[R-a-m-b-o]

Question one:
My dog(1.6 years old) seems too be over confident all the time and he never get scared by any other dog, today a new gsd came to our park(2.4 Years old) and every time he got close to my dog my dog walked away nervously and i never saw this kind of behavior before
any ideas what was it?
Question Two:
Why my dog is too obsessed with Ropes&Tennis balls&tree branches
it's a never ending cycle he always find's something that he can give me to play with him and it seems like he guards it from other dogs and it gives him confidence, like he cant do anything without having something to protect on.

 

[Gretchen]

Question one:
My dog(1.6 years old) seems too be over confident all the time and he never get scared by any other dog, today a new gsd came to our park(2.4 Years old) and every time he got close to my dog my dog walked away nervously and i never saw this kind of behavior before
any ideas what was it?
Question Two:
Why my dog is too obsessed with Ropes&Tennis balls&tree branches
it's a never ending cycle he always find's something that he can give me to play with him and it seems like he guards it from other dogs and it gives him confidence, like he cant do anything without having something to protect on.

The 2.4 year old is the more dominant dog.
As for the toys, sounds like your dog wants you to play with him. I can't really understand your writing, maybe he wants to be chased while he has the toys, my dog loves that.

 

[Pooky44]

The 2.4 year old is the more dominant dog.
As for the toys, sounds like your dog wants you to play with him. I can't really understand your writing, maybe he wants to be chased while he has the toys, my dog loves that.

I agree for what it's worth.

 

[R-a-m-b-o]

i'll give you guys an example, when i play tug with my dog he gives 100% concentration to me, but when we stop tugging and i put the tugging rope in my backpack i give him the command "Free" and immediately after it he starts looking for a new item to put in his mouth, he takes it under the bench i'm sitting on and protects it.
By protecting i mean growling showing teeth and biting which can cause to attacking other dog.
He's obsessed !

 

[Anthony8858]

Question one:
My dog(1.6 years old) seems too be over confident all the time and he never get scared by any other dog, today a new gsd came to our park(2.4 Years old) and every time he got close to my dog my dog walked away nervously and i never saw this kind of behavior before
any ideas what was it?
Question Two:
Why my dog is too obsessed with Ropes&Tennis balls&tree branches
it's a never ending cycle he always find's something that he can give me to play with him and it seems like he guards it from other dogs and it gives him confidence, like he cant do anything without having something to protect on.

First I'll comment about your dog being afraid of the new GSD.... I'll say this much... THEY KNOW who they can, and cannot be comfortable with. I've seen my dog do this. They get a "read" on the other dog, and clearly know that that other dog could pose a threat.
My advice is to respect it. If you're in the dog park scene, keep n extra eye on that dog, when he's near your dog. There's a chance something could happen.

I would also discourage the "guarding of the toys". If he's showing teeth, it's only a matter of time before he snaps.
I can't offer advice on how to correct that (maybe someone else can), but I'd minimize the chances for now, until you learn how to correct it.
You don't want a dog developing confidence at your expense.

 

[Castlemaid]

Let him win the tug and possess it for a while before you take it away. When he gets tired of carrying it around, then you can take it back and put it away.

There is an instinctual sequence for hunting/catching prey that is tapped into and given an outlet when we play tug with our dogs. The tugging is part of bringing the prey down, or tugging at it with other dogs to pull the prey apart once it is dead. The sequence goes: hunt, catch, bring down, take possession, take back to den.

If they never get to cycle through the whole sequence, the outlet for their drives is not met, and can cause a lot of frustration. In bite-work training, the young dogs always win the tug, or the sleeve, and get to carry it around for quite a while at first, to satisfy the catch/carry sequence, and are not asked to out it and focus on other tasks until they are older and have more training.

Try this when you play with him: let him win the tug, let him parade around with it for a while, call him back to you, and without asking him to drop it, pick up the rope and tug some more, let him win, and so on.

When he gets tired of carrying it, and drops it, pick it up and play some more, when you have had enough, wait for him to drop it again once he has won it one last time, then put it away.

Also, if he is the kind of dog that likes to carry things, let him have a ball that he can carry around in his mouth. If he is a resource guarder from other dogs, avoid the dog park - he obviously is more interested in playing with you than with other dogs, and that is something I would cultivate for all it's worth!

 

[Pooky44]

How much obedience work have you done?
Teach him Drop It then use it once or twice a day.
It's good to let him get his way but he also has to learn to give in to your way.
How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It: 6 Steps (with Pictures)

 

[R-a-m-b-o]

How much obedience work have you done?
Teach him Drop It then use it once or twice a day.
It's good to let him get his way but he also has to learn to give in to your way.
How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It: 6 Steps (with Pictures)

Pooky he can "Leave it" "Drop it" however you wanna call it.
what you wrote doesn't have anything to do with what i asked in the thread, he's very obedient i worked with him since
he was 3 months old.

 

[martemchik]

When it comes to question one, its difficult to answer without watching the dogs interact. There are so many different variables as to why this could be happening.

Question two, probably the more alarming one. The fact that your dog gets real possessive of things is not a good thing. Especially if he's allowed to interact with other dogs when those types of things can be around. This is an inherent trait and many dogs get possessive of their toys, the way to fix this is to remove the toys in order to prevent any type of fight breaking out. The part about him wanting to tug more isn't an issue...my dog would tug for days if I let him, but when we're done he knows it. He might try to get me to tug some more, but that's just a dog being a dog...they want to play. It's an annoyance but there's really no way to teach a dog the "time" when its fine to play and when it isn't...especially if you spent the last 5 minutes playing with him. I'm sure he knows that when you say "no" the game is done, and that's really all you can do.

 

[Anthony8858]

Let him win the tug and possess it for a while before you take it away. When he gets tired of carrying it around, then you can take it back and put it away.

There is an instinctual sequence for hunting/catching prey that is tapped into and given an outlet when we play tug with our dogs. The tugging is part of bringing the prey down, or tugging at it with other dogs to pull the prey apart once it is dead. The sequence goes: hunt, catch, bring down, take possession, take back to den.

If they never get to cycle through the whole sequence, the outlet for their drives is not met, and can cause a lot of frustration. In bite-work training, the young dogs always win the tug, or the sleeve, and get to carry it around for quite a while at first, to satisfy the catch/carry sequence, and are not asked to out it and focus on other tasks until they are older and have more training.

Try this when you play with him: let him win the tug, let him parade around with it for a while, call him back to you, and without asking him to drop it, pick up the rope and tug some more, let him win, and so on.

When he gets tired of carrying it, and drops it, pick it up and play some more, when you have had enough, wait for him to drop it again once he has won it one last time, then put it away.

Also, if he is the kind of dog that likes to carry things, let him have a ball that he can carry around in his mouth. If he is a resource guarder from other dogs, avoid the dog park - he obviously is more interested in playing with you than with other dogs, and that is something I would cultivate for all it's worth!

Thanks for sharing this. ^^^^
Very interesting.