Hi Everyone ,its been a while so firstly "Happy New Year", and hope you are all ok, well for those of you who remember me ,and of course Lola , she is now 12 months old ,and she is one sassy little pup(you will notice i did NOT say bitch !!) when i rescued her back in June of last year ,i was told to take her to obediance classes as she was a very strong willed little girl ,i am ashamed to say with all sorts of pressures ,family etc i just did not get around to it ,i was not too worried as she is a very bright pup and VERY obedient (but is she stubborn !!) we have had trouble with her and the cats ,still a very fragile sort of relationship ,but tolerable ,the scenting is 90% better its  still a problem when anyone new comes into the house,she hates not being centre of attention and absolutley  hates me getting attention from any one else !and she was a nightmare at christmas and New Year,too many people in her home !!,she is so much a part of our family now i find it hard to remember what we did without her ,but she is too   possesive and attention seeking and i wonder what would be the best way to deal with this  is  it her age? 

How do you mean 'possesive'?  Does she get agressive if anyone tries to take anything from her? Or does she sit on your lap and dare anyone to come near you?  Or does she simply collect 'stuff' and take it to her bed?  Because all these things can have different reasons, they need different training.  As for attention seeking - the easiest way to stop this is to stop making it rewarding - ignore it totally (no looking at her, walking round her) when she's doing it, and plenty of call her too you when she's behaving herself.  Once it's under control there is no harm in letting her instigate times when she wants a fuss, but keep it within limits, or she'll start taking advantage again.

It's all resource guarding though!

Hi Tohme, sorry to sound stupid but what do you mean by resource guarding? Bye Sue T xx

resource guarding is when dogs guard food, toys, owners, furniture etc etc.  However your dog's behaviour sounds nothing like that, just attention seeking and a "collector" :D

Hi Digger ,good to hear from you ! no she is not aggressive, ,when John comes home at night and kisses me to say Hi ,she jumps up between us pushing him away ,but at the same time making a fuss of him ,she loves us all and makes a fuss of us all but its a kind of deflection where i am concerned ,she has just started to "collect " things of mine and hiding them in her basket ,and taking slippers and trainers outside ,when i ask her to find them for me ....off she trots and brings them back to me ,she seems to be doing things to get attention ,no one tells her off ,even when she swallowed a Christmas decoration ,she scared the hell out of me ,and she just seemed to love the attention (especially when it reappeared later that day !!) as we were all so pleased that it had passed through ok !! as i have said its hard to explain, she is not aggressive just possesive ! this has all seems to have got  worse the last couple of months,  Bye Sue xx

Hi Sue :)
Has she been speyed?  If not - when was her last season??...........

Hi Digger,yes she has been spayed,the rescue home we got her from had this done before we were able to take her home with us ,she was 6 months old ,how old are they when they have their first season? i have read conflicting reports as to the best time to spay them also that if spayed too young the pups can have all sorts of emotional problems ! i did ask if 6 months was a bit too young ,they just said without being spayed she could not be rehomed ,i do understand their rules ,but i have wondered if this has anything to do with  wanting my attention so much , she is just a pup though ,and its hard not to make a fuss of her ,Thanks for taking time out to help ,Bye Sue T.& Lola xx

At least that rules out the possibility of her having a phantom pregnancy.  Opinions vary on the emotional effect of spaying - IMHO at 6 months they don't get the chance to develop adult traits and tend to stay 'puppy like' all their lives, some don't view this as a disadvantage.

I realise the thread topic says "Possesive Pup", so please excuse the hi-jacking,
but since 2 posters have made mention of this I must ask.

IRO

>IMHO at 6 months they don't get the chance to develop adult traits
>and tend to stay 'puppy like' all their lives, some don't view this as a disadvantage.

>On the other hand I also agree about speying a bitch too young.

If I view this as a disadvantage and wanted to put off spaying the bitch and not get my
male neutered, would I have to seperate them at nights when she's in season, and be prepared to
seperate them during the day as well when I'm at work?
and possibly also be prepared to break it up when I am home to watch them and they
have a go at it?
or perhaps just keep them seperated until its all over every season?

I've heard of too many litters being conceived when dogs were left 'seperated' in the same house when the owner went out and came how to two doggies with big smiles on their faces :(

You would have to keep them separated all the time that she was in season (at least 21 days) - preferably not in the same building. The male is likely to get very distressed with a bitch in season in the same house. You would not be able to stop them mating any other way.

I see I see, is there fair warning that the season starts soon?
because I could take her to my brothers house for 21 days at a time, and visit her,
pick her up for training etc, he has 2 bitches so that would be pretty safe.

Please be careful taking an in season bitch to a house with two residing bitches - many in season bitches are particularly 'sensitive' around that time, and unless the three of them know each other REALLY well and are well used to sharing their space there could be trouble, and when bitches start to fight they sometimes don't know when to stop :(

ouch, our dogs spend time together maybe once every fornight.
looks like I might have to spay early and settle for the puppy behaviour :(

there are also some kennels around to consider

Hi,
I agree with the other posters. I have a rescue dog pup (7mths) who growls when anyone comes near me, especially the other dogs, I ignore him when he does this. At other times, when there is no-one about, he never comes near me in fact he acts as if he is terrified of me. I am dealing with this by ignoring his behaviour to other dogs and people but trying to encourage him when we are on our own. I hope I'm doing the right thing!!
On the other hand I also agree about speying a bitch too young. In the past I have speyed bitches at 6 mths, before the first season, they have been really immature all their lives. I have learn't that if I spey my
bitches at around 14-18mths I have an easier time of it.
I have speyed or neutered my dogs for years now but my vet is suggesting that I don't neuter this pup and allow him to become Alpha. He is a X-terrier (13lbs) in a household with a Mastiff, a Bullmastiff and 2 JRT's.
D4wn