Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know I've posted a few today but I'm so fascinated by dog's behaviour patterns.

I've been reading loads about dominance in dogs and leadership issues and pack order etc and I thought I'd try an experiment with Echo to see how she would behave with it. It might not be a good idea with aggressive dogs but the idea is to get down on all fours and take their bone away while they are chewing on it and start chewing on it yourself (sounds a bit gross I know!) If they come to take the bone then push them away like the pack leader would. They wil probably try to take the bone but once you push them away enough times they will know you are the pack leader and then lie down next to you while you chew the bone and wait until you have have finished with it and then they will have the leftovers.

Echo was fine with it and just lay down next to me so it might not mean anything and may be a load of rubbish but I thought it might be worth a try for others who are having problems.
Mark

Looks like you won't have to worry about resourse gaurding which is very good. But I don't want to speak too soon, she is still young! Cookie never had a problem with us taking things away from her either. Since the day we brought her home, we taught her 'trade'. Everytime we took something away from her, we always replaced it with something else she would like so she would learn that nothing bad will ever come of us taking things from her. She's become so good that if she picks something up off the ground, I can easily open her mouth and take it out and she has no problem with it. She actually kind of prepares herself for my hands in her mouth, like when I wipe away her eye boogies. I say "Let Mamma get your eye boogies!!" In a real happy tone, and she kind of squints her eyes at me and holds her face toward me, it's so cute. Like she's saying, "Ok I'm ready! Wipe away!" But she never had an issue with us taking things from her. The only time she wouldn't leave something we asked her to was when she got a dead bird on the street, but our fault for not paying attention. I am always on the alert since I walked dogs in Boston and you wouldn't beleive how many chicken bones are just laying around! I have no idea where they all came from, but they were everywhere! Walking a Beagle on trash day was always a chore and a half! :-P So I am always on the alert, but Jason was walking her that morning and he didn't notice it qiuck enough and he ended up prying her mouth open to get it out. But she did not growl or snap at Jason.
Keep doing things like you did with her bone, do it with her toys as well, as long as she doesn't begin to get aggressive about it, if she does, you'll have to find info on how to deal with it because it is a completely different situation than when she is fine about it. But I don't think she will. It sounds like you guys are a match made in heaven and you just mesh together very well, making training and pack position go very smoothly. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Jessie! Dont talk to me about chicken bones!! I am so sick of people here just throwing away bones, just plain old bones straight onto the street. The amount of times I've had to pry open her mouth to get them out! It really annoys me!
I have a printer so I'm going to get Leo to print messages in Chinese about throwing bones into the street, and post them just around this estate and see if makes a difference. It probably won't because the people here it seems have lived here for years and years so they won't change their habits on my account, but just maybe they'll think twice next time. The thing is there are loads of people here with dogs so they must find the same problem too. It's so frustrating.
I am conscious about having contact with Echo's mouth and eyes. I just cleaned her eyes this morning. So far she has been OK so I just have to keep up the habit so she gets used to it.

I haven't tried cleaning her teeth yet with a toothbrush...I can imagine that's going to be fun!! Do you brush Cookie's and how often?
Mark

Well I try to brush her teeth once a week, but if you can do it two or three times a month thats ok. I think the more the better is the rule. Cookie is pretty good about it. She loves the toothpaste so it distracts her from me shoving a stick in her mouth She bites it sometimes but for the most part she's pretty good.

My dog doesn't seem to show any signs of him being dominant in our family.. except the fact that he resource guides very viciously. Once I give him his food bowl, I can't go within inches of his bowl! Or even pet him, or else he'll start growling, and if I bug him enough he snaps at me, but doesn't actually bite me.

if people are having problems, this exercise could get them into trouble (or bit), depending on what those troubles are.

A dog doesn't have to be "aggressive" for this exercise to go bad quickly, for some dogs.