How to stop a dog from stealing other dogs
Lavada Braun
2025-05-21 21:09:09
Count answers: 6
Resource guarding is common in dogs, and stealing is just a bullying behavior, like a bigger kid on the playground taking over the swing just because they can, even if they were more than happy to play on the slide until someone else started using the swing set. If they get away with it, the dog is rewarded by a new tasty bone to chew, and if they learn which dogs will and won't put up with their bullying. When I catch her either taking something away from another dog, or starting to act defensive about having it, she has to leave it alone, and she gets rewarded with something else for choosing to walk away. Guarding is an anxiety problem, where the dog fears losing something valuable. The more they feel that fear, the more they feel compelled to act on it, even if no real threat is present. The dogs can both have the bones while they're separated or crated, but they need to be put away before allowing the dogs to interact so no one becomes anxious and defensive. If there's ever a question that one of the dogs will escalate to snapping or biting, remove the items of contention completely when the dogs are together.
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