I am a pet sitter and a new client of mine has asked for help with a
behavior issue with their dog, which they also demonstrated for me. It
seems that anytime their dog has a rawhide bone or basically any toy in his
possesion, he will growl and bear his teeth if either one of them attempts
to take the object away from him. He has bitten the women twice (drew
blood) and has also nipped the man on several occasions. He is approx 1
year old and other than this behavior, he appears to be your typical fun
loving Weimaraner. He was very friendly to me the very first time I met
him.

Have any of you ever seen this behavior in Weimaraner's before? If so, how
did you go about correcting the behavior...or is this going to be something
that can't be modified. The couple are concerned that if they were to have
children, this could be a real danger.

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

llp

This is not simply a Weim problem. It happens with all breeds of dogs.

I recommend that they 1.) stop giving him this type of treat for the
time being, and 2.) get enrolled in a good obedience class where the
instructor can teach them a variety of ways to deal with the problem....
and Much More, at the same time they learn how to train the dog.

While he is "guarding" one type of thing now, there is a strong
potential for doing this with all edibles. And it Would be a problem
with children... theirs or belonging to others.... until the children
are trained NOT to grab things that belong to the dog.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

This is not simply a Weim problem. It happens with all breeds of dogs.

I recommend that they 1.) stop giving him this type of treat for the
time being, and 2.) get enrolled in a good obedience class where the
instructor can teach them a variety of ways to deal with the problem....
and Much More, at the same time they learn how to train the dog.

While he is "guarding" one type of thing now, there is a strong
potential for doing this with all edibles. And it Would be a problem
with children... theirs or belonging to others.... until the children
are trained NOT to grab things that belong to the dog.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

This is not simply a Weim problem. It happens with all breeds of dogs.

I recommend that they 1.) stop giving him this type of treat for the
time being, and 2.) get enrolled in a good obedience class where the
instructor can teach them a variety of ways to deal with the problem....
and Much More, at the same time they learn how to train the dog.

While he is "guarding" one type of thing now, there is a strong
potential for doing this with all edibles. And it Would be a problem
with children... theirs or belonging to others.... until the children
are trained NOT to grab things that belong to the dog.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

This is not simply a Weim problem. It happens with all breeds of dogs.

I recommend that they 1.) stop giving him this type of treat for the
time being, and 2.) get enrolled in a good obedience class where the
instructor can teach them a variety of ways to deal with the problem....
and Much More, at the same time they learn how to train the dog.

While he is "guarding" one type of thing now, there is a strong
potential for doing this with all edibles. And it Would be a problem
with children... theirs or belonging to others.... until the children
are trained NOT to grab things that belong to the dog.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

"sbc user" wrote:
snip
It
seems that anytime their dog has a rawhide bone or basically any toy in
his
possesion, he will growl and bear his teeth if either one of them attempts
to take the object away from him

What Jo said. It's commonly called "resource guarding". They should see a
trainer immediately. Getting advice from folks online about a dog who has
bitten is dicey business.

First thing though - don't allow those situations in which the dog is likely
to guard his resources to occur in the first place. IOW, don't give him
chews. And if he has something they need to get away from him, rather than
taking it call him and give him a goody when he complies. Kind of avoids the
whole confrontation.

Yes, this could be an issue if they have kids. It is even without!

--
-Andrea Stone
Saorsa Basenjis
http://home1.gte.net/res0s12z/
The Trolls Nest - greenmen, goblins & gargoyle wall art
www.trollsnest.com

"sbc user" wrote:
snip
It
seems that anytime their dog has a rawhide bone or basically any toy in
his
possesion, he will growl and bear his teeth if either one of them attempts
to take the object away from him

What Jo said. It's commonly called "resource guarding". They should see a
trainer immediately. Getting advice from folks online about a dog who has
bitten is dicey business.

First thing though - don't allow those situations in which the dog is likely
to guard his resources to occur in the first place. IOW, don't give him
chews. And if he has something they need to get away from him, rather than
taking it call him and give him a goody when he complies. Kind of avoids the
whole confrontation.

Yes, this could be an issue if they have kids. It is even without!

--
-Andrea Stone
Saorsa Basenjis
http://home1.gte.net/res0s12z/
The Trolls Nest - greenmen, goblins & gargoyle wall art
www.trollsnest.com

"sbc user" wrote:
snip
It
seems that anytime their dog has a rawhide bone or basically any toy in
his
possesion, he will growl and bear his teeth if either one of them attempts
to take the object away from him

What Jo said. It's commonly called "resource guarding". They should see a
trainer immediately. Getting advice from folks online about a dog who has
bitten is dicey business.

First thing though - don't allow those situations in which the dog is likely
to guard his resources to occur in the first place. IOW, don't give him
chews. And if he has something they need to get away from him, rather than
taking it call him and give him a goody when he complies. Kind of avoids the
whole confrontation.

Yes, this could be an issue if they have kids. It is even without!

--
-Andrea Stone
Saorsa Basenjis
http://home1.gte.net/res0s12z/
The Trolls Nest - greenmen, goblins & gargoyle wall art
www.trollsnest.com

"sbc user" wrote:
snip
It
seems that anytime their dog has a rawhide bone or basically any toy in
his
possesion, he will growl and bear his teeth if either one of them attempts
to take the object away from him

What Jo said. It's commonly called "resource guarding". They should see a
trainer immediately. Getting advice from folks online about a dog who has
bitten is dicey business.

First thing though - don't allow those situations in which the dog is likely
to guard his resources to occur in the first place. IOW, don't give him
chews. And if he has something they need to get away from him, rather than
taking it call him and give him a goody when he complies. Kind of avoids the
whole confrontation.

Yes, this could be an issue if they have kids. It is even without!

--
-Andrea Stone
Saorsa Basenjis
http://home1.gte.net/res0s12z/
The Trolls Nest - greenmen, goblins & gargoyle wall art
www.trollsnest.com

"sbc user" wrote in message
m...
[..]
Have any of you ever seen this behavior in Weimaraner's before? If so,
how
did you go about correcting the behavior...or is this going to be
something
that can't be modified. The couple are concerned that if they were to
have
children, this could be a real danger.


I have an 8 month old weim and I totally agree with the advice already
given - that he goes to an obedience training class - he'll love it,
especially if you can find a good clicker class - mine does! They really are
too clever not to train.

I also agree that in the mean time, you should not give him rawhides, or any
other chewwies, but if he learns to work for his food and that the only way
he is going to get it is by being well mannered, he'll work very hard at
being good.

We play 'oops' a lot - its natural to a weim - they are after all a
retrieving breed - I drop my keys and 'oops' and Cin will hand them back in
return to a titbit - teaching him to trade low value items for higher value
items is also a good step in the right direction while you are looking for a
good class to take him too.

Good luck

Diana (& Cin)
http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/...+7mths&.src=ph