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Permalink Reply by Sondra on May 15, 2009 at 1:47pm

Corie is the same way at the dog park, and if another dog comes up to me to say Hi, she snarls at them, is she just jealous and being over-protective?

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Permalink Reply by Sunni A. on May 16, 2009 at 4:40am

Since he is so small (now!), you should sit on the ground with him and restrain him, he squirms and freaks out, you hold him still. Meanwhile the Other owner or whoever else is around plays with the toy with the other dog, or just holds it calmly all within his view for quite awhile, at least an entire minute or 2. Just like toddlers, puppies need to learn they don't always get what they see.

Eddy learns a lot by observing adult dogs and how they interact with people. We force him to helplessly watch that nothing's going to go wrong if the toy is handled and played with, and that he'll probably get it back (and if he doesn't get it back, we want him to think "Oh well."). This strategy has worked out well for us. He doesn't snap at his dog-friends anymore. It took about 5 days.

A question for you, are you rotating his toys out periodically? This realllly helps with toy guarding, because he knows losing a toy=getting a new one, and that old toys have happy memories. It helps them take their focus off of "The" Toy; makes them think there are plenty to go around; makes it harder to develop that unrelenting bond with "The" Toy (and eventually, Toys in General).

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on May 16, 2009 at 4:16pm

We learned two things in dog school that have helped us a lot. One was a game the instructor called "get something better." We'd give our puppies their toys or a bone, then quickly take them away and give them a tasty treat -- in other words, so they'd associate the loss of their toy with something good. This was largely to keep them from resource guarding so if they ever go ahold of something outside we didn't want them to have, they'd let us take it away. But it might help you, too? Also, we learned "leave it" -- really useful! If one of my dogs picks up someone else's ball or toy at a park, I immediately tell them to leave it -- so they drop it, then I call them so they walk away from the toy. My Bertie can be possessive of sticks and bones, so this has been invaluable to us.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on May 16, 2009 at 6:19pm

Truly with corgis bringing their toys to a park is not a good idea. Many corgis are most possessive and the problem you are facing occures frequently. Leave the toys home and let him socialize at the park. Will make life easier for everyone.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on May 17, 2009 at 6:19pm

Sadly, that only solves half the problem -- it's the other people's toys that look so good! You know how it is, whatever anyone else has is always the best thing there ever was! I've seen fights/arguments break out over sticks, unfortunately. So I make it a point to train my dogs to easily give up whatever they pick up, so I can return to the owner (or toss it away) and avoid any conflicts.

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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on May 16, 2009 at 8:26pm

I do something similar with Leo to "get something better". When he has something I want him to give up or that he should not have I offer to trade it for a treat. He always will drop whatever it is and come to me for a treat. I am unable to catch him if he runs away from me (like they will do sometimes if they think you are going to take something away) so this was a good way for me to take things from him that could be dangerous. Now when I ask him to trade he will go right to the treat cupboard and drop whatever it is and wait.

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