# Possible solution to toy aggression?!?!



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Dogs don't perceive the the world the way we do. While your toy idea is clever it will most likely not work. A long term solution would involve continued management and teaching a strong mat behavior for both dogs (and I would keep a visual barrier between them).

Kongs: A kong full of peanut butter would be a lot of sugar, fat, salt, and calories. I mix kibble with water (and/or canned food) and stuff with that mixture. It's not very messy. Initially you will want to give it not frozen, and then a few days of it somewhat frozen. If you automatically try a completley frozen kong he might give up quickly.

You can set a towel/sheet/cover on the couch just in case it's a bit of a mess. (Emma, post your great picture!)


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## jimla (Oct 9, 2008)

We have a giant toy box that is always available for our two dogs. They rummage around and pick out their favorites. If Roxy tries to steal Elliot's toy (her usual behavior), I tell her to "leave it". I never hand out new toys directly to the dogs because Roxy wants Elliot's toy and Elliot will refuse to take his toy from me.


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## Ambigirl9 (Jan 24, 2010)

*solving aggressive behaviors/problems*

Hello 2DogsN3Cats!!

Here is some info/training tips you might find helpful:

Aggression problems can be corrected in any dog, but it most usually begin with the human. Like RedDogs said, they do not percieve the world like we do.
Their minds are constructed like that of a wolf, and they think of our the family as a pack. Alpha/Pack leader, Omegas/middleman, and Betas/submissive guy. You as a their human should think of yourself as a pack leader. Be firm and set boundaries. *Never* "baby" your dogs, now matter how cute. :doh:

Remember that puppies who jump up and nibble on you may seem cute, but an adult dog who tackles grandma and snatches her purse is not adorable. :nono:

With your dogs, I would suggest you take some time to unlearn any other bad habits (do they pull the leash? jump up while greeting people?) starting off with easier ones. Try teaching them "drop it" or "leave it" with a simple toy and treat rewards so they will know that when they drop an object such as a bone or toy they will be doing what YOU ask THEM to do. This way your dogs will start gradually view you as their compassionate leader. 

:argue:If they are aggressive towards one another, try claiming the space in-between them, then telling them to "drop it" or "leave it". Wait until they are calm/submissive to you and give them a treat (which you should do only so much until they learn the habit of dropping the toy on the ground. This way they will respond even when their is no reward.). 

I used this tactic while training my Golden, Amber as a puppy. She was the alpha of her litter and had many of the same problems described in the example. She is now a mature adult free of food and aggression who also knows her place in "the pack". 

I hope this is some sort of help to you. Good luck to you and your dogs!!
Alena


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger and Blue would get into a spats occasionally when Blue first started coming over for visits and try to play with Ranger's toys. They hadn't yet established their place in the "pack" and Ranger wasn't used to another dog coming over and using his "resources". Ranger did know that I was the "leader" though, so when he started getting tense when Blue was licking his empty food bowl or went into his crate, all I had to do was say "hey" and Ranger relaxed.

In the first little while, we'd always have more toys out than dogs. So with two dogs, there were always at least 3 toys around and NEVER a new toy, since no one wants to share a new toy. Just old, low value toys that Ranger didn't care if Blue wanted. I'd initiate play with both dogs and a toy or two. If one went for a certain toy, I'd throw the other to the other dog. 

Now, they they can play with any toys even new, high valued ones without squabbling. Ranger has established himself as leader over Blue but is fairly easy going so Blue can even chew on a bone Ranger is eating, IF Ranger decides to share. Otherwise, I now let Ranger tell Blue to back off which he does with a little growl. Blue's learned to respect that and he either walks away, or tries to initiate play since Ranger will always go for play over a bone. 

Now that the two dogs have learned to share by management and play and familiarity with the "rules", there's rarely any scraps or squabbles. If there is, then the toy/bone gets taken away but that happens so infrequently now. 

I think if you teach your dogs how to share with low value items then work your way up, the toy aggression will die down. Set them up for success by starting out with toys neither of the two care about and make sure you have neutral toys. Stop thinking "this is Franklin's" or "this is Max's". From now on the toys are YOURS and if the dogs want to squabble, they get taken away and replaced with a lower valued item. 

Regarding the rawhide, lots of people don't like them since they can be potentially harmful/dangerous. That being said, I do give them to Ranger and keep a close eye on him, but he only gets pressed rawhide and I'd recommend you look into that for Max. The pressed rawhide lasts WAY longer and they aren't able to chew off the big chunks that are known for causing blockages. You can also look into getting nylabones (which you can boil in chicken broth to get them more interested) or marrow bones from the pet store. I'd be leery about giving bones though since you say he's bone aggressive...is that just to Franklin, or to people as well? I'd try to get that under control with a good "leave it", "drop it" or "give" command before letting him chew on a high value item like a marrow bone or rawhide.

For kongs, frozen peanut butter doesn't make a big mess but if you're worried, you can always wedge kibble, then BIG dog cookies that barely fit through the biggest hole and smear with peanut butter inside. The cookies will make the kong last longer so long as they're hard to put in/get out and you won't need to worry about freezing it then it defrosting everywhere.

ETA: Now I'm curious as to why you say Max is bone aggressive. Does Franklin bug him when he's chewing on a bone? I think most dogs would be annoyed at that. When i started teaching Blue and Ranger to get along with bones thrown into the mix, I did the same thing with toys - started off with already chewed, no meat (thus lower valued) bones and made sure to always have 3 around for the 2 dogs. If one dog wanted to bug the other dog for his bone, they got redirected to a different one. If Ranger gave up his bone to Blue, he'd wander off and chew on a different one. Because they knew there were other bones, it lessened the "I'm going to fight/protect my bone because it's the only one". Maybe Franklin needs something to chew so he leaves Max alone...


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## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

A bit more background on Max regarding his aggression.

My mom got this devil dog a bichon/yorkie mix. This dog literally is the worst dog Ive met in my entire LIFE! And Ive met some doozies! Granted this dog is the devil because my mom cant stand it so she doesnt mess with him and my step dad babies the monster like he does no wrong...example: Bosco goes potty outside comes inside and procedes to mark on the kitchen table, couch, etc...my stepdads response "Now Bosco No we dont do that in the house" When they got Max, he was my moms dog, and she loves him even did some minor training with him but he was just tossed into being penned up in a room with this bossy devil dog whos view on the world was its MINE! He took all of Maxs toys, chewies etc. As Max got older his way of retaliation to have something of his own was to growl and snap at Bosco. So now Max has no idea that other dogs actually want to play with him he just sees them as taking his stuff, and now Max has the "Mine" mentality. When Max would get mad at Bosco he would pick Bosco up by his harness and carry him around (really hilarious when you see it but very dangerous too) hence the reason we have no gotten Franklin a harness yet to even start his leash training. I worry about Max seeing it as a way to 'play' with Franklin.

Max has NO aggression towards people with food, toys or chewies. I can take anything from him and have been working on teaching him drop it. It took me months of working with Franklin to get him to understand it and now he does it right away. Max is getting a lot better. His favorite toy is this stuffed pheasant so using that toy since its his favorite is what Ive started teaching him 'drop it' with. Because of Max getting these bad habits ingrained in him for over a year its been a little rough going trying to get him to understand 'sharing'. Its not even that he wants ALL the toys its that he wants what Franklin has. I will bring all the toys out make both dogs sit directly in front of me and stay. Then I will take the armful of toys and drop them away from them. When I tell them to get a toy they both go and grab one. Franklin will go off into his space to play with a toy but then Max will stand there and just stare at Franklin. At this point I do NOT bring ANY chewies out at all. I dont trust Max yet with a chewie. Since the first week we had Max he has not gone after, growled, or snapped at Franklin with the toys out. :crossfing They do not get the toys out all day either, its only about 3 times a day for about an hour completely 100% supervised. I even make sure I pee beforehand so Im not in the middle of playtime and then have to gather the toys up and go pee and bring them back out. 

I do have very very high hopes for both dogs to play together at some point in time. Max and Franklin have a good relationship, they love each other, sleep together and cant go without each other. I can not seperate them at all. In the morning Franklin will sit at the gate and whine to be with Max and Max will sit at the gate and wag his tail soooooo very happy to see Franklin. They wont even go outside to potty seperately. They both will just sit at the front porch waiting for the other to come outside. Even with the issues I dont regret having Max here for one second. He has made Franklin a very happy dog, we no longer have potty accidents in the house since having Max, Franklin has stopped killing his toys on purpose and even gone as far as to stop chasing the cats around. Despite living in a trailor with a giant dog, having massive amounts of fur floating around and vacuuming everyday Max has made our house more chaotic but made my baby boy happy and has made me happy. I begged for a big dog, either a rottie or a golden and ended up getting Franklin. Not that he was a disappointment but you guys understand...Nothing compares to that big ball of golden fur. 

I do have a list of toys Im going to inspect at PetSmart. Interactive brain toys for Max. Stuff to keep his boredom curbed at night. Max is also going on a diet, we are going to go from free fed to scheduled measured feedings on TOTW. Im getting training books to help with both dogs since I dont work and am home all day (Im a hermit...not in the literal sense but I dont go anywhere without BF..its just not fun). Once this heatwave goes away we are going to spend more time outside playing. I have a HUGE yard, a benefit to living on a farm. And hopefully with leash training be able to take Max and Franklin both for walks during the day to help get them more exercise. I think the toy/bone aggression is just speed bump, eventually we all get over them with a little patience.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

jimla said:


> We have a giant toy box that is always available for our two dogs. They rummage around and pick out their favorites. If Roxy tries to steal Elliot's toy (her usual behavior), I tell her to "leave it". I never hand out new toys directly to the dogs because Roxy wants Elliot's toy and Elliot will refuse to take his toy from me.


Where did you buy this "giant toy box"?


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## 2DogsN3Cats (May 25, 2010)

You could probably find a giant plastic one at Wal-Mart where you can take the lid off for easy access? Or for a nicer look lots of craft type stores would have a nice hand crafted wooden type toy box where you could take off the lid or it be hinged to stay up when you want it or closed.


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