How to stop dog from grabbing items and being possesive over them?

Question

My dog will grab an item and show you that she has it then run off. If you get near her to try and get it back she gets very possesive over it. She will growl and snarl and really clamp down on the item. I have tried the dominant approach, made her go into time out, ignore her and tried trade with a treat. The best approach thus far is to ignore her, but this is hard to do when she has run off with the remote control or phone as don't want them destroyed or her to ingest anything she shouldn't. Any help would be much, much appreciated.

Answer 1

First of all, you have given her too many options. She is totally confused now. Right from the get go it would have been best to tell her to drop it, then reward her when she does, ignore her when she doesn't.
Of course, she's proven to you now that she is the 'alpha' female in the house. And you have to get that back. DON'T chase her. Do one thing only, and be consistent, even though it's hard.

Answer 2

First I would HIGHLY recommend reading the Book by author Cesar Millan. Cesar's Way: The Natural, Commonsense Guide to Understanding And Correcting All Common Dog Problems.
He is the guy with the Dog Whisperer show on the National Geographic Channel. What you dog is doing is a display of dominance and it shows that you are not his Pack Leader. This is crucial. Your dog could be doing this to get your attention, or because he is bored. He might have alot of pent up energy. Regardless you have to correct the behavior each and everytime, let him know this is unwelcome. You can not however chase him around the house for it, this will only encourage him. You have to act offensively and notice the signals he gives you right before he takes something. Offering him treats in exchange only encourages the bad behaviour with you trying to appease him. You also should not TAKE it from his mouth as this is not what the dominant dog would do. The submissive dog would drop it for the Pack leader as soon as the PAck leader made it known that it belonged to him or that he wanted control of it.
I will tell you what i have learned from cesar is THIS: Exercise, Limitations & Boundries, Followed by Affection. In that order. IF you are not walking excercising your dog atleast 30--45 minutes everyday your dog has too much energy and this results in an unstable dog and comes out as unwanted behaviors. You can not address just this situation without looking at the underlying causes and addressing the entire dog. However for starters, I would put the items he most takes from you out on the floor and at the second he goes for any of them you step in CALMY and ASSERTIVELY and claim them either by stepping front of him or by making a corrective sound. No words more energy and body language. Yelling will only excite your dog more.
Hope this helps and please check into Cesar! He's the BEST.
If you really and truly want to learn alot about your dog, watch his show on TV or buy the DVD's. It has helped me alot to understanding my dogs.

Answer 3

Is it an aggressive growl? Is she getting angry or just wanting to play? My dog will do that but he just wants me to try to take whatever he has and growls and growls but loves every minute of my taking it away. If she is showing you that she is taking it I am guessing this is the case.

If it is not an aggressive behavior I would get a huge plastic bones that squeaks and play tug away with that. The squeak should get the dogs attention off of what she has so you do not have to play tug awar with the remote!!!!! Eventually she will know the bone is the " tug o war toy" and she will go directly for it!

If it is an aggressive behavior. I would first try rolled up newspaper..... if that does not work try dog training most places like PETCO offer training courses for cheap, and if that does not work then I am afraid your dog will need to become an outside dog because heaven forbid a child tries to take something from the dog and gets bit then your only solution will be to have her put down.

whatever the case you do not need to reward her behavior with treats or she will continue stealing items thinking that will get her a treat!

Answer 4

Try having the leash on her all the time for a while. In the house and everywhere. She will learn what she can and cannot do. Also I would not do the giving a treat so she will trade. She will just learn...do something bad and I get a treat. It's rewarding bad behavior. I know it's hard, I have 2 dogs myself. Check out the dog whisperer.

Answer 5

Poor thing. The best answer is patience. I had a dog like this. It takes time, but when she gets something she shouldn't have offer her a treat instead. Praise her HIGHLY if she lets go of th item for the treat. Practice practice. Once you have this down. Pratice phsyically taking things out of her mouth. and reward her accordingly. I had a dog who was extreamly aggressive of his toys and bones. This worked for me, just took alot of patience. Good Luck

Answer 6

I'd say listen to the one who's a professional trainer, and definitely DON'T listen to the jackass that said put her to sleep. It doesn't sound like a danger issue to me, just a possessive dog. (ya know, like possessive men who won't let go of their remote control! LOL)
You just gotta show her who's boss, and I think (from personal experience) that ignoring it is the best option.

Answer 7

My dog does this when she wants to play.. The dog wants you to chase it. Does your dog have anything of its own.. mine has a houseshoe and leather glove plus some little stuffed animals.. next time.. shake your dogs toy and then run enticing it in a game of chase.. let it know that you will play with their toys only.

Answer 8

Well there's only one solution and unfortunately she has to be put to sleep. It's like a "danger hazard." Aggressive dogs are a bad thing to keep in the home.

Answer 9

This is known as "object guarding" or "resource guarding" and is a fairly common problem. It is NOT a dominance or aggression issue.

Here are some links with info to help you.

http://carolark.com/tips.html#object%20guarding

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/ccp51/cc/dog-behaviour/resource-guarding.shtml

http://www.ahimsadogtraining.com/handouts/resource-guarding.html

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB740

Answer 10

Maybe spray it with something that is not harmful to her but she really would not like the taste of. They have things like this at pet stores, but I can't tell you often they actually work.