Which Dog is at Fault?

What Would You Do?

Last night there was a small incident with Tynan and Lincoln.

Tynan was playing with his toy. (99% of the time Tynan is playing with his toys Lincoln comes along and tries to take it.)

So Tynan is chewing on his toy, Lincoln tries to take it and does not listen to Tynan's signals that he is not liking that. Tynan became upset at Lincoln and snapped at him. It wasn't anything like a full-blown fight but it was obvious that Tynan was not happy with his toy being taken out of his mouth. So I gave Tynan a time out in his crate and took the toy away from Lincoln.

I don't want Tynan to snap at any dog over a toy, but on the other hand he was being pushed too far. This is the first time Tynan has gotten upset.

How could I teach Lincoln to stop when given signals from other dogs? When he gets signals from the other dogs he rarely backs of. He pushes to hard sometimes and annoys the other dogs in the house.

How do I teach Tynan not to get upset over a toy? (even though he was being pushed into it) I don't want him reacting negatively either.

Tynan is acting like a normal nice dog. He gave signals for Lincoln to back off. The first signal you probably didn't even catch. Lincoln is either very domineering, or doesn't understand social manners. If he was taken from his mother and littermates too young, this is what happens, he didn't learn doggie manners.

Set up a training situation where you can see the dogs and respond. When you see Lincoln heading for Tynan's toy, call Lincoln to you and give him some attention. Reward him for minding you with praise and a pet. Do not bring Lincoln onto the furniture or in your lap. Just keep an eye on them and call Lincoln away each time. If he responds well to you, move to the next step. Otherwise, put him on leash so you can gently pull him towards you. The next step would be to wait for Tynan to give a signal. If he stops chewing and looks at Lincoln, accept that as a signal. Call Lincoln to you.

If, when you call Lincoln to you both dogs go to you, then put Lincoln into a down when he is a good three feet from Tynan and have him stay there. Whatever you do, you need to intervene before Lincoln tries to put his teeth on the toy. Do not punish Tynan for defending his property. Yes, fur may fly, but perhaps that is what it will take.

When Lincoln tries to take toy away could you maybe re-direct him with his own toy somewhere else away from Tynan.

Dealing with the same situation with Teagan and Emme as Emme is the new puppy is that we usually let teagan deal with Emme on her own and Emme is slowly starting to realise that what she is doing is not appropriate. I am a big believer that dogs learn from each other and that another dog will once in a while "teach it a lesson" per say.

It does seem though that Licoln needs to learn some boundries and learn to stop.

How does Lincoln act when Tynan snapped at him??

I personally would not worry too much about Tynan snapping at Lincoln that was just his way of saying "leave me alone" It does not mean he is resource guarding or anything. Its normal dog behavour.

Straight?

I wouldn't have timed Ty, I would have timed Lincoln, and the toy would have been removed from both of them. Ty is doing dog communication properly; Lincoln's pushing to see how far he can go.

Later, I'd give them BOTH something, after they'd interacted and been friendly.

I don't have any good advice, but it sucks to have a dog who can't read social cues. Argon is utterly hopeless at it, and it about drives me nuts. The funny thing is, he can give appropriate cues, but doesn't seem to understand how to read them in other dogs.

This is 100% on the handler.

First off if you have two dogs who conflict with each other on possession of items the only solution is there are no dog toys- there are your toys. You pick who gets what toy, just like who gets what food dish, then you decide when they're done playing with your toys. Pick up the toy and put it out of sight. When it comes down it'll just like when it was brand new and awesome.

If the two dogs can't seem to do stuff without hassling each other then simply remove a dog. Crates are fantastic training aides to teach a dog to mind it's own business when another dog is having fun. The idea of sharing nicely is for children, dogs by nature don't share much without grumbling about it.

I want to be very clear that you're courting a dog fight by allowing your dogs to posture over items in your home.