Bad Behavior?

[adora's mom]

Beckham and Adora have a love/hate relationship. I can't figure out if it's just a normal establishment of heirarchy or just plain naughty behavior. Please help me figure out how to deal with this! :confused:

- Beckham was never protective of his treats before, but now, for instance I give them both Bully Sticks. I'll give Becks his first, then Adora hers. Beckham will go put his Bully Stick down, and then come back and take Adora's out of her mouth, start chomping on it and then put his paw over his. Then, if she tries to get hers back he makes growling sounds and carries on about it (doesn't snarl or show teeth, only awful sounds)

-When we sleep, Beckham sleeps on the bed near my feet (or spooning me or on my pillow :D ). Adora sleeps in the master bathroom where she's safely confined behind a baby gate, but I put her in bed with me so we can snuggle for a while until I put her down to sleep. If Beckham is sleeping and Adora touches him he growls his head off (has snarled once, and he got in big trouble i.e., kicked off the bed).

I know they love each other because they spend most of their time together either making out or wrestling - but this behavior is driving me nuts! I feel bad for Adora because she can't even have a treat without Beckham taking it. I'm not sure what to do...I've read to not let dogs take things away from each other and then I've read just to let them work it out.

My friend has 2 Dachshunds that are littermates and they are just plain vicious with each other when it comes to treats, guarding their mom/toys, etc. but I thought it was because they were Dachshunds and it seems most of them are like that! ;) (sorry Dachshund lovers!)

Help! Any advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

[franp]

Lesly, I am going to forward an article called "Frenchie Boot Camp to Roosjie to post. It is good for all dogs with these kind of problems..
You are smart to start stopping this now. It can escalate and get nasty.

I personally do not like to give treats to 2 dogs.Dari can get nasty. I think it is asking for problems (as you can see already.)Treats are food. and food is something dogs can get aggressive over. Why put something in front of them that can cause problems.

fran

[franp]

Lesley,go back a couple of threads to "whose in charge here?"That is the article I was talking about. Read it.. It is really good. It will teach you how to be Alpha in your own pack.

Also Roosje can talk about NILIF training. Nothing in life is free.

[Carolyn]

Lesley....I don't know that I describe your dog's relationship as love/hate....but I know what you are talking about. It's all about attention and who is "top dog". Abby and Ferris love each other to pieces but when it comes to treats like bullysticks given at the same time....watch out....they become dogs who will fight for the best piece or all of it. I will not give them chewable treats unless they are separated and watched. That is one reason why I prefer to give them a biscuit rather than a chewable treat that can't be gobbled up in a few seconds. These Frenchies are bulldogs, afterall.

Carolyn

[Martina]

That's great advise! I too have found that a friendly, enthusiastic voice can work wonders with scared and/or aggressive dogs.

[adora's mom]

This is all great advice!

I think I have to 'demote' Beckham and start doing time-outs again when he gets overly bossy. And either take the chewy treats away, or hand them out at exactly the same time. I had been doing Beckham first & then Adora. I usually always make sure to eat something myself in front of them first before giving them their treats, but I guess I was reinforcing Beckham's inflated ego by giving him his treats before Adora :o

Oopsie!

Thanks to all of you, I'm sure this will help us out.

:)

[adora's mom]

And don't allow him to snatch it away from Adora, tell him in a friendly way no and show him what is his.

In a wolf pack they also respect each others food even the lowest in rank is left alone with its food.

Roosje

Thanks again Roosje & Martina - the "happy voice" and not allowing him to take the treat from Adora worked like a charm this evening. Of course, I'll need to be consistent with it, but this method does seem to work very well with him. I was approaching the issue by using a stern voice before - he's a sensitive guy, so this is much better for him I think :)

Yeah!

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