# Getting a little worried about 14 month old's guarding of toys



## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

First off I guess I should give some info on Sammie's personality. She's got a very high drive when it comes to fetching. It can be frisbees, balls, whatever... She never quits... She runs as hard as she can and brings it back. She gets this look in her eyes and its almost like an obsession lol. She's been like this for a while now as far as fetching but used to when I would take her to the dog park, if another dog would chase the toy, she would just let it go and not worry about it. Here in the last month, she no longer cares who is chasing it, she runs as hard as she can and fetch's the toy. She is very slim and fit and is faster than most of the dogs so she usually gets the toy first.

But the problem is when she overruns the toy and the other dog that was behind her goes after it. This also caused a few scuffles. Also when she brings it back to me and drops it. If any dog comes near the toy, she jumps down and shows her teeth and usually snaps at the dog that is trying to get it. I try to correct her when she does it but it never really helps. She just wants the toy so bad. This has also caused a few scuffles with other dogs but luckily no injuries have occured. Im just afraid she is gonna come across the wrong dog that is going to tear into her or vise versa. 

There is this male husky that is very much alpha male and used to she would submit to him and walk away. Well she is now standing her ground with him and they got into it also. So I've stopped bringing toys but there is always going to be someone out there with a ball or frisbee playing with there dog and of course she joins right in and thinks she is the only one that should be playing which im sure annoys the other owner who wants to play with their dog. 

The only other problems we have in the dog park is when we first come in. She gets hammered with dogs coming at her from all directions and I guess she gets a little nervous and will sometimes snap then but she adjusts really quickly. Also if there are no toys involved, she is fine. She loves playing chase with other dogs and usually doesn't have any problems. She can get a little rough and when she does, its more rolling the other dog than her jaws lol. She has no problem with humans taking her toys/food. She accepts it willingly. Its just other dogs. When she meets another dog one on one, she is fine. She wants to play. She is not aggressive at all. 

Is there anything I can do to get her to stop this or is the obsession of fetch too overpowering to do anything about it?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

So she only guards her toys from other dogs, right? She's fine with you?

In that case, it's not necessarily something bad that you have to fix, but a strong working trait that you have to accept in her. 

The intense drive, strong possessiveness, these are typical working traits. The wanting to own a toy or other reward this badly is part of her working drive: Wanting to earn and possess a toy is the motivation in many working dogs that keeps them focused and working hard and hours, hoping for their reward at the end. 

For example, a SAR dog will search for hours for his reward (finding the person, then the reward is playing tug with the handler). This intense obsessiveness to do what it takes to earn the tug/ball reward is part of the working ethic. So to answer you question, no, I wouldn't try to train her out of it, it is a strong drive in her, you probably won't be able to. If fetch and balls are involved, find a place where you two can play without the competition of other dogs. At 14 months, she is starting to mature, and is more likely to stand up for what she feels is hers. I woudn't take the risk of her getting into a dog fight over a toy.


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Yup...all of mine became very possessive of toys (around other dogs) once they hit adulthood. If you can't be sure there won't be toys at the dog park, I would stop bringing her there before there is a serious incident.


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## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

Castlemaid said:


> So she only guards her toys from other dogs, right? She's fine with you?
> 
> In that case, it's not necessarily something bad that you have to fix, but a strong working trait that you have to accept in her.
> 
> ...


 
No she is not possessive with me or any other humans. She sees the human as the person who is playing with her. Yea i was thinking this was something that you cant really fix but I had to ask first. I always thought she would make a great SAR dog with the right training because of her drive and tireless energy. She also remembers the multiple spots where I keep her frisbee and will stare up at those areas when she wants to play(which is all the time). One of the other dogs at the dog park who is a border colllie has a similiar obsession and a similar drive but its to run with the dog who is chasing the ball but not go after the ball. Those two could care less about playing with any other dog. She knows too that the border collie is not gonna get her toy so they work out great together. 

I really dont want to stop taking her because when there are no toys involved she really does have a good time playing with other dogs. I guess I should just start bringing her frisbee again and when someone is playing fetch with their dog, Ill bring it out and play with her away from all the other dogs.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

sportsman1539 said:


> I really dont want to stop taking her because when there are no toys involved she really does have a good time playing with other dogs. I guess I should just start bringing her frisbee again and when someone is playing fetch with their dog, Ill bring it out and play with her away from all the other dogs.


That sounds like a plan!


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

Maybe find a dog park with rules that toys are not allowed.


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## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

There is only one where I live...


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

why allow a few scuffles to even happen. you know she is possessive over toys. dont bring any toys and dont bring her to the dog park (dog parks have nasty diseases besides dogs who get into fights).


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Mikko is toy possessive, so we don't bring toys to the dog park. However, he is also possessive with the tennis balls there and even sticks. We only go there for him to swim and run, so we need to throw something for him, so we carefully manage it. We don't play fetch on land near other dogs, unless we're sure they won't go after the ball and we won't throw the ball in the pond if there's another dog who will go after it. There are two ponds, so we just go to the other one. If a dog happens to jump in after the ball, we tell Mikko to leave it and give him a lot of praise when he comes back to us. This is easier in the water because he's not sprinting towards the ball. But Mikko's a bit different than your dog because he doesn't want anything to do with a ball/toy thrown by someone else.


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## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

mebully21 said:


> why allow a few scuffles to even happen. you know she is possessive over toys. dont bring any toys and dont bring her to the dog park (dog parks have nasty diseases besides dogs who get into fights).


Well you have to find out somehow huh? I would have never found out she was toy possessive if I never took her. As I said earlier, I stopped bringing toys because of this reason. It wasn't a big problem at first but just recently it has been.


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

some dogs are fine sharing their toys when they are little, when they start to grow up some dogs stop sharing their toys.



> But the problem is when she overruns the toy and the other dog that was behind her goes after it. This also caused a few scuffles


this is what i meant, after the first scuffle you should have realized .... not after a few....




> there is always going to be someone out there with a ball or frisbee playing with there dog and of course she joins right in and thinks she is the only one that should be playing which im sure annoys the other owner who wants to play with their dog.


here again, you know she will join in and has in the past, and you know her history with toys, so why bring her to the dog park?

i am only trying to show you how to not set her up to fail...


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## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

When I say scuffle, I meant she has snapped at other dogs. Only once has she been in what I would call a fight and it was with that male husky which is what bothered me. I also said I was thinking about bringing a toy with me to bring out only when someone else is there with a toy playing with their dog. That way I could takeover her away from the other dogs and play with her one on one. I think by having her toy with me, I could control the situation and avoid any fights. If that's not the case, I may have to stop taking her


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i'm assuming when your dog goes after another dogs toy
you can't call her to you or say "no" or something to stop 
her from going after another dogs toy. i understand you
want to use the frisbee as a diversion but what happens
if she decides to go after another dogs instead of the frisbee?
do you have to play frisbee in the dog park?


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## sportsman1539 (Jan 22, 2011)

Oh I tell her no all the time. With a dog that is that obsessed with fetching, there apparently isn't much you can do. She knows I don't like it when she snaps at other dogs and from me getting on her about it so much(with my mothers dog) she usually submits to the ground after she snaps, especially if its right in front of me. 

If the diversion doesn't work and she starts going after another dogs toy and that causes a problem, I guess ill have to give up the dog park but I'm not ready to yet. This park is really big and I can easily find an isolated area to take her to play one on one. I prefer there be no toys but I can't prevent other people from bringing toys to play with their dog.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

sportsman1539 said:


> Oh I tell her no all the time. With a dog that is that obsessed with fetching,She knows I don't like it when she snaps at other dogs and from me getting on her about it so much(with my mothers dog) she usually submits to the ground after she snaps, especially if its right in front of me.
> 
> If the diversion doesn't work and she starts going after another dogs toy and that causes a problem, I guess ill have to give up the dog park but I'm not ready to yet. This park is really big and I can easily find an isolated area to take her to play one on one. I prefer there be no toys but I can't prevent other people from bringing toys to play with their dog.


If *"She knows I don't like it when she snaps at other dogs"* - why would she still do it?

And if you really believe that *"there isn't much you can do about it*"; I guess that you are stuck with her behavior.

If you can't control your dog when she is getting aggressive with other dogs, then it woulod seem that you and her have no place in a dog park, you think?


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## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

sportsman1539 said:


> Oh I tell her no all the time. With a dog that is that obsessed with fetching, there apparently isn't much you can do. She knows I don't like it when she snaps at other dogs and from me getting on her about it so much(with my mothers dog) she usually submits to the ground after she snaps, especially if its right in front of me.
> 
> If the diversion doesn't work and she starts going after another dogs toy and that causes a problem, I guess ill have to give up the dog park but I'm not ready to yet. This park is really big and I can easily find an isolated area to take her to play one on one. I prefer there be no toys but I can't prevent other people from bringing toys to play with their dog.


Sportsman, sounds like your girl is a bundle of energy. Have you looked into getting her into GSD type sports like..agility, herding, etc? Check out the training section of this forum. There are tons of sports you can involve her in that she might love. A plus...it will burn off some of that energy she has.
Mental exercise is also very important.

I don't have any experience with dog parks..but from reading on here, there are tons of people that don't take their dogs to the park. Sounds like if she is having some issues, your best bet would be to find something else to do with her.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

My husband and I own a private dog park. Our park rules are kind of complicated on toys. If you want to bring a toy, then fine. When you get to the park you need to check with the other owners there if there are issues about toys. If someone says their dog has an issue then you leave the toy in the car OR you go to one of the fenced off training areas and use that. Since our park is private most of the members get to know which dogs have issues or whatever. There are members who know that the park is pretty empty in the early afternoon and they meet up and play with the ball with their dogs then, which is fine with us. If another member shows up then they put the ball away in the car.
For our part we encourage the members to get a good, RELIABLE out command and use it. For example, the one girl whose dog is a bit snippy about his ball, if I take one of my dogs out in the park and run across them I tell MY dog out and she knows to leave his ball alone.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

bocron said:


> For our part we encourage the members to get a good, RELIABLE out command and use it. For example, the one girl whose dog is a bit snippy about his ball, if I take one of my dogs out in the park and run across them I tell MY dog out and she knows to leave his ball alone.


 
I forgot in my first post to emphasize this. When Mikko first became toy possessive at the park, he would steal other dogs' toys too (totally forgot how he used to do that!). So we taught him a very strong leave it command. He could be on the other side of the pond taking a toy, and we can yell leave it, and he does. As he matured, he really only preferred to play with us, but this command is still really useful for when another dog goes after his toy. We tell him to leave it, and when he does- he gets lots of praise.


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