# Pizzle aggression



## Hollysefton (Sep 28, 2013)

Hi guys wonder if any of you have any ideas? Murphy and Emmy eat together out of their bowls quite often without incident but today Murphy went for Emmy when she tried to take his pizzle. It was deffo a lot different to the play they do. I had to separate them and then Murphy growled at me and wouldn't release the pizzle. I made him give it up to me after a minute or 2, and although he didn't seriously hurt Emmy I could tell he really meant it. Any ideas how I can address this? 


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## Hollysefton (Sep 28, 2013)

I don't mind admitting that when he growled at me (he's never done that) it broke my heart abit  I know it's his instinct and I shouldn't take it personal but still shocked me! 


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Mine always give each other a respectful wide birth when they eat and never go to each other's bowls until they are empty just to have a sniff around. I always feed them at opposite ends of my kitchen.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I never let them eat out of each other's bowls. When they go to each other's I always stopped them. Also Beemer did it once. I know others say you aren't supposed take away the bully stick but I did as soon as he growled at Lexi. Then did that toward me, but I took won that battle and took away all bully sticks. This happened one more time and since then they will often trade treats and he never growls at me or Lexi. 


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

Mine will kill each other over a bully sick but I don't let them pull it with me. Jake thinks he might sometimes but I put him right in his place. You need to be able to take anything from them at any time. 

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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

dmgalley said:


> Mine will kill each other over a bully sick but I don't let them pull it with me. Jake thinks he might sometimes but I put him right in his place. You need to be able to take anything from them at any time.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



Agree. 


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## Hollysefton (Sep 28, 2013)

Yeah il keep at it, Murphy will give anything up to me, it just seems to be other dogs he won't! It's only happened once and they eat dinner fine together and they don't eat out of each other's bowls. Il just have to keep taking things anyway from him I guess. I think also it was my fault as she had a pizzle and he didn't.


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## Hollysefton (Sep 28, 2013)

One of my friends in work suggested I sit in between them with a pizzle and give it to one, and then the other in turn so the learn to share and that I'm in control of the pizzle, do u think it's worth a try? 


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

It may be different since Lexi and Beemer live with me, but my biggest concern is that it would escalate but he doesn't do that with anything else and she just wants his. I think it's important that they know you can take anything away and especially out of their mouths (can't even list all the crap I've swept out of their mouths, including a live bee that stung my finger instead of Lexi's tongue). So that might be a good activity. I would train leave it/drop it as part of when I would take it away. In the beginning I took away the sticks because he growled at me and I remove both because she's instigating. I can put out 50 bully sticks, they still fight over one and leave the rest behind. As for each other, eventually I let them sort it out. Lexi doesn't mess with his bully when he's really into it and Beemer now switches with her all the time. They even chew on their bully sticks back to back to get better leverage. 


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Ralph can growl at ruby and attempt to put her in her place, if he thinks she may possibly be getting some food and he's not 
Poor ruby just rolls over and played dead


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

I think some dogs are just more possessive than others. Bonnie will give up anything to me instantly but Dexter will never give me anything unless I have a swap ready for him.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Sitting between them and sharing something is a lovely activity. I do it with yogurt pots, a lick for Max a lick for Phoebe, slices of cucumber, peanut butter. The rule is never give to one and not the other. Mine eat side by side, and Max will growl at Phoebe if she goes for his bowl ( she is a pig and eats fast, whereas he daintily nibbles) so she always finishes first! When she was smaller I gave them their chicken wings separately, more because Max would collect both and then guard them, so had to get hers back, but he never growled at me. They do swap treats a lot. Max will hide his then go after Phoebes, but she gets a chew in the end.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I think pizzle sticks are pretty high value treats!
I have never given them to mine, do the dogs normally eat them in one concentrated sitting? Are they around for a few days? Do you normally pick them up when the dog falls asleep - or just leave it for when he next wants it?

My dogs have a number of bull horns and stag bars which are generally around. They don't try and take them off each other, but if Inzi or Kiki have something that Dot wants she lies as close to them as she dares and then barks at them. Kiki ignores her, Inzi lifts a lip and Dot wriggles back a little and then resumes her very irritating barking habit. Eventually Inzi walks off and leaves her the treat. None of my dogs are very dominant.
Kiki used to be awful about bolting her food and then pushing Inzi out of her bowl. I ended up keeping Kiki on a lead while she ate and this habit did not then become too fixed and she never does it now.
When they have chicken wings, Inzi eats her two faster than the black dogs eat their one. As I don't like her standing over them, as I worry that it'll make them try to bolt their wings, I call Inzi back into the house when she has finished hers.

Generally think it is a good idea to manage situations and prevent flash points. I agree with Marilyn's sharing activity, we do this. With pizzle stick I'd be inclined to not let him have one when Emmy is around, or leave a lead on him so you can quickly and easily control him. I would not leave the pizzle stick around for him to have whenever he wants, I would give it to him at particular times.

Good luck.


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## MurphysDad (Feb 23, 2014)

Well, it's not just Emmy he's going for now, both me and holly were on the receiving end today, it's the first time I've seen him anything other than being happy an loving, and was quite a shock! 

I've decided to hold the pizzle while he chews, intermittently taking it away, making him leave while I rest it in his bed then take it away etc, if that doesn't work I'll just stop him having them, he is fine with EVERYTHING else, food, toys other chews etc.

Little shit!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Ha your final comment made me laugh!
How old is Murphy now? Is it adolescent time for him??


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## MurphysDad (Feb 23, 2014)

He was 16 weeks on Thursday, I think it's beginning to be honest because he woke me up at 5.15am chewing the wallpaper!


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

I think, if he was mine, I'd shut him out or separate him somehow and then just leave him to enjoy it. It's definitely a high value treat for him, so give him the time and the space to enjoy it on his own. If he whines to join you, and he hasn't eaten it then I'd take it away, but would use distraction as the means to do it. 

Love your end comment!


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Once I give it to them the bullies, I let them keep it as they will chew on it and then get bored and move away. My floors just have all their toys and treats on them. I put them away if I find I need them to go to sleep or leave or they are being bad listeners. But I wonder if the fact that it doesn't usually disappear makes it less of a high value treat. I also make sure to leave each other be. But they seem to know my "heeeeyyyy" as a signal that they've gone too far. So I never made it a game with them. But just as I don't enjoy being pestered when I'm eating, I try to do the same with the exception when they need to know I'm not the boss. I also maybe give them a break from the bullies for a bit. It seemed to increase Beemer's resource guarding behaviors so I gave it some time before I gave it to him. 

Oh I was reading also, if you stand there and watch them eat then you signal that they are the boss of you. I will put their food down or give them a treat and sit to the side not looking but correcting as necessary. 


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

MurphysDad said:


> Little shit!


Ha ha, sorry but that made me laugh, that was Neil's pet name for Poppy until fairly recently!

It's disconcerting when you see a new unwanted behaviour, I feel for you. Our last dog, a terrier, once growled at me when I got close to her having a rawhide chew in her bed, something she'd been doing everyday for ages (she'd never been anything but totally lovely so it was a real shock and a bit scary). Right or wrong, at that point I took the chew away and asked for a sit or a paw or something before giving it back (every so often during a chew session). I only had to do this a couple of times and the problem was sorted. I don't know if I was doing the right thing in terms of dog psychology (I've since read a lot more and it's such a double edged sword because it can leave you confused rather than empowered!) Anyway, it worked for me with my dog then and I suppose that's all I can say! xx


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