really possesive with bully sticks

[liljoec]

Hi everyone. I'm a new GSD owner. My 10 week old pup is named Jasper. He is pretty rambunctious but seems very willing to learn. He has so far learned sit, stay and come. He is learning to play fetch but doesnt always come directly to me. no biggie, we'll get there.
Ok, so here is where I'm at a bit of a loss. He is very polite at meal time and lays down, gives me lots of space until I call him in to eat. He has no problem with me taking his food and giving it back. But If I give him a bully stick he is really possive. He really likes it and if I try to take it he actually growls and will intentionally bite me. He doesnt do this with sticks or toys. I can tell when he is playing with me and wants to play tug of war. I dont engage in tug of war, but he still likes to try. I can tell what he is doing with the bully stick is not play. I have a pretty good puncture wound on my hand from last night to prove it. He acted like this with the bully stick when I got him at 8 weeks so I took it away for a few weeks while he and I built a relationship. But apparently I still cant give them to him until I figure out how to make him be polite. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Joe

[crisp]

Resource guarding is not that uncommon and a normal dog behavior. You have to work with him to condition him to willingly give you the item. The whole training excercise revolves around trading the item for a treat. This is something that takes a while to accomplish so don't expect results right away. Ideally you should practice with items he doesn't guard, like the sticks and toys you mentioned, first. Once you take those items away, give them back. After he is very comfortable with those items, you can move on to the items he is guarding. But again go slow, and don't force the issue. The goal is for the dog to associate people taking things as a positive experiance and to realize that he gets it back. Once he is comfortable with you taking guarded items away, doesn't mean he will not guard anymore. He still might guard against other individuals. Once he is comfortable with you taking his objects, have others in the house work on this in the same progression ie. safe objects moving to the ones he guards. If you have kids, it will be very good to have them practice alos, but always under your supervision.

[liljoec]

cool. thanks for the advice crisp. That actually was effective yesterday but I was a bit hesitant to "bribe" him not knowing if that was a good long term solution.

[crisp]

Originally Posted by liljoec

cool. thanks for the advice crisp. That actually was effective yesterday but I was a bit hesitant to "bribe" him not knowing if that was a good long term solution.

Really no such thing as brbing in dog terms. He's not holding the stick hostage to get you to fork up something you hold dear. LOL. He is guarding the stick because its seen as a food resource and he has an instinct to protect it. By giving treat you're changing his reality of losing a precious item, into a positive experiance of receiving a tasty treat. Give him the stick back after he allows to take also. He will learn that you taking it doesn't mean its gone. But if he is showing this behavior this early, make sure you practice with him even if he is really good. It could develope into a larger problem later.

[Stogey]

Simplest solution here is: Leave his BLEEPING Bully Stick alone !!!

[Stosh]

Ha, I was about the say the same thing Stogey said! But you definitely don't want him to transfer that guarding to other things, so like crisp said, trade for treats. I've taught 'drop it' to our dogs so they spit out whatever is in their mouth and I don't take it directly from them. I used a clicker, gave a toy, took it, said the command then dropped it on the floor and treated. In just a few minutes they were spitting the toy out to get a treat. Not that I've ever taken away a bully stick, I intend them to have it as long as they want. But you're wise to be concerned about the growling and biting...that should never be allowed.

[Anja1Blue]

Bully sticks are a very high value food item! I don't take them away once I've given them out. However my dogs ARE trained to surrender items (including food) just in case they get hold of something which might be harmful to them. I would always give them something in exchange for the item they were being asked to give up, and since they are both highly food motivated, treats were the item of choice. It really doesn't take long for them to catch on that they are not going to lose out by handing over whatever it is they have.
_________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge

[GSD_man]

Originally Posted by liljoec

But If I give him a bully stick he is really possive. He really likes it and if I try to take it he actually growls and will intentionally bite me.

Initially, I over read the part where the OP mentioned the dog is 10 weeks old, so I was thinking ...oh man, adult dog with food guarding aggression.... but then I went back and re-read the 10 weeks old part. Now I am thinking what a cute little puppers growling there with his skunk breath, razor sharp teeth and bully stick in his mouth....

[Ucdcrush]

Joe, I am curious what was your instant instinctual reaction when he bit you?

I had a dog snap at me once when taking a rib bone away, I grabbed her by her neck and pushed her over and held her till she stopped growling, then took the bone, gave it back, took it, a few times. After that she never protested when I took food away. She was not mentally scarred by the experience as far as I could tell in the next 15 years I had her.

Biting the human is an instance that IMO calls for a quick immediate correction. Then take the food, give it back, take it, give it back, until he gets the message that he gets the food on YOUR terms not his. When he willingly gives it to you when he feels you pulling it out of his mouth, that's a good sign, give it back and let him eat it. It does not take long to train, but now is the time before his bites can do more serious damage.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Stogey

Simplest solution here is: Leave his BLEEPING Bully Stick alone !!!

And wait for some little kid to try to take it away from him when he is 90 lbs!