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Permalink Reply by christy fry on August 14, 2009 at 10:56pm

Maybe he just doesn't trust you yet?, try the trading up game with him. He'll learn that giving you things is good because he gets something better for doing it. It's a good non-confrontaional way of removing possibly dangerous things from him.
Good-luck

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on August 14, 2009 at 11:03pm

Was there alot going on and many people? It could be he's scared also and just didn't know what to do or was never taught!...I always try to keep it calm and quite until a dog adjusts...don't really have a solution but he may not be used to your environment yet. The trust issue was a great thought as he's very new and maybe with his background he never could trust... Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 14, 2009 at 11:35pm

Food or possession guarding is common in many dogs, and Corgis seem especially prone to it.

Teaching "leave it" is a very good long-term goal, and you can use the trade-up method to make it non-threatening.

WIth an adult coming into a new home, practicing Nothing In Life Is Free might also be a good idea. It lays a good foundation to show you are in charge, and works well with both pushy and fearful dogs (thereby lessening the need for you to accurately determine the root psychological cause of your dog's acting out, which can be difficult for most of us who are not trainers). If you google "nothing in life is free" for dogs you will see that the modifications in lifestyle are very minor, and this is not a difficult program to follow.

Good luck with your new addition! Unless there are other aggressive behaviors, I would not see food-guarding (and he did see the wrapper as food) as a red flag behavior.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on August 15, 2009 at 12:28am

Beth,

I looked this up and it really looks interesting!

Thanks....you seem to have so much knowledge on many thing with corgis!

Jane

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 15, 2009 at 7:45am

Why, thank you Jane! What a nice thing to say. :-)

I was one of those shy kids who liked animals more than people. LOL Sometimes I still do. My dad field-trialed pointers then moved on to close-hunting gun dogs, and I learned a lot about dogs when I was still a tiny kid from him. Like everything, early exposure seems to "stick."

Then when I got Jack I realized that what worked well with soft, eager-to-please bird dogs doesn't always apply to quirky, contrary Corgis. So I just really spent a lot of time online when Jack was little looking up different training methods.

Jack was a good teacher! You can't force him to do a blessed thing, but he'll kill himself for you for a tiny snack.

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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on August 15, 2009 at 12:31am

Just to be on the cautious side, I would reccomend feeding the two corgis seperately. Dont give acess to each other while they are eating, to avoid the whole food agression ahead of time.

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Permalink Reply by Cindi on August 15, 2009 at 6:39am

This is not uncommon. Our rescue, Moira, is especially guarding of food and toys. Since it was a first visit, you were dealing with unfamiliarity which can lead to fear. He also had a number of folks around him. Often, trying to "exchange" one thing for another (if there is some toy or something he likes better) can help. Also, Beth mentioned NILF, which is essential to good training. Even though it wasn't part of the PetSmart training class, I taught it. As long as he's not aggressive in other ways, you should be okay. But you must commit yourself to working with him to overcome the behavior. Good luck! And thanks for saving a corgi!

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Permalink Reply by Jenn on August 15, 2009 at 1:15pm

Thanks to everyone who responded. I had never heard of the NILIF program, but after doing some research it is very intriguing and is something I think I'll try. I also am intrigued by the trading up game.

He hasn't shown any aggression towards me or Dakota today, which is good. Due to his marking habit, I have already come to terms with the fact that this boy will need a lot of training, so I am prepared for the work ahead. He goes back home tomorrow, and I should get him back in the next two weeks or so permanently. So my fiance and I can begin working with him then.

Thanks, everyone!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 15, 2009 at 1:31pm

About the marking: I was just talking to a breeder about possibly getting one of her adult dogs, and she says she always insists when an adult goes into a new home, to treat it like a puppy. She said hers are all fully housebroken, but in a new environment with new smells and stress, they will mark. So she always advises to crate/confine unless you are right there watching, just like you would with a pup.

She said with an adult, it usually only takes a couple weeks til they settle in and learn the new routine and can earn more freedom.

Of course, that's assuming the dog coming in is housebroken. If it's not, it's a whole different story.

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Permalink Reply by Jenn on August 15, 2009 at 1:42pm

Well that is good, perhaps my new guy's situation isn't that unusual then! I have to admit, I'm extremely worried about his marking. He was doing it every few minutes here at one point. Today he is doing well, though we spent several hours outside so he is spending a lot of time sleeping!

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