Our puppy Oakley will be 1 in just a couple weeks. He has really grown into a fun little guy. However just recently we have noticed that he seems to growl at our older dog some times. For instance once when our older dog went near him when he had his ball he growled, didn't show teeth but growled, then twice now over the last couple weeks when getting their dinner I have them sit and wait well he growled when they were waiting, our older dog didn't do anything he was just sitting patiently. I made the puppy move and go to a different spot in the room and wait but I honestly do not know how to deal with this as I don't want it to get worse. We give them a dental bone and I always give it to our older dog first and make the puppy wait which he does no problem and then release him when our older dog is almost finished only because if i give it to them at the same time the puppy finishes way faster than the older dog and he'll try to take it away from the older dog and he will kind of growl at him but the older dog doesn't do anything I don't know if that makes him think he isn't getting something and that could be causing it but the other growling isn't any time around that and the puppy always gets one. I should also explain that when they dogs are playing I can give our older dog the ball and the puppy doesn't do anything but we always keep out two balls and the puppy seems to end up with both. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi @mom2labs As you did, I would increase the distance between them while they are waiting to be fed, but do so from the outset--don't wait for the growling to start. I would give the bones to the dogs at the same time. As soon as the younger and faster one finishes he must leave the area. Have her on a house line so that you have some way of preventing him not following your cue. Don't try to suppress the growling by admonishing him--you need the vocalisation to tell you/warn you about the dog's emotional state. There is an e-book on multiple dog households you might find worth reading: Trish Harris When Three's a Crowd
thank you, I will look into the book. What about when he growls when he has the ball and another dog goes around him? We haven't been in this scenario yet but I kind of feel like if he has his ball and another dog approached he would growl. Do we need to have 2 balls one for each then? or take the ball away until other dog leaves?
Hi @mom2labs There is no necessary reason why the resource guarding should apply to the ball. Your dog may not view the ball as his property. Let us know whether it does become an issue, and then will post some thoughts. It's important that you do not expect it will happen. Dogs are good at reading our body language. If you don't have a poker face, then he may become reactive because he senses you think something is wrong.
It's pretty normal for dogs that live together to guard valued resources from each other, I wouldn't even consider this a behavioural problem at all. If they didn't do this, they would just continually be able to take valued items off each other! As long as the guarding is appropriate and not excessive (ie they are not actually biting or scaring the other dog and it is functioning as communication) - and as long as it is directed at other dogs and not at people - then it's not a problem at all. If you ever give dogs high value items, then you need to ensure that they both have the same thing. If one dog finishes first, then separate that dog from the dog which still has something. I would not put the dog in a sit stay and expect them to watch the other dog possess a high value item, that's not really going to help how they feel about it....
That makes me feel better. It's just strange because our puppy will try to engage our older dog and try to get him to play by taking the toy over to him to give him a chance to grab the other end and then they will play and growl, but other times which has only been a couple of times if our older dog goes around him while he has the ball he will growl, no teeth body language just normal and it's very brief. I think what ones bother me more is the couple of times he has growled while sitting there getting their food ready and again he doesn't show teeth and he is just sitting there, he doesn't even look at the other dog, it actually took me a second to figure out which dog it was, but he did it again last night when our son was eating. We make the dogs sit away from us while we eat and they were sitting together watching from a distance and oakley did a short growl and we called Oakley over to us and he didnt do it again. We always ensure they each get the same things, toys and food.
I think you first need to inconclusively diagnose that he really is resource guarding. It doesn’t sound like it to me but it is possible. Jean Donaldson has a book called “Mine” that is an excellent guide to recognizing and gives several step by step programs to curing resource guarding. Check it out.
Growling is just a form of communication, like every other piece of body language and vocalisation, it needs to be seen in the context of the bigger picture - the rest of the body language occurring and the situation concerned. Growling in play is very normal, and just part of playing most of the time. Growling whilst possessing an object and another dog comes near, sounds like it's telling the other dog to stay away from his valued ball. It's just communication, not a sign of a heinous and evil personality. I'd suggest not making them sit in that way whilst you prepare the food and whilst you eat. It might be creating a sense of competition or 'who can get to the food first' feelings - even if you control how it is delivered. Put a stair gate up, so they are kept out of the room when food is being eaten - and see how they are loose whilst you prepare their food. I would also suggest videoing this behaviour because, although it looks like he is not looking at the other dog, he may well be eye-balling the other dog very briefly which is going unnoticed.
