[Samson&Akira]

My husband and I just rescued a female GSD puppy that is now 4 months old. We already have a 1yr old male GSD. When the 2 play the female will grab a toy and hide it under her chest and when the male tries to even come close to her she starts growling. The same is with her food. The male doesn't even show her attention when she is eating but if he walks by even 4 ft away she starts growling. I know this can be typical of a GSD, but what are some ways of trying to fix the problem?

Thanks

 

[jarn]

Teagan was possessive aggressive (resource guarding, I guess) with high-value toys when I got her.

I don't have the puppy experience, so this could be something development, maybe someone else could say, but I would suggest controlling access to toys. Make the toys yours, and make sure your dogs know it, and this should go a long way to stopping the toy possessiveness. You decide when/who/what gets played with.

Hope that helps a bit. I feed all my dogs separated so I haven't dealt with the other issue.

 

[big_dog7777]

Originally Posted By: jarnI would suggest controlling access to toys. Make the toys yours, and make sure your dogs know it, and this should go a long way to stopping the toy possessiveness. You decide when/who/what gets played with.

Hope that helps a bit. I feed all my dogs separated so I haven't dealt with the other issue.

Answers to both are right above. Feed the dogs seperately, and preferrably in a crate. Control the toys. Expecting dogs to always "play nice with toys" and share their food is not realistic with all dogs.

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

Re: Aggression towards food & toys as a puppy

4 months old is very young, and it would be hard for me to separate play growling with the toy, from resource guarding with the toy..... all my dogs have horrific growling behaviors when playing, sounds just like they are going to kill each other (or me if I'm at the other end of the tug toy).

The food thing between the 2 wouldn't bother me either right now. Just a warning to keep the other one away isn't uncommon. My 'pig' Bretta eats WAY faster than Elsa. So she wanders close to sniff the ground for scraps when Elsa is finishing up and Elsa will normally growl to make sure Bretta doesn't actually get her nose in the bowl.

And my dogs do have the right to eat without having to worry about another dog coming into their bowl. You may just want to feed your pup in it's crate so they can eat with no worry at this point.

Good luck with both these puppies. Most of us wouldn't have taken 2 such young dogs on so you will have your hands full. The quicker you can get into dog classes so YOU will gain the skills to be seen by your dog as in the Leadership Role, the better.

Just as heads up for how much harder it is for you with 2 dogs so close in age, these are good sites for preparation:

http://www.leerburg.com/2dogs.htm

http://www.gsdhelpline.com/2pups.htm