Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Cumberland, Maine
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I saw possession aggression in a litter that I bred years ago. Most of the pups had gone to their forever homes, there were several left, including the one I was keeping. I put a stuffed sterilized beef bone into the whelping box. Apparently this was much higher value than anything else I had given them and it was also novel. One of the boys became snarky and snarly instantaneously. He was snapping at his littermates. I was afraid he would generalize the behavior and carry it over to humans. I removed the bone. I also made a mental note to be careful what to give my dogs in the future....
I second what many others have said. Practice trading lesser things for higher value treats.
I might not let my pup,have anything of high value. In our house, nylabones, sterilized beef bones, marrow bones, and antlers are not of high value. We also have multiples of all of them, so they are not coveted.
How old are your children? My kids are older now, but as youngsters, they were never allowed to carry pups, choke hold pups, etc. I also never let my kids any where near the dogs when they were eating, as my job was to keep my children and the dogs safe so no one human or dog made a mistake. Remember no child under the age of five should ever be left alone with a dog. My old boss used to say, "all dogs bite, it's a question of when."
And get the book Mine and call the breeder.
Janice and The Celebration Gang -
"Samantha, George, Tiki, Emily, Mick and Basil" Gone but not forgotten, Sally(Windjammer's Ima Country Girl CDX CGC), Laney(Mandell Marlenes Celebration UD RA CGC), and Cookie(Starseeker's Kissmas Cookie CDX RE CGC).