I have a 4month old puppy, jack russell, very cute and lovely. she has a chew which is great as she is teething, my partner went to stroke her tonight while she was chewing and she growled and threatened him quite badly back, she did it again so I immedialtely smacked her and said 'no' at the same time, I took the bone away. I don't want her to be proctective over her food/bones etc. how do I over come this problem?
2006-12-17 09:07:55 · 26 answers · asked by flurrymurry666 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Distract it with something else like a tasty treat or a toy
2006-12-17 10:13:23 · answer #1 · answered by . 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You did the correct dissipline for the action. Corgratulations ^^ You firmly said no, tapped her behind, and too the toy away. Good good good!
Now, how to get her to stop being possesive over her food and toys will be a little bit difficult. First off, you need to feed her. ^^ sounds simple? Not really. When it's dinner or breakfast time, put her food in the bowl and put it where she usually eats it. Do Not let her just jump into the bowl and start eating. Make her sit and stay. She can only have the food if you or your partner say it's ok (and take turns doing this, it will show that you're both more dominant than her.) If she sits and stays for three seconds (one steamboat, two steamboat, three steamboat) then say, "OK, Good girl!" Praise her verbally and allow her to eat the food. If she doesn't wait, which she may not the first few times. Say no firmly and take the food away. Put it up on the counter or some place she can't reach it. Go and have a seat and go about your business. Wait five minutes then go back and put the food down. Make her sit and stay. If she stays great then ok and she can eat, if not same routine as before. Put it up and wait five minutes. She'll get the point that you descide when she eats, not her.
(Also, make sure she eats after you and your partner. This is another way to show that you two are the alpha's of her little pack.)
With the toys, when you're playing with her and she's being nice and not growling aggressively or biting (keep in mind that even play biting should be corrected at this time, her jaw will only get stronger as she grows) Firmly say no, you don't always need to give a tap on the behind usually just taking the toy away and ignoring her for a bit will work. The dog will learn quickly (especially because she's young) that when she growls aggressively or bites the playtime is over. Dogs love playing. Taking away play time is like taking a cookie away from a toddler. Go back five minutes or so later and play again, praise her for good play. Lots of good girls and happy words and lots of play ^^
Good luck hope this helps,
~manda
2006-12-17 09:33:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is a serious problem and believe it or not smacking her and taking away the object is a step towards making the problem worse. She is being protective because she sees you as a threat and not as a provider. She doesn't want you to take away what she treasures so she uses the only form of communication she knows. Do some online/bookstore research and/or hire a behaviorist. Obedience classes wouldn't hurt either. Nip this in the bud ASAP!
2006-12-17 09:14:44 · answer #3 · answered by Mandy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The people who say do not smack your dog are right --- what you must realise that you have given her something and it immediately it becomes her property and we all protect our things -- but if you put her food into her bowl and hold the bowl in one hand and take bits of it out and let her take it from your hand she will know that when you touch her food you are not going to steal it but give it to her after a while the dog will know that if you go near her bowl its ok--- also if you buy her a middle piece of marrow bone from the butchers show it to her then sit down and scoop some of the marrow out of the bone and offer it to her she will then get the same message and you will find when she has difficulty getting the marrow out for herself she will be pleased for you to help her.
Always get a marrow bone as they are safe for a dog to eat --- never ever give her chicken bones or cooked lamb bones as they splinter and can cut her insides and jam in her mouth then it is a vet job.
Never smack a dog on the nose as believe me they never forget that and it will always stick in their mind and then they will not like you going near their face always be patient it really pays and you will have a kind loving and loyal dog-- and a great friend.
2006-12-17 14:00:59 · answer #4 · answered by Dazzle 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
OMG some of the answers on here are sooooo over the top.
Dogs are protective over bones only!! something to do with been in the wild,my dog is exactly the same. just tempt her with a bit of food more attractive then the bone, IE chicken , the sneak it off her
good luck
2006-12-19 08:39:39 · answer #5 · answered by xXx*natalie*xXx 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, don't yeel "no." Don't yell at all to her. And, she is just a puppy. She probably just needs to get used to your friend. If she doesn't get a bone alot, here's the problem: she wants to enjoy it peacefully without without anybody touching her. To solve the problem, when you give her a bone, tell your partner to slowly sit next to her. She will pause for a second but then get back to the bone. After sitting there for a moment, tell him to slowly pet the back part of her body, not touching her head or face at all. Do that a couple times and slowly move closer to her head. Try telling your partner then to pet the top of her head. Don't touch her face at all or no matter what you do she will bite.
2006-12-17 09:23:39 · answer #6 · answered by *~*kirsten*~* 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
before feding her get you and your partner to hand feed her from her own bowl before putting the food down. She will accept that you may handle her food and you are in control. Get some discipline, make her sit before being allowed her bowl. After she can do this use some high quality treats in exchange for the bone but PLEASE never smack her at face level, only a slight tap on the hind qts is acceptable, lets face it if someone smacked you wouldn't you snap back!!
2006-12-17 09:18:43 · answer #7 · answered by Pete W 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I taught my puppy "leave it" when he had something in his mouth I didn't want him to eat, this works well with dropping food or nasties things he has picked up, also from the very beginning we conditioned him by telling him the command and lifting his food bowl away, he has only ever growled at me once when I forgot to use the command, once it was used he left it alone and didn't bat an eyelid when I took it from him.
2006-12-18 00:01:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take your dog to obedience and learn how to become the alpha. Right now your dog thinks she is in charge. That's that last thing you want, especially with a JRT. This is a stubborn breed that can be difficult to train if you have no experience with them.
Food aggression is something that needs to be nipped in the butt while the dog is young especially if you have children or other pets.
Good luck!
2006-12-17 09:11:21 · answer #9 · answered by KJ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've had a quick flick through the answers you already have for this Q.
My family are dog breeders and trainers, and would NEVER advise you to 'whop', 'smack ' or do any other form of punishment to a dog (or any other animal) on it's nose(or any other partof the body)!
Try to remember that a dog is a pack animal, and having one in your home is having one as part of your 'pack'. What you have to do is establish his place in the pack -everyone aspires to be number 1!
Obviously a dog needs to be kept in check, and know his place, and the fastest way to do this is to remove his food. He may not like it (and may bite, growl etc) but if you are swift and take it fom him, you have to let him see that you are keeping it - claiming it for you, as you are higher in the pack than him. (trainers make a dog watch as they eat their food, and when everyone is done - then they feed the dog a scrap or two)
Dont ever hit your dog - on the nose or elsewhere - they simply dont understand it - you gave them pain- thats it, they remember the pain but dont know why .
2006-12-17 09:28:03 · answer #10 · answered by DonnaDoop 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
take it off her if she growls no hard but firmly and say no wait a while and give it her back and try again if shes good and lets you give it her back if not tell her off again it takes time but it will work once she has learnt do it occationally just so she remembers i had the same problem with my rotty when she was a pup and now she's old she sometimes gets protective over her dinner and i just have to remind her occationally
2006-12-17 09:23:16 · answer #11 · answered by gizzmo85 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋