I have a few questions, could someone help me?

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-09-2004, 08:50 AM

I have some behavioral questions that I need help with. Ok, I got Heidi when she was 7 weeks old, and I always taught her that we could take ANYTHING away from her, and she has been very good, letting us do whatever we want to to her-such as touching any part of her body, taking treats out of her mouth, food, icky stuff, etc. She also obeys our commands (maybe not instantly, but she does them) without complaint. Well last weekend I had to kennel her while I went away to MN for a wedding, and when we got back she was a protective of her rawhide and her cow hoof.

She doesn't have any problem with me touching it with my hands and things, but when my dad touched her paw with his foot (the rawhide was next her paw) she growled at him. He got in her face and told her that was a no no. She hasn't exactly liked feet with socks on (don't ask me why), but she has NEVER done that before. She did it to me twice too, and I told her it was a no no too, and then after I get after her, she cuddles up to me, wagging her tail and trying to get as close as possible. Why does she do that? I was wondering if it was because she was at a kennel all weekend around other dogs, and shes trying to challenge me? She has to do something to get anything, food, going outside, getting out of her kennel, throwing the ball, etc. The only thing I don't think she doesn't do for something is petting. Is that a major thing? She will rest her head on my arm if I am sitting on the couch and will look at me, and I will pet her, just because I like to, not because she wants me too. Sometimes if I don't feel like petting her, I ignore her. Should I be doing that different? Could you guys give me some advice on how to deal with her sudden possesiveness of things. Its only with her rawhides, not with her treats or her food.

Please help!!!

**LorraineO** · 12-09-2004, 09:29 AM

I suggest you periodically take the rawhide from her and speak in hushed tones telling her what a nice treat she has and how much you like it,,, You dont even hve to take it far from her face,,, just far enuff for her to not reach it..keep petting her and praise when she doesnt growl,,, but if she does,, dont pull your hands away,,, tell her no no,, youll give it back but always be slow in your movements and gentle tones....... I did this both my dogs when they were little and it worked.... I can take a roast outta my dobies mouth with my tongue if I wanted to,,,

not that I would use my tongue,, ICK,,,, but you know what I mean..... sounds like maybe she is just feeling stressed from her exp in the kennel... or perhaps a treat was taken from her by anotherdog,, who knows....

**lv4dogs** · 12-09-2004, 10:38 AM

I don't think that you petting her has much to do with this problem. Since you make her obey a commmand for EVERYTHING else I personally would have to say it probably doesn't matter too much BUT it may help if you could make her obey a command before petting her JUST for a short time, say a week or 2 or 3, just until this poroblem goes away. But continue to still make her obey a command for everything else.

If I remember correctly, Heidi is just *about* a yearish? If so she is probably going through a stage, she is probably testing you. That & it may also have something to do with her being kenneled. Exactly what caused this behavior could be numerous things, like just her feeling sad as yous were seperated, it may be due to other dogs there, the staff, the routine they followed, the food &/or treats the offered, timing of feedings etc.... without being there you may never know.

Is she only protective of the rawhide & nothing else?

Be firm, consistant & patient.

**rotten_two** · 12-09-2004, 11:02 AM

in my experience if a dog is gonna guard something 9/10 times it will be rawhide. even those dogs who don't resource guard otherwise. for this reason my dogs don't get rawhide.

if you want to continue to give heidi rawhide treats then i suggest that you keep hold of one end. so the rawhide belongs to you and only by your grace and benevolence are you allowing heidi to chew on it. it is never hers. you are the controller of treats esp rawhide. whilst you are holding the rawhide and she is chewing it i would ask her to out or give or whatever you use and then immediately allow her to chew again. this way she learns that it is not so bad to relinquish the treat as you will likely give it right back. practice a lot.

if she begins to guard other things like places, people, toys etc then i would suggest the book "Mine!" by jean donaldson.

**Dixieland Dancer** · 12-09-2004, 12:39 PM

I'm not sure what age the dog is, but someone else said it was around 1. If this is correct, then what transpired is more than likely the dog testing you. Especially since she was "left" at a kennel recently and may of seen other dogs acting this way. She is going to "test the water" with you. This is normal canine behavior and if handled properly (and it sounds like it was) then it is a fleeting moment in the dogs history.

From what you wrote, it sounds like you have made it clear to Heidi that you are the Alpha in the family and I believe you handled this one situation in a ok manner by letting her know it was not appropriate behavior. I would of only gone one step further and put the rawhide away for the night completely. She could have it again tomorrow if her behavior is appropriate. If by some chance this is a consistant behavior and it is only with rawhide, then she wouldn't be getting any rawhide from me at all.

However, don't make too much out of this one episode. I would worry only if this behavior becomes consistant but that doesn't sound like the case to me here. Don't stop petting her. She is your pet and you deserve to pet her when you want. It will only make the bond between the two of you stronger. Just keep letting her know appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior as it sounds like you have been doing.

BTW.... speaking of bonding, the best way to develope the respect between you and your dog is through obedience training. If you did puppy kindergarten thats great but don't stop there as many other pet owners do. Working as a team in learning proper behavior developes a bond that a lot of people miss out on with their dogs because they don't pursue it far enough. I believe a trained dog is a loved dog and a very welcome part of a community!

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-09-2004, 04:29 PM

Thank you all so much for your help. She will be 2 December 28th. We have never had problems before with rawhide; she has ALWAYS let me touch any of her things, and any part of her body. Sometimes when she is laying on her side, and I walk up to her she will raise her leg and show me her belly, being submissive I suppose. Yes, it is only her rawhide. Today I gave her a treat and I stuck my hand in her mouth and she didn't care, and I can take treats away from her. My dad thought that it was because she had been around the dogs at the kennel and she learned "bad manners" from the other doggies.

If I had my way I would have someone live in my house while we went away, but I don't have any friends or such that would do that, because most of relatives don't care about dogs or my friends could care less also.

And the kennel she goes to is the one my obeidence instructor owns, so she knows Heidi. We have been to two obedience classes, Basic and Advance. She knows I am boss, SO totally. I'm the one in the house she respects the most. I'm top dog, then my dad, then my brother, then my mom. Thanks again, and I will take your guys advice.

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-09-2004, 06:56 PM

She just did it again tonight.

I had been able to touch it, and put my foot near it and take it out of her mouth, and everything, and then she was in my way (another thing I do is if she is in my way, SHE moves, not me cause I'M Alpha), so I kind of put my foot under her two front feet with the rawhide between her paws, and she growled and grabbed the rawhide and pulled back. I got into her face, held it and said "NO!! NO!!" I then promtly took them all away. Did I do the right thing?

I feel so bad. I feel like I've failed with her.

Do you think it will go away? I SO hope so. I just feel awful, and like I've failed with her or something.

**sammy101** · 12-09-2004, 08:49 PM

i had that problem with my RB Dalmation.Most of her life she was protective of her rawhides/bones.She was VERY protective of it and we could never get near her.Every time we tried she snapped at us and growled like crazy!

but the weird thing is right after she finished eating,she'd come over to us wanting to be petted,scratched,etc with her tail wagging like crazy!lol she was just protective of her bones.She didnt even like the vaccuum coming near her.lol.
Honestly im not really sure what to do.We tried to get our RB girl out of that habit,but she was too protective of her rawhide.You didnt fail,lots of dogs have problems with there rawhides

even my RB beagle had a problem with it and could never get her out of that habit.
I would suggest what everyone else has said already.

**Cincy'sMom** · 12-09-2004, 10:50 PM

Miranda, I certainly don't think you have failed with her. I don't know what it is about rawhide, but some dogs that are sweet as can be 100% of the time will get possive of rawhide.

You are doing the right things. You have and continue to establish yourself as alpha, and take it away from her when she growls. And as Dixieland Dancer said, if she doesn't start to get the message, you may just have to eliminate it all together.

As a reinforcer, it may help to put her onthe "nothing in lifeis free" program...make her perform a behavior before she gets anything....make her sit before you pet her, Make her lay down before she eats her dinner, etc. This will reinforce that all good things come from you, and really strengthen your bond with her.

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-10-2004, 08:40 AM

The problem is that she hasn't had a problem with me doing anything with her, I mean with her rawhide. I could have taken it away from her and everything, done anything to it and her when she has it, and she wouldn't care. This problem only came up after she got back from the kennel. I do make her do something for everything, except for petting, and I am going to try that too. She was getting the message yesterday, or so I thought then our little episode happened.

I think she is associating getting in trouble with the rawhide, not the growling, because when I give her a rawhide she won't take it, and before she used to love taking it (she only gets them after she does something for me). I guess I will have to keep telling her NO if she growls, and take it away. I read somewhere though that if you take something that a dog is possesive of away from them they get more possesive. Is that true? Thanks again for all the tips guys! I really appreciate it.

**lv4dogs** · 12-10-2004, 12:34 PM

Some dogs may get more aggressive if you take away that something that a dog is possesive of some might not. It depends on the individual dog & owner & how you train.

She may be associating the rawhide with trouble, instead of the growling, especially if she not as willing to take the treat.

Is there any chance your foot may be causing the problem. Maybe the kennel people shoved her food bowl or treats in her kennel with her feet or something????
From what I read it seems as if she is more protective when feet are near.

Since the kennel owner is also your obedience instructor I would get right on the phone with her & explain the situation.

Maybe try taking the rawhide away totally for a week or 2, to give her time to maybe forget about the incident. Then hopefully she will take the rawhide with enthusiasm and you can start from scratch again.

Also if she already has a quiet command that would be great, use that when she growls instead of NO of whatever you say to punish her. That way it will help her with the confusion, that rawhide is good, growling is the bad part.

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-13-2004, 09:04 AM

Originally posted by lv4dogs
Some dogs may get more aggressive if you take away that something that a dog is possesive of some might not. It depends on the individual dog & owner & how you train.

She may be associating the rawhide with trouble, instead of the growling, especially if she not as willing to take the treat.

Is there any chance your foot may be causing the problem. Maybe the kennel people shoved her food bowl or treats in her kennel with her feet or something????
From what I read it seems as if she is more protective when feet are near.

Since the kennel owner is also your obedience instructor I would get right on the phone with her & explain the situation.

Maybe try taking the rawhide away totally for a week or 2, to give her time to maybe forget about the incident. Then hopefully she will take the rawhide with enthusiasm and you can start from scratch again.

Also if she already has a quiet command that would be great, use that when she growls instead of NO of whatever you say to punish her. That way it will help her with the confusion, that rawhide is good, growling is the bad part.

She has never liked feet at all, ever since she was little, but she would never growl or snap or anything. Feet with socks on are the ones that she likes the least. I will talk to Carrie soon, I just thought that I would come here first. She is starting to take the rawhide again, and she hasn't growled at me.

I could use NO GROWL, would that work? She is moving out of my way with the rawhide when she is in my so thats good. She doesn't seem bothered anymore when my feet or my hands are touching the rawhide or anything.

I think we have made some progress. I want to thank you guys all for the advice and tips. This is the biggest behavioral problem I have had with her, and I am glad. Oh yeah, and the stealing food when we turn our back (we are working on that too).

Thanks! You guys are the greatest.

**Miranda_Rae** · 12-16-2004, 05:27 PM

I talked to my dog trainer yesterday. She said to keep doing what I am doing, and to start doing lots of obedience each day, to reinstate that I AM alpha. She also said that when she was staying at the kennel she was really good, and she didn't have any problems with her. Carrie said that she was an angel....well looks like I get the little devil.

JK. She also said to take it away when she does that. So I guess I will be doing that, and doing lots more obeidence. I've noticed since I've started back up on the obeidence that she doesn't listen as well, so we will be doing at least some obedience daily. Thanks guys for all your help!