What she is doing is resource guarding and this problem needs to be corrected immediately. Have you ever heard of the Nothing In Life is Free program(NILIF)? This program will get rid of and prevent bad behaviors like this. The main idea of the program is to make your dog work for everything, you are the alpha dog they can only do something if you say so. In your case taking back the treat was the right thing, she must learn that getting a treat is a privilege and you control that. Have you watched Cesar Milan in his Dog Whisperer show? He teaches that we should not treat our pets like humans because they are animals first and foremost. I suggest checking out more about the NILIF program and read more up on resource guarding. http://www.paw- rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_ResourceGuarding.html and http://72.14.203.104/search? q=cache:joqAHJ14VWcJ:www.ddfl.org/behavior/nilif.pdf+nothing+in+life+i s+free&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
--- In [email protected], "Mary Jensen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Group, > Pixil, my little 16 month old female Chihuahua has a bit of an > issue. A few months back, after given a treat, she would crouch her > back and lower her head and look at us as if to say, "Don't come > near me". So, I thought that behavior was not good, so I called her > to come to me with the treat, and she would not. So, I went to her > and spoke calmly to her as I was going to take the treat from her. > She growled at me! That was enough out of her so I grabbed the > treat from her and she snapped at me, but I successfully got the > treat away from her. Anyway, this behavior has repeated itself a > few times since then. Now, when I give her a treat and she hunches > over and gets that "Panther" type look, I have demanded that she > return the treat to me. She now drops the treat and comes and sits > on my lap, but will not touch the treat, even when I try to give it > to her. So, I sat down on the couch with her in my lap and placed > the treat on a blanket on the couch for her to eat, she did not > move, and she growled at me while in my lap!!! Then, my husband > came to see what was up and she growled at him, no snapping or > anything, just a little soft "growling". I cannot figure what is up > with that behavior? We have never teased her with treats, nor does > she have any competition over treats (she is our only furbaby). It > is only with the types of treats that require a bit more than a bite > and a swallow! It is not with treats that she can swallow down > quickly, so I am thinking it has something to do with how big the > treat is. Anyone have any suggestions for us? > She is not an aggressive Chi, she is very sweet, but she does bark > at strangers and other dogs, but her tail is wagging while she does > that. She has never bitten anyone. We have had her since she was > 12 weeks old. > Thank you for any help, > Mary > " Lets talk about our wonderful little friends! Join today! " Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
