Stealing toys

[lovemybostons]

Should I allow my dominant dog (Allie) to take toys away from the submissive one (Maci) or should I take them away from Allie when she does that and give them back to Maci? She is getting really bad about not wanting Maci to play with any of the toys. She will get as many toys as she can in her mouth to keep them away from Maci. I'm not sure if I should intervene or not. Any suggestions?

[clara4457]

I actually would take the toy back from Allie and give it back to Macy. Macy might not really mind, but if you give a toy to Macy, Allie needs to understand that it is your choice who gets what. I also feel that status seeking dogs (which it sounds like Allie is) should learn to deal with the fact that they are not always going to get everything they want. JMHO

[lovemybostons]

I've tried that before but I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. Someone told me that you should always give the dominant dog treats and stuff first so I didn't know if I should just let them work it out themselves or not. Their toys are in a big basket so they just get out whatever they want to play with. It's just whatever Maci gets Allie wants. Maci doesn't seem to mind, she will actually take toys over to Allie so Allie can take them away from her. I don't know what that's all about. It just ticks me off when Allie thinks she has to have everything. Thanks for the advice I'll probably just keep taking them away from Allie and returning them to Maci.

[catnapper]

Boy, its been a while since I had two dogs. What I learned is this: no matter who has what, they always want what the other has. Give them both new bones or kongs? They get up and steal the bone/kong away from the other!

What I also learned was that when you have a really dominate dog, that if you take it away from them to return to the other dog, you are just playing with what they work out naturally. They are fighting to maintain Apha dog heirarchy (sp) Its somehting that comes naturally and I was told not to interfere because the fighting could get worse if I did. Being gthe non-believer I was, I kept returning Nicki's toys when Sammy stole them. One day Sam didn't like that so she tore a huge gash on Nicki's face... as if to say, "So there! I am big head dog now." When I left the two girls alone to figure things out for themselves, there wasn't any more fighting. Besides, Nicki didn't care (unless it was food) if Sammy got whatever Sammy wanted. Nicki would just find something else to do, or just take a nap. She really is such a wimpy dog:D Sammy passed away two years ago and Nicki moped for months afterward... even though she was "bullied" by Sammy, she was her Alpha dog.

Does that make sense? It was my experience, and leaving them to figure it out on their own was really the key for us. Someone else might have had the exact opposite reaction when they left their dogs alone. Good Luck!

[clara4457]

If they are getting the toys themselves - you should leave them to work it out themselves. If you give one dog something and the other takes it - then you should take it and give it back to the dog you originally gave it to. The "you" is the important part. As the pack leader, it is your choice who gets what.

[DogLover9501]

Piddle is the dominant one, over Jasper, and we do not take things away from him if he takes them from Jasper, as he is reminding Jasper that he is the boss and we also have to let him do his stuff.

We usually just give Jasper something else, and Piddle eventually goes away.

Also the fact that Piddle is already 20 pounds lighter than Jasper doesn't scare him at all ;) :p

[lovemybostons]

Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate all the advice. I will try just letting them work things out for themselves. I just didn't want Maci to think I was favoring Allie if I didn't stand up for her when Allie was being bossy. She (Maci) probably doesn't think that, I just didn't want her to think we loved Allie more than her. Having two dogs can be a challenge, you never know what is the right thing to do, but I think your advice was right, just let them figure it out:)

Jessica