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11-25-2010, 05:08 AM | #1 |
Ringo (1) and Lucy too! Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: On the Edge of Glory
Posts: 3,447
| Lucy has started 'guarding' My little miss Lucy has started to get a little aggressive toward two things: 1. My bed. If she is laying in my bed and Ringo just walks in the room - she goes berserk. If I allow Ringo on my bed (he likes to be up there too); she tries to attack him. This is unwise on her part because he is so much bigger. Any thoughts? It's not fair to ban Ringo from my room; he was here first after all; so I'm not sure how to handle. 2. Her food. I have always fed her in her crate. Now, she will live a little bit of food in the bowl so that she can 'guard' it if Ringo walks by. But today, when I tried to open the crate and let her out (I always pick up both food bowls when they are done); she tried to bite me when I went to pick up her bowl. She was done; this is our routine; what's up with this???
__________________ Mommy to Lucy, Ringo, and Matthew |
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11-25-2010, 06:04 AM | #2 |
Donating YT 10K Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: S. W. Suburbs of Chicago, IL
Posts: 12,235
| I would immediately put that little girl in her place! My suggestions would be to start paying attention to Ringo first no matter what you do~come home Ringo gets hello first, give treat Ringo first, on the bed Ringo first. Pebbles would do the same with Bogey and I was able to stop (get control) this by not allowing her to push ahead of the others. There is dominance it height and when Lucy is on the bed she is higher than Ringo so is more dominant. My suggestion would be to not allow her on the bed if Ringo is not in the room and never allow her up first either. At least these are the things that work for me with Pebbles. Funny thing is the there is never an issue at my house between Pebbles and Doodlebug. Dbug just does not take her cr@p! If she growl at his or give him a look he totally ignores her and goes about his business or he will bark (loudly) and start hopping around to play. He's the punky little brother that just does not care what she says or does. Bogey on the other hand would hang back and be submissive to her so she will try to pull things like you are seeing with Lucy. As for the food sounds like you need to stop feeding in her crate. Pebbles is also a food guarder and I could never put a bowl of food in her crate and expect to get it back without being bit. When it is time to eat Pebbles now knows she needs to sit, give paw, shake. After she does this I put her bowl on the ground and I make her wait......wait.....wait Then she gives paw again, shakes and she is allowed to eat. If she tries to push past me to the bowl I immediately stop her and will even pick the bowl up. Since I started this with her it's amazing how she now knows what to do. She is always fed first. Is Lucy also pushing her way out the door first? Pebbles was doing that as well and I put a stop to this too. Now they are made to sit at the back door. I make them all wait until I say the can go outside. I started with treats and made them all sit and wait but now they will do it automatically. Pebbles will want to bolt out sometimes so badly she will twitch. But I make her sit until I give the OK to got out. I wish that there was a magic solution to guarding/dominance issues since I would be the #1 student. It's so hard when they are guarders. I think you can get it under control but not totally break this habit (at least I haven't been able t do it) and it will always be a struggle.
__________________ “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Mark Twain |
11-25-2010, 06:14 AM | #3 |
T. Bumpkins & Co. Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New England
Posts: 9,816
| Guarding is a serious behavior that must be corrected or it will get worse. Barney has been guarding his resources since he has been a puppy (probably due to early days at his puppy mill) and I have worked extensively with him but it will never be "cured" in this dog. Guarding from other dogs is not really that much of a problem but guarding from you is a very big problem. I would strongly advise you to seek professional help on this so your situation does not get worse. One or two sessions with a good trainer would likely give you the protocol for the dogs. Some tips in the meantime - Make them work for everything. When Lucy is eating and you get near her bowl show her a piece of something high value - pieces of chicken - take it and put it near her nose, ask her to sit and then take the bowl. Put the chicken in the bowl and give it back. Do this a couple of times. She should soon associate you taking the bowl with you giving the bowl back with something better. Regarding the bed - I would not allow them on it. Being on the bed is a doggie privilege and demands acceptable behavior for the privilege to continue. No toys or bones on the bed with this kind of behavior. If you remove toys and treats from the bed and there is still cranky behavior by Lucy, she is to be distracted with obedience with positive training methods. Do not punish her or she will keep associating bad things happening when Ringo shows up. (I'm on mom's bed, he shows up, I object, mom gets pissed at me, i get punished. Conclusion in dog's head: bad things happen (i get punished) when he (the intruder Ringo) is around. Trust me I've done both of these methods and they work very quickly. As smart as dogs are, their brains are different and they only know good things and bad things. They do everything for THEMSELVES, not for you. If they do something for you, it's so they can get something (i.e. food) in return. Use their brains to your advantage. Mostly, though, I will reiterate my initial comments that you need a professional trainer to help with guarding - a serious issue that needs serious and correct attention beyond a few tips here Good luck
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11-25-2010, 06:57 AM | #4 |
Ringo (1) and Lucy too! Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: On the Edge of Glory
Posts: 3,447
| I'm not sure what to do about crate feeding. I fed her in there because when she first came home ~ Ringo would shove her out and get all the food. Food is the one issue they will still squabble about. I'll think on it and try the chicken suggestion. Another thing I should probably stop doing is sharing her food with Ringo. In order to get her to finish her breakfast, I would take the last of her food (that she left uneaten) and take turns giving her a bite and Ringo a bite. That is the only way she would finish eating. I may have created a little problem there. It's no longer fun for her but me taking her food and giving it to Ringo - maybe that's how she sees it now. I never did it with her dinner food; just breakfast because she never wanted to eat. I do think that the problem today on the bed was that Lucy had a chewy up there. So, no more chewies on the bed. I'll start putting Ringo up there first. Yes, even though Ringo has established himself as the 'alpha'; she now goes out the door first and leads on walks. Ringo doesn't seem to care; he likes to take his time and she likes to walk fast. Ringo can still take a toy out of her mouth if he wants; but usually is content to let her have the toys. I think I am going to have to do some training with her; she has always been so compliant and easy. Perhaps a trainer is in order. I don't want this to get out of hand.
__________________ Mommy to Lucy, Ringo, and Matthew |
11-25-2010, 07:08 AM | #5 |
Donating YT 12K Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Council Bluffs Iowa
Posts: 12,552
| Here are a few simple exercises to establish yourself as pack leader. Make them do something before you feed them. sit, shake, whatever. I tell them wait, and set the food down and they cannot eat before I say ok. I guard it with my hand until they are all calm. I have 8 of them eating out of the same bowls. Never had a fight over food. another exercise. walk towards them and make them back up, don't let them dart past you. Stand erect shoulders back and look them in the eye. I have one that will be territorial towards my lap. When she does that, I hold the other dog and tell the territorial one that she (the other dog) is mine. I nip at her with my fingers and say "No Mine". |
11-25-2010, 08:46 AM | #6 | |
Phantom Queen Morrigan Donating Member | Quote:
Or you can try hand feeding her a little at a time. You can try this method in the crate at first but if it doesn't work then move to an open area like the kitchen. What you do is take her meal and only place a few kibble in her bowl. When she finishes those pieces you can add a few more with your hand. When she finishes those, she will look at you for more. This will make her look to you to supply her food. She only gets to eat what you allow her to eat.
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11-25-2010, 09:12 AM | #7 | |
Donating YT 10K Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: S. W. Suburbs of Chicago, IL
Posts: 12,235
| Quote:
__________________ “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” Mark Twain | |
11-25-2010, 10:15 AM | #8 |
Thor's Human Donating Member | WRT the bed, I would have a zero tolerance policy towards aggression. If she is on the bed and misbehaves, take her off the bed immediately. Don't let her back up until she's behaved properly for a few minutes.
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11-29-2010, 06:30 AM | #9 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Miami, FL,USA
Posts: 1,005
| Guarding is like the gateway drug that leads to aggression The marijuana of behaviors if you will First the food They cannot guard it if it is not left for them to guard The food goes out and after fifteen mins it's taken away whether they have eaten or not Also and this is Very important you must be able to interfere with their eating at any time When my pups were little I picked up their dishes at various times picked them up while they were eating just so they would never be aggressive with food with me The next .... The bed Bring her into the room .... And carry the other dog in your arms and sit on the bed When she barks or goes to jump on the bed block her and say in a loud stern voice NO! and repeatbthat again and again until she becomes quiet and docile Then invite her on the bed and praise her a lot This is a .... Who's the boss issue and to head off aggressive behavior before it starts you have to make sure you are the pack leader
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11-29-2010, 08:10 AM | #10 |
Ringo (1) and Lucy too! Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: On the Edge of Glory
Posts: 3,447
| Wow. We've been out of town for the week-end. I tried to put her food down in the kitchen this morning and she absolutely did not know what to do with it. So, I put her in her crate (had to get to work) thinking I would try again this evening with feeding her out of her crate. I left her in there for a while and when she quit eating; I approached the crate to open the door and she growled and snarled at me. I went and got a treat and made her sit and did the 'trade' thing and it worked. I am seriously going to work on this. I think feeding her out in the open will be our first step. She slept in my bed last night and gave a few growls when Ringo came in early this morning and wanted up. I put him up and she was fine; but noticed that she paced back and forth; back and forth when I pet him ~ until finally she was between he and I. He slept pretty far away from me because she (kindly of slyly) keeps him away. In the past, Ringo would not have tolerated that behavior. Now, this morning, I was able to take a qtip out of her mouth with no problem. So far, it's just the food. Have I created a little monster??? My sweet little Lucy girl? I really have to get on top of this. I'll keep you posted.
__________________ Mommy to Lucy, Ringo, and Matthew |
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