Please, nip this toy guarding behavior in the bud; it can grow into
food and food/toy aggression. She is being aggressive and dominant.
What I do with my Chis is that I get them to drop the toy on
command. Then I will play with it for a minute and then give it
back. You can start by taking hold of the toy and twisting it
slightly while it is in her mouth telling her to drop it. The
twisting causes them to loosen their grip. If you are having a hard
time with this, while you are holding the toy, use your finger to pry
the jaw open. It is actually fairly easy. This will also build
trust. They know that you will let them have it when you want them
to have it. You can also place the toy between you and her and not
allow her to have it until you tell her to get it. A more advanced
behavior is to place the toy between you and her, call her to you
(making her move past the toy), reward her for coming to you, and
then sending her to the toy. An important thing to teach them is not
to regrip. Just because they are small doesn't mean they can't hurt
you when they accidentally bite you while they are trying to get a
better grip on the toy. They need to learn that when they lose the
grip on the toy (when tugging for example), they need to wait for you
to give it back to them. Most owners will just allow the dog to
lunge at the toy and grab it back. Depending on the toy size, they
can bite you accidentally.
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