Resource Guarding - growling at another dog

[AtxGreyhoundmom]

Hi, 

 

 I recently adopted a Macau Greyhound (Tres) who has spent six years at a race track, which is longer than typical racing dogs .   He’s very sweet and loves people .  I feed him in a separate room so he’s had no interaction with my other dog (Taylor) while eating .  He doesn’t seem to be bothered by me .  But he growls at my other dog our dog beds and toys .  I can feed both dogs treats at the same time in vicinity of one another and have been trying to feed them both treats when they are near each other and have toys .  My other Doug Taylor is a 13-year-old Doberman with mobility issues .  I’m not sure if my new Greyhound senses his elderly-ness, or if the resource guarding is just because he feels insecure .   I’m not sure how to handle Tres growling at Taylor..     from what I’ve read I shouldn’t necessarily be taking his toys away but just giving treats to him when he’s behaving how I want him to behave.   I’m just concerned because he’s been especially growling today and Taylor has just been pacing the house looking for a place of refuge.  Tres keeps trying to take Taylors bed and growls when Taylor comes near the bed or toys.  There are literally six dog beds in my house for the dogs to lay in the entire basket of toys .   Resources are not limited and Taylor is not trying to take Treaty from him.  He will totally let me take the toy from him whether I give him a treat or not it’s just my other dog he has an issue with.   I have had  Tres in my house for 2 weeks. This is the first home he has lived in. Both dogs are baby gate separated when I leave.    Thanks for any advice or things to try I see lots of resource guarding stuff in general but looking for dog on dog specific resource guarding with beds and space in addition to toys .   This is my second Greyhound but I never had these issues with my first Greyhound.   But this is my first race track Greyhound seems to be much different/difficult than just the stray Greyhound that I adopted. 

[greysmom]

This is going to be a management issue for the rest of his life.  I would locate a good canine veterinary behaviorist who uses positive reinforcement training to come in and observe the interactions between both dogs and give you some help in going forward.   

[Bizeebee]

I'm not sure how your group handles bringing a grey into a home with an existing dog, but ours would definitely want the two of them to meet beforehand and see how they interact. Did your old guy meet your new guy? How did they seem then?

It's certainly not something that the internet can tell you (an in-person behaviorist is more appropriate) but, despite what we read a lot about needing to be in a "pack" some greys do need to be only dogs, or can't be with other non-greys, no matter the size. It will take time and work to figure out if that is the case.

[AtxGreyhoundmom]

@Bizeebee yes they met before w/ no issue. They are fine w/o toys. I can feed them treats right by each other & I can take any toy from him. If I have treats then toys are no longer important 

I think it’s more if he’s approaching him. Taylor the doberman has lived w a GH his whole life as I’ve fostered many but never have I dealt w/ thus issue. Tay could careless about the toy so he’s not actually trying to take it from him. We spent a good deal of time today w Tres in a bed w toys, me and Tay on the floor next to him. I was giving both treats - Tay has his back/not looking at Tres. There were no issues so I feel good about that. The only thing I’ve tried is when I see the growl I don’t really correct him - just tell him in a soothing voice it’s okay. Then I get treats and wait for him to seem okay again & he gets treats when I exchange a toy for a treat & when he’s being “nice” when Tay is in his vicinity. Was just hoping for another idea how to help him know everything is ok & plentiful. 

[HeyRunDog]

It sounds like you're doing fine. You've only had him for two weeks and I think he's still just settling in and getting used to the idea of sharing with another dog.

I'm relatively new to having a greyhound and like your Tres she's a retired racer but over the 11 months she's been with me she is still continuing to develop her personality and behaviour. I think it's easy to forget the tremendous change between a life of racing and being a pet these dogs experience.

[Zoomdoggie]

12 hours ago, HeyRunDog said:

It sounds like you're doing fine. You've only had him for two weeks and I think he's still just settling in and getting used to the idea of sharing with another dog.

I'm relatively new to having a greyhound and like your Tres she's a retired racer but over the 11 months she's been with me she is still continuing to develop her personality and behaviour. I think it's easy to forget the tremendous change between a life of racing and being a pet these dogs experience.

This! ^^^

We have a retired male racer who's been with us for just over 2 years. We've had to deal with resource guarding (food, treats, and beds), so I know what an issue that can be. We adopted a female just 4 days ago. It's been an interesting adventure so far. Fortunately, she has none of these issues, so it's making the transitioning for all of us considerably smoother that it could have been otherwise.

 

The first couple days, I kept a muzzle on our male most of the time,  even at night, except for meals (fed in separate rooms), and walks. Part of the adjustment he's had to make is getting used another dog running up to him or alongside him as we go about our household activities. Yesterday was the first day I kept the muzzle off nearly all day, as it was clear he was getting less and less fazed by her body contact and intrusions. Everyone did great. She's learning how to respect his space, and he's learning how to be a lot more accepting. But I'll tell you, using that muzzle for the first few days, allowed them to experience a bit of challenging confrontations,  without it escalating into anyone getting hurt.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Zoomdoggie

[MaryJane]

Muzzle the new greyhound.  You might also want to designate a safe space for your older dog that is gated off from the other dog so that he can rest.  Otherwise, he might be on alert all the time and that will not be good for him.

A situation like this might get worse before it gets better and the growls are a warning, next might be an attack. Don't feed them treats near each other - put it in their dog bowls and those should be distant from each other.  

[AtxGreyhoundmom]

Started using an adaptil collar a few days ago & I think it’s helping. I did keep him muzzled & them separated by a babygate for a full 2 days when he arrived.  He’s been here 3 weeks now. It is getting better. Seems to be more w direct eye contact & direct approach which can’t always be helped but I’m just trying different things & moving beds further apart. Never feed together. I put my old guy on my bed & the GH isn’t allowed up there. He’s now tossing a toy around near my older dog. My older dog is turning his head mostly away as to not engage in unwanted behavior. Overall slowly getting better.  There is no treat issue.  It’s all about the toys. 

[lifeingrey]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 10:51 PM, AtxGreyhoundmom said:

Started using an adaptil collar a few days ago & I think it’s helping. I did keep him muzzled & them separated by a babygate for a full 2 days when he arrived.  He’s been here 3 weeks now. It is getting better. Seems to be more w direct eye contact & direct approach which can’t always be helped but I’m just trying different things & moving beds further apart. Never feed together. I put my old guy on my bed & the GH isn’t allowed up there. He’s now tossing a toy around near my older dog. My older dog is turning his head mostly away as to not engage in unwanted behavior. Overall slowly getting better.  There is no treat issue.  It’s all about the toys. 

Any update on Tres? We just brought home a second hound last week (2 years old) and she has been acting similarly to Tres. She only guards squeaky toys, and our "older" girl (she's 3 years old) isn't even trying to take the toy- she's just walking past. It doesn't have anything to do with bed placement, it was happening anywhere they walked past each other if the new hound had a toy. We did end up taking away all problem toys except for one (took them when she wasn't out, not directly from her) and we are working with her to not resource guard the toy with us. She lets us pet her while she has the toy, so we are giving treats while petting but making no move to touch the toy. We have touched the toy when she is relaxed and her head is not near it, and she is fine. We think it's just from settling in and this is all new to her, but we want to protect our "older" girl. We are not correcting any growling but want to be sure we are handling this correctly. I understand where she must be coming from, she's never had to share and this is drastically new. There was no report from her foster that she exhibited any of these signs, and she was fostered with two other greyhounds. I am reaching out today to our adoption group to get their thoughts, but since this is so similar I just wanted to check in how Tres and Taylor are getting on.