Kingdom of Pets

Posted by familyh12
Jul 4, 2009

I have a 1 year old doberman. She becomes VERY aggressive and possesive when she has something she knows she is not suppose to have. For instance if she is chewing a toy and is starting to pull the stuffing out she knows she is not suppose to have that so she guards it and if you go near she shows her teeth and growls.
Tonite I was out of the room and she had a piece of a rawhide chew and was guarding it I did not know she had it so when I went into the room she became VERY aggessive showing her teeth and snarling at me because she was guarding it.
I responded with a chair between us and using a water squirt bottle and replying NO. However it was very scary..
What should I do to prevent this agressive behavior.

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Jul 6, 2009

Hi familyh12,

I understand you are scared to take the rawhide away from your doberman when she shows her teeth and growls.

My suggestion is not to give things that she becomes possessive at until she gets really trained not to show any resource guarding aggressions.

Does she have food aggression? Does she growls or bear her teeth when you pets her when she is eating? Can you put your hand in her bowl and can she stay calm?

Rawhides and bones make dogs especially possessive because they see those valuable. Once your dog understand that she does not need to protect them from you, you will be able to even hold it for her while she chews and ask her to drop it when you think she has had enough for the day.

Has she got basic trainings, such as sit, down, stay, come, etc.?
Once she masters those, teach her "Leave it" and "Drop it", using something not valuable for her. Let me know if you don't know how to teach those commands.

Good luck

Posted by familyh12
Jul 21, 2009

Thanks for the information. Yes she knows sit, stay and come. We have been working on leave it. I first started by hand and now I can put a pice of food on the floor tell her to leave it and she will. She shows no food agression and will sit and wait till she is given the ok sign.
She will let you hold a bone for her to chew but she seems to know when it is too small and she should give it up that she protects it and then she becomes very nasty and I cannot enter the room. I need to distract her by ringing the doorbell when she will then abandon the object and run outside and when she is gone I will snatch it up.
After mastering leave it with food objects on the floor how can I get her to leave an object she has in her mouth and is possesvie about?

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Jul 22, 2009

Hi familyh12,

The first thing I want to suggest is to take the bone/chews away before they get too small so that she puts the whole thing in her mouth. It will be difficult and sometimes even dangerous to take it away.

I am the leader of the pack and very confident so I can take any small pieces of food/chew out of the mouth of my dogs by opening the mouth with one hand and grab it out but I am not recommending it in your case. So the best way is not to let her have it if you can not take it away.

Once she masters "Leave it" then move on to "Drop it".
Give a toy in front of her and tell her to "Leave it". Then, tell her to "Take it". When she picks it up praise and treat right away. Now tell her to "Drop it" when she does, praise and treat. Repeat this as you change object to more valuable thing. Also, when you see her having something she is not supposed to have in her mouth, such as a shoe or a sock, tell her to drop it.

When she master this, then offer her a huge piece of rawhide with one hand as you hold a treat in the other hand (this treat should be a very good one, such as liver treat, etc.). Have her chew on the rawhide for a few minutes and tell her to "Drop it" as you offer the $100 treat.

This is like an exchange game. Let her chew the rawhide a little more, then have her "Drop it". After repeating this a few times put the rawhide away for tomorrow. You are the one who initiates this game and also who ends this game.

Hope this will work

Agression - Possesive Issues