# Toy/water bowl aggression with other dogs



## Volivia (Oct 20, 2013)

My German shepherd recently turned 1, and his toy aggression with other dogs has gotten worse. 
I love to take him to the dog park all the time, and he gets along with other dogs really well. But if there's a *tennis ball* involved, he will *NOT* play with them. He will sit down and naw on the ball and if any other dogs come near him he will growl and now recently try to bite them. I can't even get the ball away from him, he wont listen to me at all and just run away. And just recently if there's a water bowl on the ground he'll guard it and try to bite any dog that'll come near. 
I have no problems at home, I can stick my hand in his food bowl/water dish, take away his toys no problem, tell him no he can't have something and he'll wait until I say it's okay. 
I've looked everywhere online, and all I've found was aggression towards _people_ and how to "fix" that. But It's just towards other dogs. How do I correct this behavior?


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## TwoBigEars (May 11, 2013)

I don't take my dogs to dog park for various reasons, one of them being that Ryker is quite a butthead about guarding toys. And I don't see a reason that he needs to share, so we're quite happy playing on our own.

If it's important to you, find a good trainer to work with. Otherwise, dog parks aren't a necessary part of a dog's life. Some dogs just aren't cut out for dog parks and that's okay.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Leerburg | Dog Parks: Why They Are A Bad Idea


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## Volivia (Oct 20, 2013)

None of this stuff helps me. :/


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Some links here: 
https://suite.io/adrienne-farricelli/2t5h2q5
https://suite.io/adrienne-farricelli/2t5h2q5 

Those are all things you need to know in a multi dog household anyway. . But it sounds like your dogs main issue is "resource guarding" "not" attacking other pack members??


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

You correct him and let the other dog get to the water.

You restrain him if he tries to do anything stupid.

If you yourself can't get a ball away from him, or restrain him from defending the water dish, you don't bring him to the dog park.

I'm surprised that he hasn't run into a dog that reacts aggressively as well and "takes" the water dish anyways by attacking your dog...

I wouldn't allow him to play with toys at the park. If you see a tennis ball, redirect him and take him away from it, do not allow him to grab it. Don't bring a ball yourself to the park either.

I'm not for having dogs that owners can't control at the dog park...even when "friendly" they're the most dangerous dogs because the owner has no control so if the dog does decide to do something stupid, the owner is powerless.

Where in Wisconsin are you?


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## TwoBigEars (May 11, 2013)

Volivia said:


> None of this stuff helps me. :/


This isn't an easy problem to fix over the internet. As I said, if it's important to you to take your dog to dog parks, then find a trainer to work with on these issues. This type of resource guarding may or may not be fixable anyway, but only someone working with you in person would be able to tell.

Not every dog is cut out for dog parks, and that's not a bad thing. You can entertain and exercise your dog in other ways.


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