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Possessiveness- toys/food w/ children
Hi all- New to this group. Actually new to newsgroups period. Hope I don't
screw anything up... Please pardon my long post but I don't want to leave anything out. Really need advice on my situation. 11 years ago I was a single guy living alone and I decided to get an American Bulldog puppy. Loved the boy so much that 6 months later I rescued a 4 month AB girl. Life was great for the 3 of us and I spent a TREMENDOUS amount of time with them. 3 years later I got married and moved into a house and started working more to pay the bills. Dogs weren't thrilled with the change, but managed and we were all ok. Then, 2 years later, I had to go and add babies to the pack and that's when life changed for all of us... My Son, at 10 months came crawling towards me one time while my female AB was lying next to me and she let out a growl to let him know not to come an inch closer to me, her pack leader. A few days later my male AB did the same thing as my kid came near him while he was chewing a bone. That was it. I built a heated/insulated shed with a doggie door and surrounded by a 20 x 30 fence. Although I took them out and walked, ran, played and swam with them EVERY DAY, they did live out in that shed until this very day, a total of 6 years. A few weeks ago I had to put the male AB down due to ailments attributed to his old age. He was very special and I'm very sad. I want to now bring the female back in the house. at 10.5 years old she is VERY healthy and lively but I don't want her to spend the rest of her days alone in a shed. I now have 2 Son's and they are 4 & 6. I know she recognizes them as Jr pack members but she is totally cool with them. She is NOT AGGRESSIVE in general with my boys. However, (and I am finally getting to the point of my post) if they were to come near her while chewing a bone or something I JUST KNOW IN MY HEART that she will growl/snap/or bite. Never saw it happen, but I know it would. I know my dogs very well. Can anyone recommend any exorcizes I can use to try and nip this before it happens. Something like, maybe each of my boys can have a bone that they could give to her back and forth (taking one, while giving her another) and petting her while doing this. I know I only have one chance at this so I want to do whatever I do, right. Would really appreciate some advice from a trainer out there... Aside from this I do not expect any other problems. I really don't think (now that my boys are out of the rugrat stage) that she will have a hard time with them coming near me while she lays by me. My boys bounce off the walls and she'll get used to that quick. The only other thing (but really shouldn't be a problem) is meal time. She will not tolerate ANYONE near her bowel at chow time. I have touched her teased her a bit while eating just to solidify who is pack leader and even though she tolerates me its obvious that she's not real happy about it. But the reason I say this shouldn't be a problem is that the whole feeding episode only lasts barely 2 minutes, and she is not even possessive of her empty food bowel, just the food... Thanks so much to any replies in advance... |
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