Resource guarding chihuahua

[crystalncody]

So far it has only happened over toys, but Ren has been known to be toy, food, and treat aggressive, and I don't want to take the chance of any other fights breaking out over anything else. After the first time, I started feeding Cody in his kennel (in my bedroom), I give him treats in my room, and I've put his toys in my room. Besides only letting them around each other under intense supervision, that's the only thing I can think to do at the moment, but I'm still a little frazzled, so I'm open to suggestions.

[crystalncody]

Tanza, I agree, but on this issue I doubt that will be an option. I'm renting from and living with the owner of the house and the chihuahua is her dog. I don't think he has been crate trained or that he even has a crate.

[curlytails]

Can all the toys (the chihuahua's too) be removed and only taken out for supervised play?

With my resource-guarding shiba, it's "out of sight, out of mind." Knowing that he has a tendency to start scuffles over toys, we put all the high value ones (stuffed and squeaky things, for example) away once Bowpi entered the picture. He still gets his tennis balls in the backyard, because they're plentiful and Bowpi has zero desire to compete with him over those – and he knows this. The fact that we had these lower-value toys to "test" him seemed to help a little... For example, Bowpi would go out to the backyard purely with the interest of sunning herself. Bowdu would start to growl/whine and get antsy and run over to one of his tennis balls and to guard it. But Bowpi would just ignore him, stay far away, and settle down into a pool of sunlight. Once Bowdu saw that there was no need to feel threatened, he would relax. Over time, he learned there was no need to guard those tennis balls.

The thing is, he is reassured that all toys are HIS toys. It was part of both dogs learning to "know their place" in the home, I think. It worked because Bowdu cares about toys, and Bowpi doesn't. If both dogs are toy-motivated, it's a different matter. I'm not sure that dogs understand the difference between "their" toy and "another dog's" -- like this chihuahua might not be content to let Cody's toys be Cody's. Unless both dogs can learn something like a really solid 'leave it', I don't think it's worth it to even give them the opportunity to fight over their toys.

Both my dogs got fed in separate rooms from day one, and I think that's the way it's always going to be. I think for some dogs, that's just a permanent situation.

[crystalncody]

Curlytails, thanks! I'll talk to my roommate about putting all of the toys away and see if we can come to some kind of decision. I think that would take away some of the temptation.

The funny thing is, Cody isn't really all that toy motivated. I'm wondering if it is because his toys are the ones that smell like Moe that I brought with us to ease their separation. Whatever the reason, his toys are in my room, and the chihuahua doesn't have access to it.

Like I said before, after the first fight, I started feeding and giving Cody his treats in his crate. It's something we'd been working on anyway to try help him see his crate as a good place. Both of her dogs have allergies and are on limited ingredient diets, so it helps with that too. I just hate crating him so much since his has proven that he is trustworthy in the house. I had hoped to be able to let him out after about a month when the newness of the place wore off.

We also started gating off portions of the house, so they both have somewhat equal time out around the house without running into each other. They pretty much ignore each other when they are outside, but we still don't let them out at the same time without both of us with them to supervise.

I do feel a little better about the situation today, and I think once school starts on Wednesday and we get settled into a routine things will start to get easier. I'm not kidding myself, though, I know it's going to take a while, but I also think that a more structured routine will help.

[Quercus]

@curlytails:

Can all the toys (the chihuahua's too) be removed and only taken out for supervised play?

With my resource-guarding shiba, it's "out of sight, out of mind." Knowing that he has a tendency to start scuffles over toys, we put all the high value ones (stuffed and squeaky things, for example) away once Bowpi entered the picture. He still gets his tennis balls in the backyard, because they're plentiful and Bowpi has zero desire to compete with him over those – and he knows this. The fact that we had these lower-value toys to "test" him seemed to help a little... For example, Bowpi would go out to the backyard purely with the interest of sunning herself. Bowdu would start to growl/whine and get antsy and run over to one of his tennis balls and to guard it. But Bowpi would just ignore him, stay far away, and settle down into a pool of sunlight. Once Bowdu saw that there was no need to feel threatened, he would relax. Over time, he learned there was no need to guard those tennis balls.

The thing is, he is reassured that all toys are HIS toys. It was part of both dogs learning to "know their place" in the home, I think. It worked because Bowdu cares about toys, and Bowpi doesn't. If both dogs are toy-motivated, it's a different matter. I'm not sure that dogs understand the difference between "their" toy and "another dog's" -- like this chihuahua might not be content to let Cody's toys be Cody's. Unless both dogs can learn something like a really solid 'leave it', I don't think it's worth it to even give them the opportunity to fight over their toys.

Both my dogs got fed in separate rooms from day one, and I think that's the way it's always going to be. I think for some dogs, that's just a permanent situation.

Super great advice! I totally agree. The only other thing I *might add would be to let them interact with Cody wearing a basket muzzle so he can't really hurt the Chi. They need to sort this out…but you don't want anybody to get seriously hurt obviously. But in my house, if a toy 'causes serious guarding, it goes away.

[starrlamia]

I would highly recommend the book Mine! By Jean Donaldson.
Keep all high value items put away when the dogs are together and seperate when you give them out. Never leave them unsupervised

[Patty]

I totally agree with Curlytails and Quercus and her suggestion re the basket muzzle. It is so much easier to train them to be harmonious if they can't hurt each other which always exacerbates the problem. Knowing just how bad a chi can be with biting I would think that it would be better if both were muzzled if there is a chi sized muzzle, that is.

[crystalncody]

I've never used a muzzle on him before, and I don't know if he's ever been muzzled. Is that something that would have to be done gradually (like only doing it for a short amount of time at first and then gradually increasing the amount of time it is worn)? Cody is easily stressed out, and it seems like something that might be stressful at first.

[tanza]

I would only add if you are going to muzzle one, the other should be muzzled also….

[crystalncody]

I agree. This situation is so stressful. I think I'm going to give it a little longer and see if we can compromise. If not, I have to do what's best for both me and Cody, and we may have to find somewhere else to live.

[Whoalookitsme]

I also have a chihuahua(Jolie). She is more aggressive over space. If shes on the bed and the cat jumps on the bed Jolie will growl and bark at roxi telling her to get off and roxi gets surprised and runs off. I think its just the chihuahua nature to be more assertive because of their size. I also see this with my cat. My cat is about 8lbs. She will push around the great dane in my apartment but wont bother much with the chi or the c0ckerspaniel mix we have. I think this is because she doesn't want to feel vunerable to something that she might not be able to handle if things go wrong. I would also agree with removing any items that cause this aggression and feed the dogs treats and food separately.

As far as muzzling there are chihuahua sized muzzles lol. I think I would try taking away the things this aggression creates before trying the muzzles, because they can be stressful for some dogs. Some will throw their heads around or paw the muzzle trying to get it off so they might miss the point of this exercise if they aren't used to it.

[sharronhurlbut]

How about walking the 2 dogs together to let them burn off energy. They can find that doing things outside the house will tire them out, less energy for other things.
Just my thoughts.

[Anubis's Mommy]

My moms chihuahua is the same way. She attacks Anubis when he tries to play with his OWN toys, she thinks they are hers. We just take the toys away and send her to the couch. When shes calmed down we give Anubis his toys back and keep her on the couch. And if it happens again we repeat the process. It keeps the fights to a minimal.

PS: I was on the wrong page and was going to post about Basenji's and cats….So Excuse the wrong title! Lol

[Kipawa]

I hope I don't catch flack for this, but every chi I have come across has been snarky! I'm sure there are great ones out there though. I like Sharron's idea of walking them together. They will burn off energy and will hopefully understand that they can be close together and in harmony, whether inside or outside.

[sonnyboy]

@Kipawa:

I hope I don't catch flack for this, but every chi I have come across has been snarky! I'm sure there are great ones out there though. I like Sharron's idea of walking them together. They will burn off energy and will hopefully understand that they can be close together and in harmony, whether inside or outside.

Fran take a look at my recent Facebook photo's of ny nephew w/my brothers Chi Julio…This is most mild mannered, loveable dog ever. He is wonderful with my nephew and when it comes to Sonny lets just say he runs the other way! :rolleyes:

[Kipawa]

@sonnyboy:

Fran take a look at my recent Facebook photo's of ny nephew w/my brothers Chi Julio…This is most mild mannered, loveable dog ever. He is wonderful with my nephew and when it comes to Sonny lets just say he runs the other way! :rolleyes:

Lisa, what name are you under on Facebook? I'd love to see the pictures. I KNOW there are great chi's out there. It seems I have only met the snarky ones.

[Anubis's Mommy]

@Kipawa: No flack here! I agree! Ive only seen ONE mild tempered Chi. Im not a huge fan of them…sure they're cute but ALWAYS seem to have a snarky attitude. Moms Chi Keelie is a drama queen and she also thinks she runs the house.