Behavior Issue

[Kim]

Our Allie (9 months) enjoys her rawhide everynight. Just recently when anyone gets near her while she has a rawhide, she start growling. If we get brave enough to put our fingers near her face, she violently reacts in attack mode, while snarling and she tries to bite. This only happens with rawhides, she doesn't act aggressively with her food, or toys. We have been trying to correct her by petting near her face to let her know that we aren't going to take it, but she still growls. I'm very worried that if she is ever chewing a rawhide near a child, she will attack. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

Noble, I love the idea of Mine and Yours. It's so natural and seems to reinforce the idea of pack leadership. What do you mean by Greenies and Flossies do the same thing? Do you mean they allow for the same amount of chewing happiness or the same intestinal obstruction?

And branching out, how about Rope toys. Good for teeth, but how about for intestinal damage? It seems strange that a dog would be able to deal with ropes but not rawhides...

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

sorry for not providing a complete thought~ it was complete in my head only :)

Greenies and Flossies gum up and settle in the stomach and intestine and can cause obstructions.

Rope toys are ok but only with supervision, once they start pulling them apart it is time for it to go.

Good toys for chewers are Kong and Nylabone, just make sure to buy them in the correct chew grade, some dogs are heavy chewers and both companies make their toys labeling for puppy, normal, heavy and seniors.

We dont really feed bullies or pixel sticks~ my dogs are fine with cheese bits for treats.

[Doodle Kisses]

We have a rope toy...but we only bring it out for brief games of tug. I don't let them sit and chew on it. Same with any other destructible toy--they can play with it while we are using it for fetch, tug, etc...but not given to them for extended alone time.

[Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran]

We actually made the decision to not even bring rawhide chews into the house. We have three dogs, and while they normally get along fine, they'd turn into devils when rawhide was involved! Growling, possessive - you name it.

Their treats now are Milk Bones and an occasional Beggin' Strip.

[Kim]

I typed in "Bully Sticks," at the top of the page and the first thing it brought up was a blog called "Say No to Rawhide and Nylabone" apparently there was a lawsuit filed against Nylabone because of teeth being broken, as well as pieces being broken off.

I went to my local Farm and Feed store and spoke with the employee there, and told him about the controversy regarding the rawhides and he said that all dogs are different as are all people. He said he gives his dogs rawhides with no problem, he acted like I was crazy for buying a bully stick because of this discussion!!!! I have spent so much money on this dog in the past month (a positive Lyme diagnosis, an $85 grooming that turned into $300 because they cut her all over the place and we had to go to the ER vet) so, if I can deter something else from happening - I will do all I can!!!!

I gave her a Bully Stick last night and started some training. She did do a little better with her growling after awhile, but we still have a long way to go. I'm just surprised that this has just started happening, as a few weeks ago we were around a 2 year old boy that was pulling her tail, and yanking toys out of her mouth and she didn't so much as move her mouth.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have been away form the computer for a while, so I want to answer a few things that have been said over the past few days. I put bullies in the freezer to slow down the rate at which my dog consumes them--she is quite a chewer for such a small dog. I give her the Bully for about 20 minutes, then it goes back in the freezer for another day. I have found that she has no stomach upset, etc, so that is why i give them to her. I also stay away from wheat and corn products, so that eliminates a lot of the treats some others have mentioned. I don't want to start a debate over what and corn, it was just something my breeder did and I continued it. She has a lot of knowledge about dog diets and food. You can find lots of wheat and corn free products for dogs now.
Good luck with the training!

[Kim]

Freezing them sounds like a good idea - as I gave her a huge braided bully stick and it was almost gone in 2 sessions! I took them away between 20-30 minutes both times. Once the braids came apart, I threw them away because I know that she would have swallowed them whole if allowed.

The trading treats for the bully stick has been working wonderfully. I have been doing it very often while she is chewing, and as of last night there was no growling at all when I used the command "give it." I am now comfortable with having my son start training with that command as well.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Great! Hope it continues to go well!