Possessive Over Food and Toys With Other Dogs!
We just went to the dog park yesterday and I was playing fetch with Napolean when he suddenly lashed out at any dog that came near the toy we were playing with. He even dropped the toy and stood over it. Thankfully his "leave it" and "come" command are good so he left the toy when I asked him to, but that was only once. I'm afraid if I attempt to call him to me another time he'll ignore me since he knows there's nothing coming out of leaving a good toy. I don't really want to bring food into the equation otherwise he might get protective over food. He's NEVER been possessive over food and toys with people, only dogs. He just started this behavior about a week ago when we went camping. He encountered another dog (who was staying in our camping area too) and she was VERY possessive with her toys and food. I think he might have caught on that he needed to protect his things just like the other dog did. I don't really know how to get rid of this behavior! I'd just love if he were able to just ignore the other dogs trying to chase him while he fetches or just deal with it if another dog were to grab on the toy or take it away. He's also only possessive when he's running after the toy; he will listen to anything I say when I have the toy in my hand (he won't mind if I give the toy to another dog or if I hand it to him and make him drop it when he's in front of me) but once I throw it he just thinks it's his and its his job to return the toy to me. I hope this makes sense and that you can give me some advice! He just LOVES playing fetch and playing with other dogs would be even better.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Leave the toy at home. If he enjoys the interaction with the other dogs at the dog park, that's good enough, why complicate things? You can reserve fetch for when it's just the two of you. You can still offer a food reward if you call him to come. I would call him, put the leash on, then give the food reward if no other dogs are in the mix, if they are wait until they go. Then you can give the treat and let him go again, if you please. The idea is to defuse these issues.
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Permalink Reply by Napolean (Joan and Gabby) on
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It wasn't my toy. I specifically did NOT bring anything that was his at home because I knew it would create problems. Unfortunately, the park has loose tennis balls lying around (his favorite) and he always picks one up. I don't want to just pick up all the toys and get rid of them because a lot of the dogs there like to play fetch too. It's literally impossible to have him on a leash and ignore other dogs; all the other dogs are really curious or at least one is and all the others in the park become curious (so pretty much every dog, like a pack, surrounds the new people who enter). Napolean isn't very well socialized and I get nervous because he's snapped at more than one dog because of me. I'm pretty sure my nervous energy and me restraining him would make him crazy! I already tried separating him when he snapped and it was a mistake. My energy and movement made him over aroused and other dogs began crowding him and made him snap more. I immediatly let go and realized my mistake so i don't think I can do the leash activity :3 There are between 10-25 dogs whenever we go to the park so there's a LOT there! I do bring back up treats JUST in case something were to happen.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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I agree that you should leave the toys at home. Our problem is that Lilliput is obsessed with tennis balls, and she can always find a tennis ball, or find a game to join. It's usually OK, unless she meets another possessive dog. For that reason I started bringing a "distraction" ball. It stays in my pocket unless I need to distract her from a game that she won't leave, or she's bothering another dog.
And NO FOOD at the dog park!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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I would suggest not going to dog parks, but that is my opinion. Dog parks can be alot of fun, but also can cause issues, and it wouldn't be worth it over a fight. I have heard alot of horror stories from dog parks. Can you set up play dates with other dogs that you know?
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Honestly it is very hard to train away possessiveness with other dogs. It's usually fairly easy to train dogs not to protect things from people, but it's normal for dogs to protect their stuff from other dogs. And sometimes even a soft dog will stand its ground if it really wants a toy: my Madison backs down to other dogs in most circumstances, but if she sees a toy she gets so excited she won't stop running after it and has gotten rolled a few times as a result. The only time I've ever had to break up arguments with my two is over a thrown toy.
One trick I have learned is I ALWAYS have multiple toys, so if I am playing frisbee with my dogs I have two, one for each dog. One gets thrown in one direction and the other in the other direction. It does take a little work to get each dog focused on its respective frisbee, but most of the time I can manage. However I would not try this with a strange dog.
The other thing is, Jack and Maddie had a bad collision once both chasing the same ball. I think Maddie caught Jack in the head with her teeth. They went in at angles and each did not see the other. Jack came up screaming and squinting badly and it took him awhile to calm back down. So in general, I don't like thrown toys where there are multiple dogs.
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