New puppy snaps at dogs...

[angie8023]

I just adopted Tron about a week ago and aside from the kennel cough he is as healthy, sweet, and active as any other puppy. I am dog sitting for my mother in law at the moment. All four of the dogs get along great, until I bring out the bones. One of the girls tried to take Tron's bone and he went nuts. He started barking, growling, and snapping at her. I or any other human can mess with his bone and he is fine. Is there any way to stop him from doing this? I want him to be able to chew a bone and not freak out if another dog is getting close to it.

[bubbatd]

Let him have his in a separate area for a while . When I got Ollie he was very touchy about " his " things and now is fine sharing even.

[lizzybeth727]

I agree, he definately needs time to settle in with the other dogs before being expected to be "nice" around such a highly valued object.

That said, most dogs will guard resources like this around other dogs. There are training protocols you can use to help them guard less, but they are extremely time consuming. Personally, I always keep dogs separate while they have bones, at mealtime, or with other highly valued objects. You can keep them separated by having them in crates or separate rooms, or if you are watching them closely you could just have them on opposite sides of the room and interrupt them when they start going for each others' objects.

[angie8023]

Thanks for the advice!

[Doberluv]

My take might be a little different. As long as it looks like nothing is going to get out of hand...another dog retaliating, some ongoing "war" between them, blood drawn, I'd stand by and watch for just a sec. See if the other dogs are respecting his growl and backing off from the bone. Sometimes, leaving them to communicate with each other and setting up their "regulations" works pretty well. If though, you see that the puppy's growls and quick little snap toward the other dog isn't effectively making the other dog go away, then it's time to step in. No punishment. That will just make it worse....but a separation will prevent the dogs from continuing the squabble. In many cases, dogs can teach dogs better than we can. However, when people sometimes say, "Let them work it out themselves" and they mean regardless, I disagree at the point where things might get too rough. That's when human mama lays down the law. LOL.

My dogs don't have much trouble at all. Once in a great while Chulita will give a little snarl at another dog if the dog is too close for comfort. And immediately the other dog respects that. So, I don't have to step in. Of course, I try to avoid very, very high value bones and things when they're all in close proximatey to each other. If any of my dogs really attacked the other....really biting, really going nuts, I would prevent that. So, without seeing what exactly your puppy is doing and how the other dogs are reacting, I can only guess at what point it is needed that you prevent by separating them in the first place. It is safer to keep the really super high value stuff away when they're all together.

[angie8023]

Thanks Doberluv. I tried again today and things were fine. He let the others take the bone from him and vice versa. I think it was all too much too soon. New owners, new home, new dogs, and new bones