks. We recently had another dog visit, and Joey was very protective of his bully stick, but I was able to give the visiting dog a stick, and they had no problem after that. It's kind of like someone giving you a box of chocolates, and lets you have one little bite/lick, and takes the box away, you'd be growling under you breath too!

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Well, I've got to say all the teasing didn't help; it kind of reinforced her need to protect it. Of course, if you ever learn how to train men to listen, let me know. I love the fact that you can tell her to go to bed and stay, and she'll do it! The little growling under her breath cracked me up. When you gave it to her this morning, why didn't you just give it to her, what was your strategy? I think this also makes her think it's something special. Joey, in the beginning, even if he didn't want to chew on it, would hunt for a place to "bury" it. He would spend hours searching for the right place, and if we touched it, he would retrieve it and go find another place. He was never like that with toys, only bully sticks. We recently had another dog visit, and Joey was very protective of his bully stick, but I was able to give the visiting dog a stick, and they had no problem after that. It's kind of like someone giving you a box of chocolates, and lets you have one little bite/lick, and takes the box away, you'd be growling under you breath too!

Train men, HA! That's a good one!

Well, as far as not giving it to her this morning, my thinking was maybe she would bite on it, and I could be petting her, and praising her, but she didn't want to bite it yet. Just like how you described Joey wanting to "bury" it, like I'm saving this for a special occasion!

Last night when we were closing up the shop, we called her to jump into the car as usual. She came running with her bully in her mouth! I just gave her another one right now (in the shop). She's trottin' around looking for a spot. It's really slow today, so hopefully no one will come in and bother her with it.

[capt_noonie]

Oh I think she found her spot! She's in her "clubhouse". Her private little area that we can't go, b/c it's basically a cardboard box turned on its side, and I can't fit in there! Nope, she's back out again..... Oh! she left it in there! So she hid it for later! : )