running_dog
Honored Member
At first I thought this was about straightforward resource guarding. Zac is jealous over his toys... well anything that is on the floor even a crumpled piece of paper is his and worthy of a growl if the pup touches it. But I think it may also be a bit more complex.
Zac does play with boisterous puppies outside (the ones that belt him across the face), he does also sniff and lick all new puppies he meets though as a general rule I don't let him play off leash with pups unless I know they are very in his face. He has never even tried to sniff or lick this puppy he just looked at it as if it were particularly distasteful. I'm guessing this must be because they met on Zac's turf. But the pup isn't allowed out for walks for another month so I can't change that.
Zac often has visitor dogs. He is not very impressed with them but only gives a warning growl if they take a FAVOURITE toy or are doing something against the rules (eg/ counter surfing or jumping in the pond). He certainly doesn't refuse food while they are there.
Zac finds the puppy a genuinely stressful situation. He won't touch food if Gus is even in the next but one room with 2 doors between them. When he first realised there was a puppy in the house he did not eat (pushed his chicken dinner right back under something without touching it) though the pup was at the other end of the house and he had never seen it near a toy. Yesterday (2nd day of him knowing) he stood by while the pup dived into his dinner and then after I put the pup in another room he again pushed the food away. He did eat it when I hand fed him (LOL I know I'm soft, but he will refuse food until he looks like an anatomy lesson if he takes the whim).
This disinterest in food makes the clicker harder to use though this morning I figured out I could make a game calling Zac and throwing the food away. It was only at the end of the game that I managed to build up gradually so Zac would willingly take a step into the room where the puppy had been (it was shut in the next room) and then throw the reward out into the corridor which was (by then) far enough away for Zac to be prepared to eat a very high value treat and also rewarded him with a chase and most importantly rewarded him with leaving the place that worried him.
I'm hoping to keep building on this game but keep them more or less separate until Zac feels better able to cope. When Zac will confidently go into a toy devoid room with the pup I'll start worrying about resource guarding
.
Am I right to treat Zac's apparent insecurity and the resource guarding as separate issues?
More suggestions of ideas or training and training games are welcome
Zac does play with boisterous puppies outside (the ones that belt him across the face), he does also sniff and lick all new puppies he meets though as a general rule I don't let him play off leash with pups unless I know they are very in his face. He has never even tried to sniff or lick this puppy he just looked at it as if it were particularly distasteful. I'm guessing this must be because they met on Zac's turf. But the pup isn't allowed out for walks for another month so I can't change that.
Zac often has visitor dogs. He is not very impressed with them but only gives a warning growl if they take a FAVOURITE toy or are doing something against the rules (eg/ counter surfing or jumping in the pond). He certainly doesn't refuse food while they are there.
Zac finds the puppy a genuinely stressful situation. He won't touch food if Gus is even in the next but one room with 2 doors between them. When he first realised there was a puppy in the house he did not eat (pushed his chicken dinner right back under something without touching it) though the pup was at the other end of the house and he had never seen it near a toy. Yesterday (2nd day of him knowing) he stood by while the pup dived into his dinner and then after I put the pup in another room he again pushed the food away. He did eat it when I hand fed him (LOL I know I'm soft, but he will refuse food until he looks like an anatomy lesson if he takes the whim).
This disinterest in food makes the clicker harder to use though this morning I figured out I could make a game calling Zac and throwing the food away. It was only at the end of the game that I managed to build up gradually so Zac would willingly take a step into the room where the puppy had been (it was shut in the next room) and then throw the reward out into the corridor which was (by then) far enough away for Zac to be prepared to eat a very high value treat and also rewarded him with a chase and most importantly rewarded him with leaving the place that worried him.
I'm hoping to keep building on this game but keep them more or less separate until Zac feels better able to cope. When Zac will confidently go into a toy devoid room with the pup I'll start worrying about resource guarding
.Am I right to treat Zac's apparent insecurity and the resource guarding as separate issues?
More suggestions of ideas or training and training games are welcome
If they met on Zac's turf, he should be the one in charge. It looks like he's anxious to me. But why won't he eat?? Maybe, sight hounds are more sensitive to these kinds of things than other dogs. My dog won't eat when her BFF Carmel comes over, but she's fine the next day. Maybe it's just a matter of time.....
. We've kept the doors open and lots of space so Zac can get away if he wants to.
.
he was looking at me when the pup came over instead of giving his baleful glare. Afterwards I moved him quickly into a "zero pup area" and owing to my ineptitude the pup followed (it is like greased soap crossed with a battering ram 
Of, course, she got over it and now she just ignores Shivon.