# Cookie has been a naughty pup today



## Vicky (Jun 23, 2011)

Bless her as I type this she is sleeping at my feet like an angel. But today she had her first real telling off  I got my order of NI ( I got all the information of it on here. And only after having one meal of it she seems to of enjoyed it so much more then the dog food the breeder gave me)
So I got a bone for her and she was really enjoying tucking in to it in the back garden. When my son came up behind her and started to stroke her well she turned growled and lept at him to warn him off. So she was told she was a bad girl picked up and put in the small toilet that is her time out place. 

After a min she was let out and went back to her bone that was in the back garden, this time I took it away from her and made my son take it away from her and she was fine with that. After a little while she came to sit between my legs with her bone. I went to stroke her side and she did the same thing to me. It did make me jump and she got another telling off and put back in her time out room.

Anyway Im going to do the same thing tomorrow when she gets her bone. As I want to stop this sort of thing as qiuck as possible. 

But on a postive note she took her self outside for a poo and wee and she got lots of hugs and kisses for that.


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Sounds like you're on the right track. She'll be fine once you reinforce that you're the boss!


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## Laney (Aug 7, 2011)

Rocky did this to all of us...myself, my hubby and my 21 year old son. We also give it back after a little while and take it again, by which time he tolerates it. Not sure that this will be an easy one to crack, considering the natural instincs to defend the food 
We are trying to trin the Jan Fennell way (the Dog Listener) so hopefully by establishing ourselves as pack leaders it will naturally stop in time...until then, I guess we keep taking it from him from time to time. I will follow this thread with interest to see what owners of older dogs have done about this issue.  x


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

Yeh just keep at it and she'll be fine ... at least you know she likes them


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

keep at it! especially the taking away and giving back....you could even take away and give her a toy for a few minutes and then trade back for the bone again.


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## caradunne (Nov 29, 2010)

Izzy didn't have her first bone until she was a year old. I was so proud of myself for getting one and giving to her and then totally shocked when I tried to move her onto a throw, rather than the sofa cushion, and she growled and snarled at me. I wasn't able to get anywhere near her for two hours, until she had almost demolished the whole bone. I think she eventually got jaw ache and I was able to take it from her - there was a lot of frantic communication on this forum with me during those two hours as I was at a complete loss as to what to do. At a year old she was quite fierce and I had never seen that side of her before. So I had lots of advice from the caring friends on here and managed to train her not to behave in this way! It was a total shock at the time.


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## Tressa (Aug 31, 2010)

I am pleased to see this thread again, as I am intending to give Teddy another try with a bone. I will be on the lookout for any uncharacteristic behaviour from him,, thanks to other people sharing their experiences on here.
Any bone he has been given until now has been sniffed at and then he disappeared with it, presumably buried in the garden somewhere.


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## lola24 (Aug 14, 2011)

This can be quite common as dogs will see a bone as a 'high value' possesion and will fear it being taken away so they have to protect/guard it. Try cooking up some liver or have some REALLY smelly, tasty treats to 'swap' for the bone. If she learns that human approaching means yummy bone being taken away she may try arder to guard it whereas if you 'swap' for something REALLY TASTY (has to be on par or better than the item you are taking) then she will learn that humans approaching means more tasty things! Do lots of swapping like this including with toys etc to teach her that you wont just take things away, you bring them too!


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## michaelwatson54 (Jun 24, 2011)

I really don't understand why when you've given a bone you feel the need to take it back and then are upset because your dog has a grumble at you You are creating a situation that your dog has to react to. His/her natural instinct is to protect their food however, should your k9 do this with toys etc then I agree corrective training is required. I have no problems with my dogs being possessive with bones and brief all family members not to try and take the bone. I can just imagine your wife puts your favourite meal on the table and just as you get into it she takes it away!! Of course you just sit there!!  It's just my view there is no need to create situations you will have enough to deal with anyway


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

My cav had a lovely nature but woe betied anyone who tried to take his bone away. My 3 children learnt to leave him alone when he had a bone, as bones were a treat for him and it was the only time he ever growled at them. I never saw this as a problem as it was obviously an instinct of his and he was so patient and good-natured with everything else.
Because Dexter has bones every day as part of his diet, bones are not a treat and it doesn't bother him if I touch his bone. In fact he likes me to hold it for him as it is easier than gripping it between his feet himself. So I am of the opinion that dogs should be left in peace with their bones undisturbed.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

I guess you could try holding the bone and letting them have one end. Make it appear that you are 'sharing' your bone and build up from there.

Just a thought


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## Vicky (Jun 23, 2011)

michaelwatson54 said:


> I really don't understand why when you've given a bone you feel the need to take it back and then are upset because your dog has a grumble at you You are creating a situation that your dog has to react to. His/her natural instinct is to protect their food however, should your k9 do this with toys etc then I agree corrective training is required. I have no problems with my dogs being possessive with bones and brief all family members not to try and take the bone. I can just imagine your wife puts your favourite meal on the table and just as you get into it she takes it away!! Of course you just sit there!!  It's just my view there is no need to create situations you will have enough to deal with anyway


Well I have to say that I personal think you should never allow a puppy to show any form of aggressive trates what so ever. and as Cookie is only 10 weeks old its the perfect time to try and stop it. People have to do and train their puppies how they think best.


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## michaelwatson54 (Jun 24, 2011)

Vicky said:


> Well I have to say that I personal think you should never allow a puppy to show any form of aggressive trates what so ever. and as Cookie is only 10 weeks old its the perfect time to try and stop it. People have to do and train their puppies how they think best.


I agree Vicky we have to train our puppies but why create the situation for your dog to be aggressive? I can understand it if your dog is being aggressive with toys or biting your legs, hands etc then correction is required but, 9 times out of 10 you will create an aggressive or defensive response if you take away a bone or special treat that you have just given them.... I prefer to educate my family to respect the dogs and that when they have a bone or food to leave them alone my dogs do not exhibit any aggression with their food or bones given however, I am quite sure if I was to try and remove the bone or food while they are enjoying it I would get a trait that no pet owner wants....again its what I do and I was not suggesting for a minute that you should all do the same.


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Personally I believe that as an owner I should be able to have any kind of interaction with my dog without him reacting aggressively. I need to know that no matter what the situation, he will never show aggression towards me or my family, and in fact towards any human. I think that is supremely important, because there may be a situation where he has something dangerous that we need to remove quickly - supposing your dog had grabbed a cooked bone for example. I am very lucky with Dylan because he has absolutely not an aggressive bone in his body - I could remove any food from him, although he might try to dodge away, he would never react badly, and that's the way I like it. If my dog was possessive with bones then I would definitely seek to train him out of it.


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## Mrs Stevo (May 2, 2011)

Dogs and bones!! I just hate the mess


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## michaelwatson54 (Jun 24, 2011)

Dylansmum said:


> Personally I believe that as an owner I should be able to have any kind of interaction with my dog without him reacting aggressively. I need to know that no matter what the situation, he will never show aggression towards me or my family, and in fact towards any human. I think that is supremely important, because there may be a situation where he has something dangerous that we need to remove quickly - supposing your dog had grabbed a cooked bone for example. I am very lucky with Dylan because he has absolutely not an aggressive bone in his body - I could remove any food from him, although he might try to dodge away, he would never react badly, and that's the way I like it. If my dog was possessive with bones then I would definitely seek to train him out of it.


I agree with the majority of what you say and certainly don't want a dog/puppy that displays aggression. My first actions are to teach my dogs to be obedient and to learn the commands associated with what I want them to do I'm sure you do the same. I also feel it is very important to educate/train your kids to do things right with your dogs....going back to the original post it was an aggressive response to a child approaching a dog/puppy from behind that had a bone, so in this case I see two wrongs. Yes I agree the dog/puppy should not react this way but maybe the child should not have surprised the puppy with the bone however the reaction was undesirable and agree with Vicky's actions. I still think that there is no need to provoke this type of response in order to training your pet to leave a bone...just my opinion


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## ali-s.j. (Jun 6, 2011)

My older dog isn't aggresive towards us with her food/bones/chews but if Izzy goes near her she'll warn her off in no uncertain terms. Izzy is learning ....


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Totall agree with MichaelWatson. By repeatedly giving and taking away a valuable resource such as a bone you are far more likely to cause aggression than cure it. If the dog growls it is telling you it is not happy with your actions and by ignoring that you may well force the dog to increase its aggression to try to get its point across. Far better to create an atmosphere of trust where the dog learns that you will not needlessly take things from it and then you should have a dog who will allow you to take a bone if necessary.

I have always homed older rescue dogs so have always had to build this trust with them. Oddly enough the only one who has come to me with any guarding issues is my cute little cockapoo who I have now had for 4 months. She has now learned that I will swap if she has something I want and no longer guards things from me generally - although I have not yet tried her with anything as high value as a bone and at this stage if I give her one will leave her in peace with it.


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