Working with Possessiveness: 1

Damn, I was doing so good with posting every other week or so! …I think. Well, at least it hasn’t been a year!

One of my clients from ye olden times reached out to me with a problem. Their 7 month old Cairn Terrier is getting extremely possessive of food, including chasing one of the older dogs away from their bowl (they already feed the puppy, Max, out of a slow bowl) and growling and lunging at his humans when he puked and they were trying to clean it up.

Since I’m about to have experimental (sort of) spine injections and I’ll be out of it for 2-3 weeks (so sayeth my doctor…eth) (no, I don’t know why I’m writing like this, either), I can’t go see her soon, but I didn’t want to leave her hanging, either.

So! I wrote her instructions on how to begin solving it. And now I pass them on to my blog. Ta da!

My response:

First, increase how much you’re feeding him. At 6-8 months old dogs often eat more than they will eat as an adult. A dog that’s underfed can often become possessive, so let’s make sure that’s not an issue. (Don’t worry if he gets chubby; he’s still growing! Worst case scenario, we can slim him down later, when the problem is resolved.)

Second, when you go to feed him, hold his bowl while he eats, or if he’s eating kibble you can even hand-feed him all or part of it. It’ll stop the possessiveness around his bowl with people in its tracks!

Third, start feeding him on leash. You can hook him to a chair or whatever is handy (probably easiest) or just hang onto him (probably not easiest). When he finishes his food, distract him from even looking at the other dogs’ food. This will probably require treats, but I’m guessing that Bobbie, at least, will keep eating rather than try to come over and get barked/growled/snapped at. The leash will ensure he doesn’t go terrorize Bobbie, and give you a chance to get his attention. If he does start trying to get to the other dogs’ food and is pulling/barking/straining at the least, I’d grab a squirt bottle and, quietly and without any “that’s naughty” noises, give him a surprising squirt to the back of his head. If/when he looks around to see what that was, act innocent and offer a treat! (We’re doing this quietly so as not to alarm the other dogs. They’re already tense about eating, with him acting like a goober.)

Fourth (this is a many-pronged offensive!), start practicing trading him whatever he has for a treat. Start with things you KNOW he won’t be possessive over. If Bobbie and Buster want to get involved, ask them to sit, lay down, shake, etc. when it’s their turn. As Max gets better at trading item for treat, start doing it with things he likes better, until eventually you’ve worked your way up to delicious vomit. (Ew. LOL!)

Fifth, practice being nearby when he has something he might get possessive over. Don’t look at him or talk to him, just hang out nearby as if you wanted to stand there and check your text messages, and you’re not even aware he’s there. The goal is to be far enough away that he’s not growling or tense, and the whites of his eyes aren’t showing. If any of those things are happening, casually take small steps away until they stop.

Fifth and a half, when you’re near him and he has something he’s possessive over, toss him treats. You can either look at him and be like, “Hey, Max, have a treat!” and toss it, or just toss it as if it’s pocket lint. Do whichever keeps him calmer. As he realizes you’re going to come over and toss treats, he’ll start releasing the Thing He Loves and even trotting up to get the treat faster. Yes, he might then dash back to the Thing He Loves, but it’s a huge improvement that will lead to more, easier improvement later!

Ideally, you’ll do these steps and the problem will vanish. More realistically, you’ll do these things and parts of the problem will vanish while others improve and some might not get any better. (Usually, if there’s no improvement, it means you’re doing too much, too soon.) Do these things for a couple of weeks, and then let’s see where you’re at! Hopefully I’ll have a clear enough brain to respond. If I don’t, keep doing these things, and when I come off the heavy pain meds I’ll respond!

And ye, my readers, that was my advice-eth. If I write more instructions in two weeks, I’ll post those here! If I don’t, I’ll write up a next step for those wondering and post it here, anyway. 😉

You can also hit up my YouTube channel. As I board and train I take videos and post them. They’re real-life-dog-trainer videos (which means you’ll often see me with bedhead in my PJs, because dogs never choose convenient times to misbehave) with absolutely no editing or special effects. I’m pretty sure I have some videos on possessive behavior. If not, someone should tell me and I’ll try to make them! 😉

Jenna