Jenny, I am NOT jumping on you. You've just never seen the possible outcome before.

This is universal: Never leave toys or food items among dogs.

I almost said "among unsupervised dogs," but honestly, this can be and usually is a split-second change (and there can also be human injuries during intervention).

I agree with the last 3 posts. I dont have anything to add other than, this thread made me think of that travlers insuance commercial where the dog moves the bone from the yard to the safe deposit box, and then gets insurance. lol dogs and their bones.

Edited by Kyle DeSerio (01/18/2011 01:39 PM)
Edit reason: grammar

I was wondering about the HV bone situation and why the two dogs gravitate to eating them side by side. No matter where they are when I give them, if I don't physically separate them, they end up near each other. How do you handle this? Lock one away in a separate room? Only give them in closed crates? I do watch them closely, but I have seen other references to HV treats and toys and wondered how others handle giving out bones or kongs with peanut butter (for example).

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

I was wondering about the HV bone situation and why the two dogs gravitate to eating them side by side. No matter where they are when I give them, if I don't physically separate them, they end up near each other. How do you handle this? Lock one away in a separate room? Only give them in closed crates? I do watch them closely, but I have seen other references to HV treats and toys and wondered how others handle giving out bones or kongs with peanut butter (for example).

Are HV items a problem between your dogs?

I could never give my dogs bones within close proximity to each other. Falcon might be fine, but my mixed breed female, Sadie, is very, very food/bone protective. She is fed on the back porch and Falcon in the garage; when bones are given out Falcon is in the garage and Sadie outside. My toys cnly come out when I'm playing with the dogs.

No, they have never had a problem.

My dogs get their bones or chew toys in their crates. When the active chewing frenzy is done, I collect them all and let the dogs out. Simple and safe for everyone.

I might add, that one may not always know WHAT the dogs will consider a high value treat or toy. Toni and Caterina had a 2 second scrap over a snowball in the driveway. Nobody was hurt, and one bellow from me seperated them, but I wasn't really ready for that. I now watch to make sure that if one of them is really interested in sniffing something, I keep the other one away from her.

Having multiple dogs means "Constant Vigilance!!!" And "never had a problem" doesn't necessarily mean that there never will be a problem. My 5 live together in harmony, but I do work at it and I learn from them every day.

--Kel

I think I started this thread because I am sensing a slight shift in the balance of harmony between the two dogs and I want to head it off at the pass. Sometimes I put Skipper's fly snapping at Jethro down to 'crotchety old dog fed up with pup'. Jethro pretty much settles down after one of these incidents, but I noticed he has been wrestling Skipper's blanket out of Skipper's crate to chew on.

I wish I could just crate them both, but Skipper has crate anxiety. I am working on it with him, because I would like to put both of them in their crates sometimes. I think I will use the bones as an entry activity that is highly desired, and use it to shut them both up at the same time. I'm not sure what is happening with Skipper. He seems to be getting territorial while Jethro is shut away in his crate (which is most of the time).

I'm building pack structure with Jethro by putting him in his crate whenever he is not under direct supervision. Also, when the sounds from the corner are too much for him, he settles down and goes to sleep when I put him in his crate.

For the most part, Skipper sleeps peacefully in his little chair. I did get him to spend 7 minutes on crate training tonight, getting him to stay in a down with the crate door shut while I fed him treats and good dogs at 5 - 10 second intervals interspersed with coming out of the crate and sitting.

Yes, I can see that the dynamics are changing and I must be careful, especially about the bones.

Mine don't get bones (Callie can't tolerate them) but when I give them bully sticks JD has to be on his bed and Callie on her blanket. This lasts until I turn around then JD runs over to steal Callie's, Callie growls at him and maybe will chase him off if she feels like getting up, I make JD give up one of the 2 bully sticks and return it to Callie and we start all over again.

Seriously, though, Callie is an angel with hers and I just have to keep an eye on JD who thinks everything should belong to him. Neither are protective of food/toys. JD is just a puppy who has to test his limits. If he gets too pushy I take them away and we wait until the next day.

Jenny,
even if they do graviate towards each other, it doesn't mean they are doing it because they want to be close to each other.

It could be that they're doing it because they want to keep an eye on one another to make sure there isn't going to be an opportunity for the other one to sneak up and snatch.

or even just keep an eye on what the other dog has and take advantage of any in-attention on the part of the other dog to take what they have.

Keep them seperated. I don't think it has to necessarily be seperate rooms. But give them enough personal space and if you see them gravitating towards each other, stop whoever is the sneaky one and take them back to the area you originally put them in.

keep a very close eye on them and try to catch the roamer before they even start to move. You should be able to read their body language to learn when they are even starting to think about moving.


Edited by Wendy Lefebvre (01/19/2011 07:59 AM)
Edit reason: thought