# really possesive with bully sticks



## liljoec (Aug 17, 2010)

Hi everyone. I'm a new GSD owner. My 10 week old pup is named Jasper. He is pretty rambunctious but seems very willing to learn. He has so far learned sit, stay and come. He is learning to play fetch but doesnt always come directly to me. no biggie, we'll get there.
Ok, so here is where I'm at a bit of a loss. He is very polite at meal time and lays down, gives me lots of space until I call him in to eat. He has no problem with me taking his food and giving it back. But If I give him a bully stick he is really possive. He really likes it and if I try to take it he actually growls and will intentionally bite me. He doesnt do this with sticks or toys. I can tell when he is playing with me and wants to play tug of war. I dont engage in tug of war, but he still likes to try. I can tell what he is doing with the bully stick is not play. I have a pretty good puncture wound on my hand from last night to prove it. He acted like this with the bully stick when I got him at 8 weeks so I took it away for a few weeks while he and I built a relationship. But apparently I still cant give them to him until I figure out how to make him be polite. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Joe


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

Resource guarding is not that uncommon and a normal dog behavior. You have to work with him to condition him to willingly give you the item. The whole training excercise revolves around trading the item for a treat. This is something that takes a while to accomplish so don't expect results right away. Ideally you should practice with items he doesn't guard, like the sticks and toys you mentioned, first. Once you take those items away, give them back. After he is very comfortable with those items, you can move on to the items he is guarding. But again go slow, and don't force the issue. The goal is for the dog to associate people taking things as a positive experiance and to realize that he gets it back. Once he is comfortable with you taking guarded items away, doesn't mean he will not guard anymore. He still might guard against other individuals. Once he is comfortable with you taking his objects, have others in the house work on this in the same progression ie. safe objects moving to the ones he guards. If you have kids, it will be very good to have them practice alos, but always under your supervision.


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## liljoec (Aug 17, 2010)

cool. thanks for the advice crisp. That actually was effective yesterday but I was a bit hesitant to "bribe" him not knowing if that was a good long term solution.


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

liljoec said:


> cool. thanks for the advice crisp. That actually was effective yesterday but I was a bit hesitant to "bribe" him not knowing if that was a good long term solution.


 Really no such thing as brbing in dog terms. He's not holding the stick hostage to get you to fork up something you hold dear. LOL. He is guarding the stick because its seen as a food resource and he has an instinct to protect it. By giving treat you're changing his reality of losing a precious item, into a positive experiance of receiving a tasty treat. Give him the stick back after he allows to take also. He will learn that you taking it doesn't mean its gone. But if he is showing this behavior this early, make sure you practice with him even if he is really good. It could develope into a larger problem later.


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## Stogey (Jun 29, 2010)

Simplest solution here is: Leave his BLEEPING Bully Stick alone !!! :wild:


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Ha, I was about the say the same thing Stogey said! But you definitely don't want him to transfer that guarding to other things, so like crisp said, trade for treats. I've taught 'drop it' to our dogs so they spit out whatever is in their mouth and I don't take it directly from them. I used a clicker, gave a toy, took it, said the command then dropped it on the floor and treated. In just a few minutes they were spitting the toy out to get a treat. Not that I've ever taken away a bully stick, I intend them to have it as long as they want. But you're wise to be concerned about the growling and biting...that should never be allowed.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

Bully sticks are a very high value food item! I don't take them away once I've given them out. However my dogs ARE trained to surrender items (including food) just in case they get hold of something which might be harmful to them. I would always give them something in exchange for the item they were being asked to give up, and since they are both highly food motivated, treats were the item of choice. It really doesn't take long for them to catch on that they are not going to lose out by handing over whatever it is they have.
_________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge


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## GSD_man (Oct 6, 2007)

liljoec said:


> But If I give him a bully stick he is really possive. He really likes it and if I try to take it he actually growls and will intentionally bite me.


Initially, I over read the part where the OP mentioned the dog is 10 weeks old, so I was thinking ...oh man, adult dog with food guarding aggression.... but then I went back and re-read the 10 weeks old part. Now I am thinking what a cute little puppers growling there with his skunk breath, razor sharp teeth and bully stick in his mouth....


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

Joe, I am curious what was your instant instinctual reaction when he bit you?

I had a dog snap at me once when taking a rib bone away, I grabbed her by her neck and pushed her over and held her till she stopped growling, then took the bone, gave it back, took it, a few times. After that she never protested when I took food away. She was not mentally scarred by the experience as far as I could tell in the next 15 years I had her.

Biting the human is an instance that IMO calls for a quick immediate correction. Then take the food, give it back, take it, give it back, until he gets the message that he gets the food on YOUR terms not his. When he willingly gives it to you when he feels you pulling it out of his mouth, that's a good sign, give it back and let him eat it. It does not take long to train, but now is the time before his bites can do more serious damage.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Stogey said:


> Simplest solution here is: Leave his BLEEPING Bully Stick alone !!! :wild:


 
And wait for some little kid to try to take it away from him when he is 90 lbs!


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Ucdcrush said:


> Joe, I am curious what was your instant instinctual reaction when he bit you?
> 
> I had a dog snap at me once when taking a rib bone away, I grabbed her by her neck and pushed her over and held her till she stopped growling, then took the bone, gave it back, took it, a few times. After that she never protested when I took food away. She was not mentally scarred by the experience as far as I could tell in the next 15 years I had her.
> 
> Biting the human is an instance that IMO calls for a quick immediate correction. Then take the food, give it back, take it, give it back, until he gets the message that he gets the food on YOUR terms not his. When he willingly gives it to you when he feels you pulling it out of his mouth, that's a good sign, give it back and let him eat it. It does not take long to train, but now is the time before his bites can do more serious damage.


Well said! Cannot allow any dog to get away with defending his food from a family member! NONO!


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Miraculix said:


> Initially, I over read the part where the OP mentioned the dog is 10 weeks old, so I was thinking ...oh man, adult dog with food guarding aggression.... but then I went back and re-read the 10 weeks old part. Now I am thinking what a cute little puppers growling there with his skunk breath, razor sharp teeth and bully stick in his mouth....


VERY cute at 10 weeks, unfortunately not nearly so cute at 2 yo and 90 lbs!


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## liljoec (Aug 17, 2010)

Ucdcrush said:


> Joe, I am curious what was your instant instinctual reaction when he bit you?
> 
> I had a dog snap at me once when taking a rib bone away, I grabbed her by her neck and pushed her over and held her till she stopped growling, then took the bone, gave it back, took it, a few times. After that she never protested when I took food away. She was not mentally scarred by the experience as far as I could tell in the next 15 years I had her.
> 
> Biting the human is an instance that IMO calls for a quick immediate correction. Then take the food, give it back, take it, give it back, until he gets the message that he gets the food on YOUR terms not his. When he willingly gives it to you when he feels you pulling it out of his mouth, that's a good sign, give it back and let him eat it. It does not take long to train, but now is the time before his bites can do more serious damage.


I actually did exactly what you did. I did this a couple times and I also give the bully stick to him while he is tied to his dog run. If I dont he runs away with it and will not come to me. I'm going to continue doing this exercise with some of his favorite treats just so he knows that I will give it back to him or he will get something good in return. Fortunately he doesnt have this problem with any other item. I can lay down right beside him when he is eating his food. During meal time, I can pet his neck, head, face, even put my hand in his mouth and he is really well behaved. Zero aggression. I have no trouble taking his food away and he patiently waits for me to return it. Its just the bully sticks.
For those folks who say just let him have it and why would I take it away? For one, I dont think he needs to eat an entire bully stick since I think they are a bit too rich for puppies and also I need to make sure this isnt going to be a lifelong problem.


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## liljoec (Aug 17, 2010)

codmaster said:


> VERY cute at 10 weeks, unfortunately not nearly so cute at 2 yo and 90 lbs!


Exactly, thats why I'm trying to knock this little problem out. Funny thing is, its only the bully sticks. I could really just never give him one and we would never see this behavour (until he does it with something else that we werent aware of...) Hopefully I can just get it resolved and it really will be a non issue.


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## rob31 (Sep 10, 2010)

> Biting the human is an instance that IMO calls for a quick immediate correction. Then take the food, give it back, take it, give it back, until he gets the message that he gets the food on YOUR terms not his. When he willingly gives it to you when he feels you pulling it out of his mouth, that's a good sign, give it back and let him eat it. It does not take long to train, but now is the time before his bites can do more serious damage.


Very good advice, bad behavior needs to be addressed while they are still young. You could also try teaching him the "leave it" command. I saw it on an animal planet tv show and the dog seemed to learn it quickly.


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

Let us know how it goes. He might just need a few more learning experiences to drive the message home.


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## Dennq (Jun 21, 2010)

At my house bully sticks are doggie crack!


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Hmmmmm. 

Well, now, if you are taking the sticks away because you do not believe he needs to eat the whole thing then YOU have created the problem. You have given the dog a high value treat, then taken it away and kept it. Now he is afraid if you get his food it will be gone forever. Not good. 

I can take ANYTHING away from any of my dogs and never had to hole them on the ground or correct them. I make it a point to practice while they are eating. I take the thing, look at it, and hand it right back. 

If you want him to eat less penis, then cut it in half before giving it to him. But do not take away and keep a high value treat from your dog. 

In fact, I would not given him these you have started a problem with them. Avoid them. Go and get a bag of pig ear strips. These seem to be super high value as well, doggie crack. This time though before giving it to the dog, teach the dog the words, GIVE or DROP IT, you can use something edible or a toy, always give it back or exchange it for a better treat and put it up. Then up the ante and have the dog give you the pig ear strip and always give it right back. Do this as a game. Eventually, you will give them a treat or give it back only some of the time. Not the high value treat, but the ordinary toy or treat. 

It is ESSENTIAL that your dog let you open his mouth and take something away. That is why we practice. When it is something dangerous like a bottle of IB Profin, you can take it away and say -- that's mine, but you will get it, with no growls or running away. 

When I give a high value treat, I always give it right back. They do not think I am going to keep it, so they do not feel they need to defend it.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I do not use them. I cannot get over what they are. And, they DO stink. Someone gave me about half a dozen of them, and times being what they are, I gave them to the dogs, but first I transported them in the car. They were stinking in my car. I gave them to the dogs and they stunk while they ate them. Ewwwww!!!!


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