Hi  i have a 6 month old Dalmatian, he had his first marrowbone yesterday evening.  He was very possessive of it and growled and snarled when we had to go out so had to take it away.  Hes not like that with his regular food.  Should we be able to take it away or is that expecting too much?

Jessy

IMO you should be able to take it away - what if it got stuck or he was choking or you needed to remove it urgently?

Personally, I wouldn't give him bones if he shows this behaviour. He is young and he will learn quickly. I would teach him to "leave" or "give" with toys in the first instance, and when he's got that down to a fine art try introducing bones but make him work for them first :)

Others might be along with a better way soon, but this has always worked with me with pups in the past :)

I always teach mine that I can take the bone away..but they get it straight back.I think its important for safety reasons
Archer

I can take bones away from mine (if I catch them before they bury it) but they do get nasty with eachother if they go too near to a bone, I am assuming this is natural ?  But I think you should be able to take anything away from your dog. :)

He's not like that with his regular food because you've taught him well that he's not going to be deprived of it. Bones are very high-status objects, so dogs tend to be more possessive over these than most other things. He doesn't yet realise that you aren't going to deprive him of such a treasure, so he does the natural thing and drives you away. This is not desirable because there will be times when it's vital you can take something away from him; therefore he needs to learn to trust you with them.

I start my pups with bones from the very outset, and I hold on to the bone while the pup's gnawing it. Every so often I'll take it away but I make sure I always swap it for something else in these early stages. Leaving the dog with nothing is a much later stage in the training.

He needs to learn that you're no threat to his treats just as much as his normal food. Hope this helps.
:)

I always try to find an artical, it can be anything from the dreaded squeeky rubber ball or bone type of toy or even a favorite treat in the way of food items that REALY excite your youngster. If you do this at an early age you can utilize it throughout your dogs initial training when it comes to stopping them in their tracks or in this case swapping for the bone. The nack is getting the puppy REALY excited about its toy or snack in the first place. Our young Border terrier has such a squeeky toy and loves it to the point of obsession.He also loves cheesey wotsits and can smell them it seems unopened in a shopping bag at twenty paces. Such an addiction is a complete boon when you need a little help with stubborness or lack of attention. Also keeping their attention whilst in the show ring. Just the rustle of the packet in your pocket should have them transfixed, obliviouse to the surroundings. Remember though, little and not so often with the treat. Have you seen on T V programs where the U S army drug and bomb sniffer dogs are given a reward on completion of task. A simple tennis ball for 5 or 10 seconds and these dogs literaly jump through fire for this simple thrill. Crack the reward system. Use it sparingly and in my humble oppinion you are 80% there with any puppy training problem. 

I never ever take things away from any dog but when I've introduced them to new things such as bones I've always sat quietly in a relaxed manner with them really close by.  When they're having their first initial sniff and explore of the new food item I've held it and touched it while they're exploring.  I've continued to do this over a peiod of weeks and they've never been bothered about things being taken if really necessary.  In fact we've always had all food items presented to us - mainly on our laps with ones fave trousers etc on :-)  I think it makes for food/item aggression with some dogs if one takes the things away.  I'd certainly get cheesed off if someone came along and just took something away that I was enjoying.  It needs to be done in a very casual/relaxed manner when they are still very young IMO :-)

We haven't had tyler very long and i worried about this because he was snappy and greedy with food when we first got him, but from with ofset with toys and bones we took them off him and said drop, now he will drop and doesn't mind if you pinch his bone or his toys as he knows he gets them back.

I wonder wether we as dog lovers sometimes credit them with a bit too much inteligence. I can see people now cringing in disgust at what I am about to say .Does a dog have the forsight to realise that in an amount of time that they are going to get something back? I feel that maybe its simply a matter of the leader of the pack, ( the master ) , taking the item and the subservient pack member accepting this normal pattern of behavior. The problems occur may I say when the dog questions who is boss !!

If they don't have the intelligence to realise that if they do one thing, something else happens, how on earth do they learn anything?

I agree JG.

I know from lots of experience that my dogs never let me forget that I have something of theirs, be it a toy, bone etc. And if their memory span is that short, how do they remember what we teach them?

I have always taught my dogs to let me have whatever is in their mouths at any given point, because one never knows when you may need to for emergencies, ie, a bone stuck in their throat, or something that is dangerous for them to play with. When they were young, I used to feed a treat the minute they dropped or gave me what they had so that they were more eager to drop for me again. Now that they are older they do without reward as they are used to it. I still do it occasionally to re-inforce. If I take my boys Kong from him, he will sit looking at me and follow if necessary until I return it, for a very long time.

I accept that the dog knows obviously that you still have the item. Mine will sit stairing at the children for ages until the very last sweet or buiscuit has gone from the packet. All mamals or any living creature for that matter must be aware of cause and efect to survive or pay the consequences. (my spelling is awfulll). What I am refering to is the split second when a dog decides wether to allow you to take his bone from him or not. I am sure that there are none of the thought processes that we as owners imagine. The fundemental difference between humans and any other creature on earth is that we have the ability to reason. To question. Animals, and dogs are no exeption, revert to basic animal behaviour. Is this animal thats taking my bone higher in the chain than me. Is this animal thats telling me to sit, stay, lie down etc stronger than me. Alas it needs to be said, do I fear ,  ( AND I DO,NT MEAN PHISICALY ) this higher animal? I feel that it is a very fine line between the semi-dominant state in which we live with our domesticated friends and the one where our companions dominate us. Sometimes with disastrouse consequences !!!

I've always taken bones from mine - usually given them straight back. I do this because sometimes I don't want them chewing the bone all day - if there is too much fat on it, it can give them a bad tum :) Also, in the fields where we walk, the dogs often find bones and I need to take them away because they are usually cooked bones. It is very important that they will give them up without a murmur :)

Daisy

I do similar to everyone else, it's important to be able to take things away but at the end of the  day, it is largely down to trust and training. Many dogs will accept a powerful owner taking stuff away, but those are more middle of the road dogs, if you get a very strong minded dog things can escalate rapidly and it can become so serious that dogs get rehomed or even pts. It's much better IMO to train for eventualities, it's really almost a duty we have to our dogs to ensure safety :)

Lindsay
X

I don't think it's anything to do with my dog feeling we are higher than him, as anyone takes his bone and he is fine. We have done this since we got him so he sees this as normal.

Thanks everyone.
Today i held the bone for him and he was fine with that and i gave him some other treat and hed=ld the bone away for a little while.  I think he's learning!

Excellent!
:)

thats good,i must say even though mine protect their dinner & chews/bones from each other ive never had a problem sitting near or taking away.
i always tell them if im going to take it & that they can have it back tomorrow

I have never had problems with  my dogs on taking anything away although they are of course possessive of items with my other dogs.   Even my new 6 year old boy allows me to take things from him now without pushing his luck :d