Toy Obsession/Aggression

[bentleysmama]

Hi everyone!

I would really appreciate some advice with a desperate problem I've been trying to correct since it first came up. I have a 4 year old male shih tzu who has some major toy obsession and aggression in regards to squeaky toys. He is not possessive regarding any other toy or food or human, and I know that this particular possessiveness is a result of squeaky toys being a rare thing in the house and the fact that I've taken away the toy in the past as a result of "squeaky toy migraines"

I'm confident that the aggression he shows when he becomes fixated on the squeaky toy is a sort of guarding behavior from his fear that the toy will be taken away. He'll often try to hide the toy in some small corner of the house when it's time to eat, get water, or go out for a walk out of fear that the toy will be found and taken away from him. If you do get near him when he's playing with a squeaky toy, he'll first try to kind of avoid you, but if he can't, his body will become stiff and he'll show teeth, ready to snap/bite at anyone who tries to even think about reaching for him or his toy.

I've obviously failed so far at preventing this behavior from escalating, but I would so appreciate some guidance as to methods I can use to change this behavior or get rid of this obsession. I just am at a loss as to what to do. I spoke with his former trainer who uses positive training methods, and she's suggested a similar thing to Victoria's method in trying to offer a equal, high-value toy to trade off with in an attempt to teach drop it/take it, but that hasn't really worked. For example, I've bought two brand-new squeaky toys that look almost the exact same, but he'll become fixated on one, and then not really care about the other. He'll show a second or two of slight interest to the second one, but then he'll run back to the first. In general, he gets over the toys completely after a couple of days when the newness wears off, or he's destroyed them!

I've thought about buying more squeaky toys at a time, and more often, as a way of desensitizing him to the toy and getting rid of the rarity notion of them, but I don't know if that will work. If someone can please give me some training tips and ideas on how to correct the behavior, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!!

[JudyN]

I spoke with his former trainer who uses positive training methods, and she's suggested a similar thing to Victoria's method in trying to offer a equal, high-value toy to trade off with in an attempt to teach drop it/take it, but that hasn't really worked. For example, I've bought two brand-new squeaky toys that look almost the exact same, but he'll become fixated on one, and then not really care about the other. He'll show a second or two of slight interest to the second one, but then he'll run back to the first.

I can understand that - trading didn't work well with my dog either.

Could you just stop giving him squeaky toys? He may enjoy playing with them, but they are also causing him a lot of stress. Remove the squeaky toys and I suspect he will be happier as he doesn't have something he has to worry about the whole time.

[Sanna]

Question: it's the 'squeakiness' itself that triggers the guarding behaviour? If you punctured the toy so it doesn't squeak would he guard it or not?

Personally I don't have a single squeaky toy, the noise drives me nuts- and it does trigger quite intense prey behaviour/ over-arousal in many dogs. You might not find this very helpful (sorry ) but I genuinely think if it was me I'd just not get squeaky toys, ever.

I suppose the opposite could work- to have squeaky toys everywhere so they become less valuable like you say- but you'd have to put up with the noise for however long it'd take him to lose interest (which could be never..); and depending on the level of fixation it would potentially be incredibly stressful for your dog.

Posted at the same time as Judy- not just me then

[bentleysmama]

Thanks for the response, JudyN!

That is actually what I had been practicing for a long time, simply avoiding the squeaky toys, but the problem arises in unexpected ways. For example, my neighbor has a small dog who has tons of squeaky toys, and when my dog runs into her house every once in awhile to play with her pup, he'll find one and refuse to give it up. A few days ago, which is actually what sparked me to try and finally figure out this issue, I ran into another neighbor who had her pup and her pup's squeaky toy with her, hanging out in front of my neighborhood clubhouse. My dog immediately zoned in on the toy (he must have a "spidey" sense for these things because I didn't even notice it at first ) and obsessively played with the toy while my neighbor and I chatted. When it was time to leave, I asked him to drop the toy several times to no success. He finally dropped the toy for a second on his own accord (most likely to catch his breath or something), and because he had a leash on, I was able to pull him away from the scene that very moment and (with some struggle) move on. Me trying to coax him to drop the toy or come for a treat has no use in these kind of moments.

Also, just as a side note, when I take him to the dog store, he sniffs all the toys and such, but he doesn't snatch any of them and get possessive. It's almost like he understands that the toys in the store aren't there for him to "find and keep" but rather just there for display. It's as soon as the toy is laying around on the floor all lonesome, or he sees one in my hand that he thinks "hey, this is for me and just me!"

[bentleysmama]

Hi Sanna! Thanks for the response!

I just replied to Judy in regards to not even having the squeaky toys around, but like I said in my response to her, they tend to show up in unexpected ways at times. What I've noticed however, is that he squeaks the toy a bit, but then ends up just sucking on the toy or laying next to it/guarding it. I used to get him the rubber squeaky toys and he couldn't really suck on those, so he'd just squeak the heck out of them. But with the stuffing ones, he squeaks a bit (maybe a minute or two), then sucks on them as rests for 20/30 minutes, gives it another squeak or two, then the scenario repeats. Right now he is passed out next to one

I'd like to ideally figure out a way for him to take and drop like he does with his other toys, and I'm hoping by having squeaky toys around, he'll get over them. But like you guys said, if it's an inherent prey motivation, that might not be possible I guess.

I'd also like to ask as a side note what you guys recommend as corrective behavior when a dog tries to snap or bite in this kind of scenario. What I've done before is immediately get up and leave the room and go somewhere else, but this is harder when there's other people in the room as I can't have all of them get up and follow me. Do you recommend leashing the dog and taking him to another room by himself for time out?

[JudyN]

I'd also like to ask as a side note what you guys recommend as corrective behavior when a dog tries to snap or bite in this kind of scenario. What I've done before is immediately get up and leave the room and go somewhere else, but this is harder when there's other people in the room as I can't have all of them get up and follow me. Do you recommend leashing the dog and taking him to another room by himself for time out?

I wouldn't think in terms of 'corrective' behaviour - it doesn't address the cause of his behaviour, which is that he's worried you're going to take his precious object. Anything 'unpleasant' will add to his arousal, but also, leaving him alone is what he wants you to do, so in his mind, the growl/snap worked. It also wouldn't be advisable to put a leash on him when he has his toy and is showing aggression.

Personally, I would still go down the avoidance route. Ask your friend to put away all the squeaky toys when you go round there, or keep him on lead so he can't get to them, and just let them play in a squeaky-free zone. And be on the lookout for anywhere else he may encounter them when out & about, putting him on lead if you think it might happen. Also, if he does get one, if possible let him keep it even if it means going home with him carrying it in his mouth. Carry money or a spare squeaky toy to pacify irate owners. This may sound like total indulgence and failure to address the problem but remember that what you are trying to avoid is his becoming aggressive, and this is the best way to achieve it.

An alternative way of addressing the problem is, first, to make him feel safe when you approach him when he has a squeaky toy. If you can convince him that you're not interested in it at all, he won't feel the need to show aggression. Start by taking one step towards him when he has the toy, throwing him a treat, and walking away. If/when he seems keen on this arrangement, take two steps, throw the treat amd walk away. You want to get to the stage where you can hand him the treat and walk away with him being completely happy and relaxed about this. Maybe you can give him the treat with one hand and touch the toy with the other. But you MUST go slowly, at his speed, and if you get so far and don't seem to be able to get closer then just accept it and don't push it.

I also found it helpful to have a really good recall in the house, allowing him to go back to what he was doing after giving him a treat. First train a 'special' recall word with something irresistible (I used 'sausage'), then call it from another room. If you do this when he has a squeaky toy, he may not think 'She's after my toy', and if he does come to you, let him go right back to the toy. If this works, think of ploys so that when he does come to you you can sneakily shut him in so you can get the toy if you have to. You are aiming to remove his suspicion more than anything, and you are not going to achieve that if he realises your aim is to remove his toy from him.

It might also help to keep working on 'drop' and 'fetch' with other toys, and giving the toys straight back to him. In fact I prefer 'fetch' (or 'bring') as if your dog is feeling protective over what he has he simply won't comply, which is a lot safer and less intimidating for him than if you go up to him to take it.

These are approaches that helped with my guardy dog - I needed to go very carefully because he is BIG hence my very cautious approach. But it's as well to be just as wary of triggering aggression whatever the size of the dog, as it is such an important part of overcoming the problem.

A great book for resource guarding is Mine! by Jean Donaldson. The 'programmes' go into a lot of detail and rely on trading a lot so may or may not work for you, but it gives plenty of background.

[bentleysmama]

Thanks so much JudyN! I really appreciate the thorough advice. I will definitely follow your tips. I want him to be happy and feel safe, and personally, I've gotten really good at being able to tell when he's giving me a signal that he doesn't want to be bothered. Most of the time, he will come up to me after awhile with his toy and curl up next to me with it, or ask me to pick him up and put him (and his toy) on the bed with me, so I think he generally feels safe with me...maybe just not others so much. Avoidance is probably just the best route to go with these things!

[JudyN]

Most of the time, he will come up to me after awhile with his toy and curl up next to me with it, or ask me to pick him up and put him (and his toy) on the bed with me, so I think he generally feels safe with me..

Oh, that's good My dog used to bring his chews to eat right next to us and then growl at us because we were too near.....