Handling aggression
 

Penny will be 2 years old on 12/29. 75% of the time she is a sweetheart who lives to please mom and dad. 24% of the time she is a complete adolescent who refuses to do as told. 1% of the time, she is an agressive little butt.

These times usually occur when there is a toy or bone involved and she feels threatened. She will get so worked up that she will refuse to turn over the toy, and we have to take it from her. Note, we only do so after she displays the aggressive behavior - growling, snapping, etc. at the cat, another dog, us, etc. We want her to understand that this behavior is unacceptable. When she gets like this, I am afraid to take whatever it is away from her because I'm afraid she will bite me. She's never done more than snap at us, but you can tell she's p.o.'d.

My question is, how do we deal with her when she's showing aggression? What is the proper way to nip this in the butt? So far, we've been taking the toy or bone away, putting it up, and putting her in time out. It doesn't seem to be working, though.

In any other situation, usually a stern word and a tap on the nose is enough to curb any bad behavior. She's so set on pleasing us that this usually works, but not in this case.

Thoughts? Tips?

Well, I'm no expert - that's for sure! :D I've been lucky and none of mine were ever snippy in any way. One thing I have done from the time I brought them into my home was to always be able to get in their face, take their toys, chew bones, or whatever, but I never kept them. I gave them right back. This is how I've taught them that it is OK for me to take them. They trust me that I will be giving it back to them. I'm just wondering if you tried this and did not keep the toy or whatever and gave it back, would she understand? Just a thought. :)

I have read that if you have trouble getting things from them try by offering I treat or something of higher value so they want to give up the toy. I have tried this with Alfie and it has worked great.

We got our dog to quit doing the same thing by taking the toy or treat from him. Flipping him over on his back into a submissive postion and telling him a stern no. We are also planning on putting him in an obediance class because he can be a handful at times.

I also learned at obedience that to deal with a dog that is possessive
of it's possessions that you need to offer something which in their
eyes is a better trade. This is associated with teaching them the
"drop it" command as well. You would not believe the difference that
teaching simple basic commands makes in their manners.

She knows the "drop it" command. In fact, she knows about every command I can think of. But when she gets into these modes, all commands go out the window. Normally, she is a very obedient, responsive girl.

Also, I taught her from very early on not to worry if things are taken away. We can move her food, toys, bones, anything and she will not worry about it. Unless she goes into this aggressive mode.

I like the submissive position idea. When I have been upset with her before, we've engaged in a staring contest that has settled her down. She will eventually cast her eyes downward, tilting her head down and looking away. Then I know she's figured it out. We will try this position next time it comes up

Congrats on your dog being so well trained! If that is
the case then I would definitely also reintroduce who
the boss is with the submissive roll on the back move.
Sometimes they think they can get away with being
brats! lol...Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

Miss Penny -

I'm a little confused. Maybe you could give me a little more information...

When exactly is the aggression occuring in relation to the toy or bone? Are you saying that she has a bone or toy and then growls/snaps at the cat, you, or other dog? Is that pretty much the only time you have trouble with "aggression"?

Also - she knows the "drop it" command but you're not using it at these times? Oh, oops! I see now that the command goes out the window when she has the high-value object, is that right?

Yes, the "drop it" command is completely ignored at these times.

The aggressiveness has happened when:
- playing in the same room with other dogs. She'll go from playing, wrestling, and baiting them with her "prize" to hiding it, growling, and snapping.

- once while chewing on a lamb bone. The cat walked by (several feet away) and Penny flipped out. We threw the bone away and refuse to buy them now.

- and rarely, but it has happened, with us if she just doesn't want to give something up. (In the situation where the item wasn't good for her or for another good reason - we don't take things away for fun.)

In fact at night, I will sometimes put her bones or a particular toy away if she is concentrating on them and not going to bed. She might ask for them again but she never gets upset.

As I've said, normally she is the best dog anyone could ask for. But when I see her behave this way, it worries me. Not only am I afraid she'll hurt me, but also I worry this behavior will progress. I'd like to nip it in the butt now while she's still fairly young.

Okay, so basically it sounds like it's really only a matter of "object guarding" which is quite common in dogs and can be treated.

You have a done a great job with teaching "drop it" and with working on her being comfortable when you approach her when she has most objects. She just needs more work on these.

Here is a link to an excellent article on how to deal with this:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...ex.htm#problem

If you don't get the help there that you want, you might consider either calling your trainer for guidance or buying the book MINE: A Practical Guide to Handling Resource Guarding by Jean Donaldson (available from Amazon).

As you said, she IS a great dog! She just has this one issue which can be worked on! :thumbup:

If you have any questions, let me know!