Beau, who is almost 13, has a favorite toy from the time he was a puppy (multiple replacements over the years). The other two leave him alone. Tyrone, who is almost twice Gus' size, and three months older, thinks that every toy in the house is his...and for most of his first year, Gus would relinquish toys to Ty and stop playing. We finally assigned one toy "Gus' toy", and would admonish Tyrone whenever he took it from Gus. It took several months of telling Tyrone to "drop it", but he did learn, and respected that toy. Gus got more confident, and started playing fetch with his toy. He now has more than one favorite (they change from time to time). Ty will still try to take whatever Gus is playing with, and carry it over to the area where their food bowls are. (He also stashes his own toys by the food bowls). For the most part he will "drop it" if we catch him in the act, but at least Gus has gained the confidence to fully engage in play now rather than giving up. Unfortunately we are now working on curbing Gus' "temper tantrum barking" when he tries to alert us that Tyrone has stolen his toy, lol! Never a dull moment. |