Parsons possessive over items

[Chops2016]

Hi

We have a nine month year old parsons terrier. He has his own personality which is great but he has a strange / aggressive behaviour

When we play with his toys He is great. We can take them off him, he lets us but if he decides to lift a shoe., plastic bottle plastic - you name it , if he has decided to lift it . We have a stand off. If we attempt to take it off I'm he snarls and attempts to nip us .

We can sit for ages massaging him , but , he will keep whatever fixed
Inhis mouth . With a low growl .

To get it back / out of his mouth wetrade off with a treat . Even though he calculates how much time he has by dropping the item ,getting treat and the get back to item .

Once we have it he is fine.

We need help as the last thing we need is him pickingchilds toy [album][img][img][/img][/img][/album]

[JudyN]

My dog was also fine with toys but not with 'stolen' items.

It's great that he will trade for a treat! How old is your child?

I'd suggest the following:

- Try to be really tidy and put away anything he might take. Having boxes with lids in each room that you can chuck shoes, pens, books, toys, whatever in can help. This will be challenging with a young child, but do what you can - and use stairgates, playpen or whatever is necessary to keep your child safe.

- If he does get something he shouldn't have that he is likely to guard, ignore him. Act like you are so not interested, and it's no big deal. You may lose a few items this way, but the more you convey that you want the item the more he will value and protect it.

- Up the 'trade' training. You can start with his toys, but make the treats really high value - something he rarely gets and that he gets excited about. You can then progress to other random items he's not so possessive with (if possible - my dog was quite black & white over this). Position yourself and time it so you can pick up the item as you give him the treat so he can't grab the treat and get the item again. Over time, stolen items should come to be far less interesting than the treat he gets when he gives them up to you.

- I found it helpful to train a 'bring it to me'/'fetch' command. That meant if he had something I wanted, I could ask him to bring it to me rather than go up to him. If he came to me I knew he was happy to exchange it for a treat, and if he wouldn't, I knew he might be aggressive if I went up to him. If your dog is always moree or less willing to trade, though, this might not be important for you.

- Reward your dog when he brings you anything. My dog will now pick up socks, etc., or even steal dishcloths from the kitchen worktops purely so he can bring them to me in exchange for a treat. I still thank him and give him a treat Though he doesn't do it that often I dare say there's a risk that a dog could end up bringing you things every five minutes.

There's more about resource guarding here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18074 Do come back to us if you have any questions.

[Shalista]

I had a similar problem with Bax. The good news is that he now comes looking to me to trade whatever he's got. the bad news is that when my nephew comes over i still have to lock Bax up because if i'm not around for a quick trade he'll still chew up all the toys.

[Chops2016]

Thanks for the info
My son is eleven , but my niece and nephew are six and seven I will try your advice . I have also purchased a clicker for more command / behaviour issues

Thanks

[Nettle]

Have you had instruction about how to use the clicker? It has to be used in a really precise way, but many people who sell it promote it as a sort of remote control.

We can help if you are unsure. We can also help with your other issues - tell us what they are

[Chops2016]

Hi,

Apart from watching Victoria on tv using one then no , not had any formal training.

He is a loavesble dog , two main areas are the stealing and getting items back .

Then learning a good recall . We have a training area at our local park which is great, but as you know he attempts to dig under the fence .

Thanks

[Nettle]

If you look under "Dog Training Articles" there is an introduction to clicker training that is a great starting point. If you like to read, there are some useful books, or if you are a more visual person, some helpful Youtubes to access. Check out Useful Links at the top of this page.

Jacks are smart little dogs, and take to it well.