aggresion - help !!

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jjjackieee
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aggresion - help !!

Post by jjjackieee »

Hi, wondering if anyone could give me some advice regarding resource guarding.
We have 4 huskies and have taken on my daughters chow, she's 18 months.
The huskies have all accepted her ok, they're all rescues so do have their little quirky ways but all seems ok between them.
She's a real sweetie but once she finds something she wants play with theres no getting it off her. She'll lunge forward, teeth out snapping and snarling and go for anyone or any of the huskies who gets too close regardless of them not being interested in what she has.
Its got to the point that we had to stop giving them all chew bones or hoofs, had to take away toys, but she'll go in search of a pair of socks or a random leaf from the garden, a twig, anything that takes her fancy.
We do have a crate but she's not happy going in it and don't want to force her n make the situation worse or another issue for us to have to address.
Would really appreciate anyone who's experienced this and managed to overcome this.
Have kids in the house too so looking forward to some positive ways to move forward as its tricky having to have eyes in the back of my head. :roll: :shock:
Rory's Dad
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Re: aggresion - help !!

Post by Rory's Dad »

First off remember she's the new kid in the group. At 18 months and in a new environment with 4 other dogs, the instinct to resource guard is pretty understandable.

That being said, it can't be tolerated and needs correction.

My thought would be to segregate to some degree and for certain scenarios. If you don't want to force the crate issue, I understand, but if you can make the crate attractive and a safe-haven by throwing a sock in and letting her have some 'me' time, then there should be no issue.

I would recommend that for the short term, she be fed separately. Food should be her most prized resource, and she will protect it the most. Keeping her apart from the rest of the pack, give her 1/2 of her normal food amount at each feeding. Let her eat that portion. As soon as she finishes and starts to walk away from the bowl pick it up. Make sure she is paying attention and fill the bowl with the remaining portion. Ask her to sit/lay down/whatever, and when she does place the bowl back down and let her finish the meal. Build on the trust issue and gradually move to the point where she hasn't quite finished. "more?" works with my dogs. You are looking for a pause in her eating what's still in the bowl, and then she will give you the space to add more. She will learn that there is no downside to allowing access to the food resource.

I have 2 dogs that are really good at this, so I haven't had to take this any further, but if you have a dog that is good at not hording the food bowl, you may want to start feeding the 2nd dog at her side once YOU have the trust. This will show the Chow that the other dogs are similar. After all of this, which really isn't more than a couple weeks start to finish you should be able to see her not so protective of other items as well. She will be comfortable that whatever toys/resources/treats are given are controlled by you and you will be fair.
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jjjackieee
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Re: aggresion - help !!

Post by jjjackieee »

Thank-u Rorys Dad..
She was fed separate initially when she 1st came here because she gulped her food n tried her hardest to thieve off all the others causing total uproar, but she's learnt not to now and they're all in the same room being fed..(different corners) however.... i did do what u suggested, feeding in 2 parts and all the others seemed to think they were done out of seconds so i may separate again now while I'm working on this so no jealousy creeps in. lol
Will persevere and bring this method into action as many times as i can throughout the day and see how we go.
Thanks for helping !! much appreciated :D :D
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