Toy possessiveness?

[L.M.]

In November, we brought home our 2nd doodle, Stella.  She is our 20 month old male doodle's "sister"...same parent dogs.  They have done wonderfully together.....play, romp, relax together....no complaints about now being a proud owner of 2 doods!  The one thing I'm a bit concerned about is our big guy's (Seamus) possessiveness of his bones.  We do not give them bones (shoulder/joint bone/hoof) often, especially now.  One night this past week, when we did give them each a bone, Seamus got a little possessive of his when Stella approached it.  He "growls" at her and shows his teeth......which he often does when they play together as well.  I got concerned when I went to take their bones away from them and he showed ME his teeth.  He has NEVER EVER once done this to any human.  That was the extent of it...I took it away and all was fine...but what can I do to nip this behavior in the bud?  We have no children...yet....but when we do I don't want to have to worry that Seamus can potentially get possessive of his bones.  I yelled at him to correct the behavior, took the bone away, and ignored him for a while afterward when he did this.  Is there anything else I should do?  I should note that the bones are the only things he gets possessive of...he doesn't do it with any of their other hundred toys.  I could, of course, limit their "bone time" which we do, but sometimes at night they just want to chew! lol

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Others on here have suggested that you give and take toys, bones so that the dog understands that they are YOURS.  We began having some special toy/bone guarding when we got our rescue last March.  If we hear any growling, we tell them no and if it occurs again, we take the item away for days.

[Carol]

Great question Lindsey and would love to hear some suggestions. We brought home our 2d doodle last month and although Manny (the older one) doesn't show teeth he gives a low level growl when Izzy approaches when he has a toy. Now luckily little Izzy is a confident one and she proceeds to try to take it anyway and there has never been any fighting. However, Manny not only wants his toys but her's as well! Even when I buy two of things he takes his and as soon as I give her one, he drops his and comes after hers. He does this with everything! Our trainer said it's ok if they both play with each other's toys but the only rule should be they can't take a toy away from the other when they are playing with it. Well Izzy has an attention span of gnat so she always goes after what Manny has and Manny is overly possessive so he always goes after what she has. Not sure what to do! They get along great and really love each other but big brother I think is feeling a little threatened I think by the newbie.

[L.M.]

That's EXACTLY what Seamus does.  He will go as far as stealing Stella's toy, laying on top of it to "hide it" and then continue chewing his own toy!  These doodles are smart ones! lol The only things, however, he "growls" at her for are the bones.  We are on probably day 3 right now of no bones and all has been well, so maybe we'll just have to keep them bone-free for a while.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I have my dogs take their bones in their mouths as they go outside, and then I put on the kitchen timer for 20 minutes.  At the end of that time, I have them bring their bones back to me and I put them in a plastic Ziplock bag, and put them with the dog food.  They do this also with bullysticks and FrostyPaws.  With the FrostyPaws, I have them bring me the empty container when they are finished.  Twenty minutes is plenty of time for them to chew, and they seem happy to give up their chews or bones at the end of that time.

If Seamus shows his teeth again, I would just firmly tell him no, and take the bone away.  Is Stella old enough for chews also?  Make sure she has something when Seamus is working on his bone so she doesn't pester him.  Maybe put them in different areas to work on their chews, and do limit their chew time.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Instead of saying NO, I might say "Drop it" and offer him something else instead and say "Take it".  That is what we have done with Peri. She won't bear her teeth, but she will bark excessively at Taquito if he is chewing "her" antler.  She steals it from him and we do the drop it, take it....

 

It's hard with bones/antlers. I know.

All else fails, just take them away.