Slight Toy Possessiveness?

[Hurtseverywhere]

Well To Me They are all MY toys, so if there is any dissagreement over who gets what, or who is gonna play with what, then I get them all and they are all dissapear for awhile period. after a couple of incidents they seem to get the picture pretty quickly. Play nice or don't play at all.
although they do try to adopt thier favorites, I do force them to share even those, I will delberately take say Rockey's fav toy & go play with it with Cosmo & vice versa.
I am not sure if this is the best approach but it's what I do, and it seems to work for me.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Well To Me They are all MY toys, so if there is any dissagreement over who gets what, or who is gonna play with what, then I get them all and they are all dissapear for awhile period. after a couple of incidents they seem to get the picture pretty quickly. Play nice or don't play at all.
although they do try to adopt thier favorites, I do force them to share even those, I will delberately take say Rockey's fav toy & go play with it with Cosmo & vice versa.

I would normally agree, except that I'm not 100% sure Toby is the problem when I've been completely unable to teach Ginny to share with other dogs. If I give them all the same thing, like a bone, Ginny will refuse hers and go steal one from one of the others. Once she has the other dog's bone for a minute or two, she no longer wants it and will steal hers back or another dog's bone. She's constantly stealing from them. I've given them all identical bones and crated Ginny with hers. She refused to eat hers and instead howl, unable to get to the other dog's bones.

So which dog do I punish? The dog who is getting defensive because of Ginny, or Ginny? I honestly think this whole issue stems from her, but its something I can't break her out of. She's great about giving up anything to me and always listens, but she never stops stealing from the other dogs either.

She redefines the grass is aways greener on the other dog.

 

[corbinam]

I would normally agree, except that I'm not 100% sure Toby is the problem when I've been completely unable to teach Ginny to share with other dogs.

What does Ginny do if you play the "Toby's turn", "Sadie's turn", "Ginny's turn" game (as suggested by Randi)? I think that honestly this game is very, very similar to the "leave it" command, and I was very surprised how quickly my two picked up on this.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

What does Ginny do if you play the "Toby's turn", "Sadie's turn", "Ginny's turn" game (as suggested by Randi)? I think that honestly this game is very, very similar to the "leave it" command, and I was very surprised how quickly my two picked up on this.

Ginny always wants to be the center of attention. Her first instinct is to jump in the middle, barking and growling (in a playful way, not aggressive), and take over the game by pushing the other dog out of the way or nipping at its ankles.

It takes me correcting her a couple of times by telling her no, sending her away and some times putting her in a down for her to get the message. When I'm done I praise her and play with her for a minute or two, then switch dogs and go through the whole process again. She just doesn't seem to learn.

Hmm, maybe I should schedule a private lesson with my trainer, husband and 3 shelties.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Hmm, maybe I should schedule a private lesson with my trainer, husband and 3 shelties.

I spoke to my trainer, who doesn't think I need a private lesson with my pack.

She said that what I'm describing is just 'dog stuff' and nothing out of the ordinary. As long as none of the dogs are getting really nasty with their noises and snapping, to let them figure things out on their own. She said the same thing applies when they're with my friend's dogs dogs, so long as their all supervised when this is going on.

She did ask me which dog I treated as the leader (Sadie) and suggest that I start treating Ginny as the leader instead. She said that might calm the conflict a bit, since Ginny obviously wants to be the leader and I'm not letting her.

She also said that I should feed the three of them separately, in their crates and that Ginny should now be fed first. And that when I give them bones and Ginny refuses to eat hers in her crate, not to give her an alternative (and I don't).

I think the hardest thing will be treating Ginny like the leader, I've always looked at her behavior like she's just a spoiled brat and often do things with her last to teach her a lesson. I'm going to feel like I'm rewarding her, even though I'm really just allowing the natural course of things, which I guess I've been trying to stop.

Sadie's my favorite (I love them all but she's my heart dog) so its so much easier to give her everything first.

 

[Calliesmom]

I spoke to my trainer, who doesn't think I need a private lesson with my pack.

She said that what I'm describing is just 'dog stuff' and nothing out of the ordinary. As long as none of the dogs are getting really nasty with their noises and snapping, to let them figure things out on their own. She said the same thing applies when they're with my friend's dogs dogs, so long as their all supervised when this is going on.

She did ask me which dog I treated as the leader (Sadie) and suggest that I start treating Ginny as the leader instead. She said that might calm the conflict a bit, since Ginny obviously wants to be the leader and I'm not letting her.

She also said that I should feed the three of them separately, in their crates and that Ginny should now be fed first. And that when I give them bones and Ginny refuses to eat hers in her crate, not to give her an alternative (and I don't).

I think the hardest thing will be treating Ginny like the leader, I've always looked at her behavior like she's just a spoiled brat and often do things with her last to teach her a lesson. I'm going to feel like I'm rewarding her, even though I'm really just allowing the natural course of things, which I guess I've been trying to stop.

Sadie's my favorite (I love them all but she's my heart dog) so its so much easier to give her everything first.

oooohh- the multiple dog book says that you should mix up who gets what first - for treats and meals. for treats, the book says whoever does whatever you asked for first, gets the first treat. that way, the dogs don't get upset if the wrong dog accidentally gets treated first.
I will confess to waiting until everyone sits, then Callie gets the first treat, then Cran and then Dixie- kinda the order of arrival
so far, Callie is still in charge- as far as I can tell

 

[corbinam]

oooohh- the multiple dog book says that you should mix up who gets what first - for treats and meals. for treats, the book says whoever does whatever you asked for first, gets the first treat.

Wow...that is really interesting. I'm not sure I would be able to do that...I do what you do, Denise, and feed the established dog (Bentley) first. I find that Lexi is pushy and demanding, but she is always the quickest to perform the behavior I'm asking for. I would almost hate to reward her pushiness by always treating her first. I usually mark it with a "Yes" for her, and then wait while Bentley sloooowly does what I ask.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

oooohh- the multiple dog book says that you should mix up who gets what first - for treats and meals. for treats, the book says whoever does whatever you asked for first, gets the first treat. that way, the dogs don't get upset if the wrong dog accidentally gets treated first.
I will confess to waiting until everyone sits, then Callie gets the first treat, then Cran and then Dixie- kinda the order of arrival
so far, Callie is still in charge- as far as I can tell

And when it comes to giving treats, I usually try to give treats to the dog who performs the task first. When it comes to leashing, having paws wiped and feeding, the lead dog usually goes first.

Wow...that is really interesting. I'm not sure I would be able to do that...I do what you do, Denise, and feed the established dog (Bentley) first. I find that Lexi is pushy and demanding, but she is always the quickest to perform the behavior I'm asking for. I would almost hate to reward her pushiness by always treating her first. I usually mark it with a "Yes" for her, and then wait while Bentley sloooowly does what I ask.

Ginny always tries to get the treat by NOT performing the behavior.

Ginny has been a little stinker right from the start. This illustrates it pretty well. This is Ginny at 6 weeks old, already tormenting her older sister.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHb-7oZNCG8

12 Weeks Old
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4FH2d98C6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nOE6pi6lwM

I love Ginny to death, but she does not have the personality that we thought she did. In hind site, we were blinded by the cute little 4 lb. ball of fur and didn't notice how bossy she was, her brother actually had the personality we were looking for. We wanted Sadie to be the leader. I like less submissive personalities that are more willing to please, like Sadie and Toby, not bossy like Ginny. Look at those videos! How on earth did we not know!

Oh well, it doesn't really matter now, she brings us so much joy and has many other amazing qualities that make up for her bossiness.

I guess I'll see how the change in order goes. Hopefully it will help with the conflict a little.

 

[Mikos_Mom]

In hind site, we were blinded by the cute little 4 lb. ball of fur and didn't notice how bossy she was, her brother actually had the personality we were looking for. We wanted Sadie to be the leader. I like less submissive personalities that are more willing to please, like Sadie and Toby, not bossy like Ginny. Look at those videos! How on earth did we not know!

I think with shelties it might be a bit of trap we fall into. Knowing that they can be a very timid and shy breed, we may see a bit of feistiness as a good thing... where if we were looking at bulldogs or huskies we might shy away from the puppies that appear to be very feisty and/or assertive.

I'm wondering if your trainer might be onto something though... If Ginny truly has a desire to lead and Sadie isn't really the type... maybe you should let them work things out on their own. Maybe Ginny would settle down a bit and stop trying so hard to assert herself if she was top dog. KWIM... she might be a pill trying to climb her way to the top, but once she's there she may calm down and settle into her role.

Best of luck!!!

 

[Calliesmom]

Ginny has been a little stinker right from the start. This illustrates it pretty well. This is Ginny at 6 weeks old, already tormenting her older sister.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHb-7oZNCG8

12 Weeks Old
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4FH2d98C6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nOE6pi6lwM

I love Ginny to death, but she does not have the personality that we thought she did. In hind site, we were blinded by the cute little 4 lb. ball of fur and didn't notice how bossy she was, her brother actually had the personality we were looking for. We wanted Sadie to be the leader. I like less submissive personalities that are more willing to please, like Sadie and Toby, not bossy like Ginny. Look at those videos! How on earth did we not know!

Oh well, it doesn't really matter now, she brings us so much joy and has many other amazing qualities that make up for her bossiness.

I guess I'll see how the change in order goes. Hopefully it will help with the conflict a little.

ooh- she was a cute lil ball of fur
in that first vid- Sadie says - 'mom- I don't want it'
but in the later ones- she seems happy to be playing