Growling And Bones

[Guest Ummon]

Hi,

Been a Grey owner for about a year. Ace came from the track last summer and has been a delightful dog. Great with the kids, you can stick your hand in his food dish while he is eating, take it away. No signs of territorial behavior. The kids sit with him on his doggy bed and watch tv. I mean the dog is great. No aggression at all no matter what you do to him

 

I recently started giving him a raw beef bone every other day to help with his teeth. While he is gnawing you can't get anywhere near him. He growls if you even approach him. Once he is done he is fine. Other than the obvious (Don't give him bones) Does anyone have experience with this behavior and any way to teach him that I am not going to take his damn bone away? I am a bit worried about this behavior.

[rallyp]

Oh, this is very normal behavior. As laid back as your dog is, it sounds like the raw beef bone is one of those things that he *REALLY* likes, so when you're coming close to him, he's basically saying, don't even think about taking this away from me.

 

That being said, you can work towards being able to take something like that from him. If you search the forum on trading up, that's basically the technique you'll want to use. In a nutshell, give him something he likes (but not something he likes so much you don't think he'll give it up), then give him a cue, like "Give!", and then give him something he'll want more. Initially, what he'll do is drop the thing he has so he can get the better thing. Over time, you're teaching him that every time you ask him to give, you're going give him something better so he'll willingly give up what he has. As he gets better at it, you can keep increasing the 'value' of the thing you're trying to take. It's a pretty valuable skill for when he might pick up something he really shouldn't have and you need to get it away from him (like maybe a dead animal or something).

 

Personally, there are certain things that are SO high value, that I'll only give it to my dog if I have no intention of taking it back (like a raw meat bone).

[TheFullHouse]

Bones are usually a very high value treat that most dogs will growl at until they learn that the behavior is unacceptable. Trading up is one way of getting your dog to give up the bone. Usually when I give my dogs bones I let them chew on them until they're tired of them and then they are willing to give them back.

[Guest Ummon]

Thanks, My main concern is if one of the children get too close since he is such a laid back dog. I guess I will just have to keep him separated when I give him one. Also I am in the process of getting a second Grey and would like to avoid any problems. Any idea if they give them bones at the track?

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Some track dogs get bones for their teeth occasionally, that I know of, but I don't think most do. I would only let him have the bone in a crate, especially with two dogs in the house.

[Time4ANap]

The other advice you received is good. We have a hound who startles easily and have much stricter rules in place about his bed, approaching him, etc. With that in mind, I would add the info below to increase the safety of the kids. This isn't just a hound issue.

 

The kids also ned to be "trained" not to approach him when he has something like this. You have to get the point across to them that you're not asking , and it's not optional, for their own safety. The last thing you want is a dog bite to deal with when he is guarding a high value item.

[Guest mariah]

I agree with the other advice you've gotten (trading up, crating). As for actually teaching him that you aren't going to take his bone...I would suggest casually tossing him treats (good ones, like hot dog bits or something) while he's laying down with his bone. Start from a good enough distance away that he doesn't care at all, and gradually decrease the distance as he gets more comfortable (if he growls, it was too close too soon, and you need to back up and try from further away again). Don't look at him while you're doing it. Imagine that you are just casually walking by and paying him no notice (aside from tossing the treat, of course). The idea is that you want to condition him to look forward to you coming close to him while he has his bone, because it means more snacks. I think beef bones are objectively the most high-value treat there is, so I wouldn't attempt to take it away from him or trade him for it just yet (though definitely practice with lower-value items). Get him comfortable with having people walk past him first. Show him that you aren't going to bother him while he has the bone. Once he's not growling at you anymore, I would absolutely recruit the kids to practice this exercise with him (while closely supervised of course). I agree that you don't want the kids–or anyone else to bother or touch him while he has the bone, but they shouldn't be scared to walk past him if they need too, and neither should you!

[Guest Angelique]

I will share my personal experience/thoughts. I am in no way a guru or a dog whisperer, but i have had lots of non grey fosters over the years, sometimes too many at once. Growling is not acceptable in my home, nor is any hoarding/possessive behavior. If i had noticed this in my dog (and he was usually a passive, submissive, laid back dog). First make him sit/down/wait for his bone then give it to him slowly. After that they usually take it and run to their safe spot (crate or a bed or a corner). The first thing i would do is sit in the same room he is chewing on the bone with my back to him, slowly decreasing the distance between him and me, until i could sit next to him without a growl. Again, watch your body language, you don't want to be threatening, you want to be low on the ground, don't stare or look at him directly. This could take minutes or months. After I was sure he was not "nervous", i would call his name and pet him. And walk away, and repeat many times, another few hours or weeks. Eventually, when he is OK with you petting him when he has his high prize bone, call his name remove the bone, give it back. Repeat. This will not work with all dogs, but with all my fosters, even the food aggressive ones, it eventually has. Don't put yourself in harms way. If you notice your dog is tense-alert, you are going too fast.

Trading up is great, if you have something else they really like, but even trading you have to be able to get close. "Give" and/or "Drop" are both good commands for any dog to know. You never know what dangerous something they may find and want to eat.

[Guest DoofBert]

we alway crate the hounds or separate the hounds when they have bones.... then put the bones away as the hounds tire of them. (Usually about an hour or so os 'chew time'...

 

trading up can work. .... but it take pateince.

 

 

 

 

[MaryJane]

Maybe I'm a little off here but, if your dog is not trained enough that you cannot reach down and slowly take away whatever your dog is chewing on then he should not be chewing on it in the first place.

 

It takes time to accomplish this - I have a new boy in my house and he is still not fully trained to "give it up" so, neither him or the other dogs in the house get "high value treats".