"treat territorial" soon to have another

[chemist]

So we are a couple weeks out from getting our Dane That said, our schnoodle has always been weird with bone style treats. If we get him any sort of bone treat he would hide it and not eat it. We did this for awhile, trying different treats and he would hide all of them. Finally, we just stopped giving him bone treats as he didn't use them. Only thing he really likes are benebones(which are awesome).

That said, we have been prepping for our puppy and have A LOT of goodies stored up. I figured I needed to retry bones with mr. darcy(the schnoodle) if our dane was going to have them. Mr. Darcy still hides them but I noticed he would always try to hide them or move away from us when given a bone. Cutting to the point, he started growling when having a bone and even snipped at our 2 year old.

Wife told me this, and I started working with him(i did find out that the day he snapped at my 2 year old that my oldest did not feed him). I have started taking any bones if he growls. I also only introduce bones when the kids are around. I have all of the kids get close, one at a time and give him treats if he behaves. I have even had my 2 year old hand feed him his dog food in a few settings. His behavior is MUCH MUCH better. That said, I still notice a bit of an issue when around my 2 year old and treats.

She can approach Mr. Darcy while he is sitting eating the bone and give him a treat. He will then move though, typically circle around our ottoman. Our 2 year old will follow him around the ottoman. Now he has stopped growling at her but he clearly does not like her around him when he has his bone. He also STILL will just hide them unless they are covered in some sort of chicken/PB/LIVER smear.


This is a new development and he seems to be improving, anything else I can do or anything I am doing wrong? Give it more time?

I can easily just give my dane treats separately but that i feel would put a bandage on the issue.



EDIT: Mr. Darcy is great with the kids, all of them.they can do anything with him but add a treat and my 2 year old is a nuisance to him.
He was rescued from an abusive family and used to cower if you showed him a brush. He now does a dremel for nails…OK with lots of treats . So he is a lot better and still going through obedience training. Just more INFO if it helps.

[mnmouse]

Will he trade up for a small yummy treat when he has the bones? Practice trading for everything, but always give the dog a great treat trade for willingly giving up what he has and then GIVE BACK THE ORIGINAL ITEM. Soon, anyone approaching while he has a treat will mean something awesome for the dog, plus the dog also gets back what he had in the first place.

[chemist]

Will he trade up for a small yummy treat when he has the bones? Practice trading for everything, but always give the dog a great treat trade for willingly giving up what he has and then GIVE BACK THE ORIGINAL ITEM. Soon, anyone approaching while he has a treat will mean something awesome for the dog, plus the dog also gets back what he had in the first place.

When I give him the treat, I don't take the bone. I simply was doing it to get him used to the 2 year old right next to him while he was chewing on the treat. I will practice trading and giving back!

[Hiraeth]

I think working on Mr. Darcy being more comfortable with humans around his bones and treats is a good idea.

However, I would not automatically assume that this training will carry over in his behavior towards the new puppy. I have worked with my dogs heavily on resource guarding. They no longer guard from me, but they still guard from other dogs. Titan ended up with a small puncture wound in his face the second weekend I had him because he got too close to an adult dog with a bone and ignored the warning she gave him.

If you have a dog who RGs and will snap or bite, it needs to be separated from your puppy when it has a bone. Period. The risk to your puppy, who doesn't understand adult dog warnings yet, is too high to 'see if it'll work out'. Use a gate or give your puppy his treat in a crate in order to reduce the risk and make sure both dogs start their relationship on the right foot.

[chemist]

I think working on Mr. Darcy being more comfortable with humans around his bones and treats is a good idea.

However, I would not automatically assume that this training will carry over in his behavior towards the new puppy. I have worked with my dogs heavily on resource guarding. They no longer guard from me, but they still guard from other dogs. Titan ended up with a small puncture wound in his face the second weekend I had him because he got too close to an adult dog with a bone and ignored the warning she gave him.

If you have a dog who RGs and will snap or bite, it needs to be separated from your puppy when it has a bone. Period. The risk to your puppy, who doesn't understand adult dog warnings yet, is too high to 'see if it'll work out'. Use a gate or give your puppy his treat in a crate in order to reduce the risk and make sure both dogs start their relationship on the right foot.

Thank you, I don't want to risk it either. I have some baby gates and dog gates I will use.

[jrturk]

I wouldn't just take something away if he growls, you're basically confirming his fear. So now he knows if someone comes close when he has something valuable, he might lose it so he works to protect it even more. If the growl warning doesn't work, the next step in doggy language is usually a nip or bite.

Mine! by Jean Donaldson is good book about resource guarding.