Possessiveness

Polo has always resource guarded toys and me. He will do it to an extent with anyone that will give him a fuss if another dog is close by he will give them a stare and nip them if they don't go.

Today on returning home after a few days away, Polo and Tara were behind the gate as I pulled into the drive. I got out of the car and approached the gate with both of them wagging tails pleased to see me and then Polo turned to Tara and bit her. She yelped and turned away.

He won't do this to Lady as she would not tolerate it from him. Tess and Maisie simply will avoid me if Polo is close to me.

My instinct was to tell him off today but I don't really think that is the answer? How do I deal with this?

I doubt he would really figure out what you are telling him off for

with my dogs I just worked on teaching them that when another dog is getting a treat or a fuss then nice things happen to them

I started with Mia restrained on a lead (cos she would have attacked Ben she was so bad)

Then I had Ben the other side and patted him and gave mia a treat at the same time
slowly I increased the time before I gave her her treat so I patted Ben and then gave her the treat
I did this for very short sesshions until she was wagging her tail and licking her lips as I patted Ben

Then I moved on to treats - giving them both a treat at the same time
then Mia a milisecond later than Ben building it up until she was happily watching Ben get a treat knowing hers was comming next

It took some work
I only remembered how bad she was when the other day I had both the dogs pushing between my knees - heads right together - bums wagging like crazy both getting a fuss no probems

Thanks for that. Sounds like you've done really well with Mia.

I think this is simply over-excitement, personally. How about encouraging him to use a toy as a `dummy`. No, I`m not kidding. Dogs like to have stuff in their moths and it seems to transfer to frustration / arousal on to the object rather than running round like a headless chicken biting things when excited.
Well, it works with Daisy.

Works for Cain too. We shove a soft tennis ball in his gob when visitors come and it keeps his four paws on the floor and calms him down. Helen uses a soft slipper in Zenas mouth. Not a daft idea at all!

yup you are prob right here didnt read it properly
Mia does use Ben as a stress toy sometimes its not agression just over excited - just give her something else to do

I saw a lovely great dane last year who goes for walks with a huge teddy bear in his mouth so cute

I'm not sure it is over-excitement. Possibly slightly aroused in this context, although the dogs were just stood wagging tails with all paws on the ground, so no running around or jumping up.

However Polo is very possessive so it won't hurt to work on that issue.

Lots of dogs at the kennels pick a toy up as soon as you walk in or a piece of vet bed.its great there mouth is full at th epart when they are most excited once they have calmed down a bit they drop it. i guees this is something there owners have taught them. stops my getting nipped wish they all did it

We never have any toys lying about as the dogs would definitely fight over them.