So I have 2 huge problems with Crash- humping (posted about that a few days ago) and not giving up toys.
This does not apply to food whatsoever. Crash is raw fed and has never guarded his food, I can take anything away if I NEED to- but I only do it if its a danger in some way.
The problem doesn't even seem like resource guarding to me, but any insight on this is appreciated. It applies to all toys other than a nylabone type toy (which he isn't interested in anyway) such as ropes, stuffies, balls, puller toy (large purple foam ring), etc.
He will bring you a ball to play with him, but he just punches you with it without dropping it. He knows 'drop' because he does choose to drop it sometimes (I will go over that in a min.) If you go to grab it, he holds on tighter. You cannot even trade him for the juiciest steak or duck neck (his favorite piece of food) once you have already asked him to drop it and he doesn't comply. If you already have the 'trade item' in front of his face when you ask him to drop, depending on how good it is, he will drop it before asking.
However, this is a problem, so I have been working on him with the puller toy and a ball. I have only been working with him in 2 low stress environments- In my house (we have progressed to different rooms) and at my desk at work. If we are in one of those 2 places, he has a lot higher chance of dropping it. I will ask him to drop, if he does it, I mark & treat, and throw the ball right back to him. I can also ask him to drop either the ball or puller toy and work with him with the toy sitting in view for impulse control exercises.
If he does not drop it I just stop the exercise and ignore him until the toy is dropped or the exercise is gone. Once its dropped I mark & treat and sometimes won't even take the toy. Just reward him for dropping it- depending on the task we are working- I only work on 1 at a time. It started with just him dropping it, me NOT taking it. I have progressed to him dropping it and mark & treat him letting me pick it up. (previously he learned if he drops it, I mark & treat, he will grab the toy before I have a chance to grab it, so I modified to 2 different exercises- one being him dropping it and two being him letting me pick it up)
At this point I am at a standstill. I have moved this exercise to other rooms of my house, but once we try to do it in a more open room (such as the hallway or the walkway to the back yard) its just an absolute no way- not going to drop it.
This problem is two-fold. The only time I have ever been worried he is going to 'bite' someone is if they pick up one of his toys or try to take one of his toys out of his mouth. He gets excited and tries to grab the toy out of their hand. The intention is never to bite the person, just grab the toy out of their hands, but he is overzealous and has nipped my hand on accident before- one time he totally got one of my fingers, dropped the toy and my finger in shock & awe and you could tell that he realized my finger was in there and KNOWS that's a no-no (he was very mouthy when I first got him and did a lot of work on not putting his mouth around people's hands) so I am not worried about it being aggression of any sort.
Everyone who knows Crash knows NOT to engage with him when he has toys. Its the only way to get the stupid people around me to just not screw with his toys- if I made rules about HOW to handle the toys, it wouldn't work, so I have just made it NO toys.
The other problem being I can't freaking PLAY with my dog. I can't do rope toys (I do, but only in very controlled environments) I can't play fetch with him (which he loves when he is willing to give up the toy) and mostly- I can't use toys for training, which I would LOVE to do since he is SO toy motivated.
Some things that I do to manage- He usually isn't allowed to play with toys he isn't willing to give up. His willingness to give them back to me dictates when he is allowed to have the toys.
Originally I had 6-7 of the same balls (these are very specific Kong Squeezz balls that squeak) and would bring 2 or 3 out to play. At first, he would bring the one back and drop to throw the second one. That lasted for about 2 weeks and now whatever toy is in his mouth holds higher value than the one I have in my hand. If you do 2 different toys of equal value, still the one in his mouth is higher value than the one you have in your hand. He might go one round where he drops it and goes to get the other one, but it rarely goes beyond that.
Also, if he is asking to play, but won't drop the ball, he gets ignored. When he gets ignored, he will go drop the ball in my chair at work (so I will throw it) but only if its on HIS terms. He will drop the ball in my chair for me all day long and let me pick it up and throw it but as soon as someone asks, its a NO go.
I know I am rambling so I will end this and answer questions if I have missed something.
This does not apply to food whatsoever. Crash is raw fed and has never guarded his food, I can take anything away if I NEED to- but I only do it if its a danger in some way.
The problem doesn't even seem like resource guarding to me, but any insight on this is appreciated. It applies to all toys other than a nylabone type toy (which he isn't interested in anyway) such as ropes, stuffies, balls, puller toy (large purple foam ring), etc.
He will bring you a ball to play with him, but he just punches you with it without dropping it. He knows 'drop' because he does choose to drop it sometimes (I will go over that in a min.) If you go to grab it, he holds on tighter. You cannot even trade him for the juiciest steak or duck neck (his favorite piece of food) once you have already asked him to drop it and he doesn't comply. If you already have the 'trade item' in front of his face when you ask him to drop, depending on how good it is, he will drop it before asking.
However, this is a problem, so I have been working on him with the puller toy and a ball. I have only been working with him in 2 low stress environments- In my house (we have progressed to different rooms) and at my desk at work. If we are in one of those 2 places, he has a lot higher chance of dropping it. I will ask him to drop, if he does it, I mark & treat, and throw the ball right back to him. I can also ask him to drop either the ball or puller toy and work with him with the toy sitting in view for impulse control exercises.
If he does not drop it I just stop the exercise and ignore him until the toy is dropped or the exercise is gone. Once its dropped I mark & treat and sometimes won't even take the toy. Just reward him for dropping it- depending on the task we are working- I only work on 1 at a time. It started with just him dropping it, me NOT taking it. I have progressed to him dropping it and mark & treat him letting me pick it up. (previously he learned if he drops it, I mark & treat, he will grab the toy before I have a chance to grab it, so I modified to 2 different exercises- one being him dropping it and two being him letting me pick it up)
At this point I am at a standstill. I have moved this exercise to other rooms of my house, but once we try to do it in a more open room (such as the hallway or the walkway to the back yard) its just an absolute no way- not going to drop it.
This problem is two-fold. The only time I have ever been worried he is going to 'bite' someone is if they pick up one of his toys or try to take one of his toys out of his mouth. He gets excited and tries to grab the toy out of their hand. The intention is never to bite the person, just grab the toy out of their hands, but he is overzealous and has nipped my hand on accident before- one time he totally got one of my fingers, dropped the toy and my finger in shock & awe and you could tell that he realized my finger was in there and KNOWS that's a no-no (he was very mouthy when I first got him and did a lot of work on not putting his mouth around people's hands) so I am not worried about it being aggression of any sort.
Everyone who knows Crash knows NOT to engage with him when he has toys. Its the only way to get the stupid people around me to just not screw with his toys- if I made rules about HOW to handle the toys, it wouldn't work, so I have just made it NO toys.
The other problem being I can't freaking PLAY with my dog. I can't do rope toys (I do, but only in very controlled environments) I can't play fetch with him (which he loves when he is willing to give up the toy) and mostly- I can't use toys for training, which I would LOVE to do since he is SO toy motivated.
Some things that I do to manage- He usually isn't allowed to play with toys he isn't willing to give up. His willingness to give them back to me dictates when he is allowed to have the toys.
Originally I had 6-7 of the same balls (these are very specific Kong Squeezz balls that squeak) and would bring 2 or 3 out to play. At first, he would bring the one back and drop to throw the second one. That lasted for about 2 weeks and now whatever toy is in his mouth holds higher value than the one I have in my hand. If you do 2 different toys of equal value, still the one in his mouth is higher value than the one you have in your hand. He might go one round where he drops it and goes to get the other one, but it rarely goes beyond that.
Also, if he is asking to play, but won't drop the ball, he gets ignored. When he gets ignored, he will go drop the ball in my chair at work (so I will throw it) but only if its on HIS terms. He will drop the ball in my chair for me all day long and let me pick it up and throw it but as soon as someone asks, its a NO go.
I know I am rambling so I will end this and answer questions if I have missed something.
Releasing a Toy
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