We have a 12 week old black golden doodle puppy called Rosie, she's adorable very playful  and today we took her  to meet my sisters new puppy - a rescue dog with no known history we suspect is boarder collie cross greyhound, 6 months old and in season bitch. Rosie was very excited to meet her and we introduced them on neutral territory - they played chase for about 10 mins which was lovely but then my sister got a tennis ball out... Her dog is pretty ball obsessed to say the least, wow I've never seen a dog so intense about a ball but when Rosie tried to join in the game she got attacked by her!! There was a LOT of puppy squealing and yelping but no blood drawn thank god but after that Rosie was very wary of the dog and kept pretty much under my feet and very nervous. My sister says that it was probably a good thing that Rosie learns not to take another dogs toy away! Is it possible this could just be down to "hormones" as she was in season? But I am concerned that the dog they have is going to be a problem - I want them to get along obviously but what approach can I take when they next get together - is it reasonable to ask that we ban the ball for a start or do we try and get them to share? (Rosie is food motivated not ball motivated anyway lol) any advice on this would be helpful!

Certainly anything that could cause completion is best kept away until they are established friends.

It may be that the other dogs ball obsession means she will need to be trained to be less inclined to guard the resource (her toy).

With some dogs reducing the value of the resource by having lots of balls available will mean they don't fel the need to guard. 

This is what I do with bones or treats, if there is plenty to go round then no-one needs to guard.

Some dogs though still feel the need to have all the goodies, so it's best to remove any 'bone of contention' literally.

If there is a 'trigger', yes, remove it.   Prevention/avoidance is always best.   There should be an element of 'learning her place' with the puppy, but adults shouldn't normally attack a puppy in any case and it was up to both of you to be in charge so things didn't get that 'intense'.

ps  Just to say I hope your puppy has had all her shots because even with a fully vaccinated and healthy dog, it's still possible for them to walk infection in, as it is on your shoes.  

Yes she's had all her vaccinations :)

It came without warning, the other dog my sister has only had since Tuesday! The dogs appeared to hit it off straight away it was only until the ball came out that the other dog changed and became fixated on that and poor Rosie got the brunt of her possessive nature, I am worried that it will have spoilt her trust with other dogs now since this was the first encounter since she left her litter mates :( 

If it was known that the dog was very ball-possessive it was a bit silly of the owner to put the dog in a position where she felt the ball needed guarding. :-( I would definitely ban the ball whenever the dog's in company with other dogs, to prevent further trouble.

I would say it could be both the ball and the season - if she's that obsessed then the ball by itself would be enough but with hormones on top, not a good combination!

Keep the ball out of future interactions until the dog has some self control around it; and also, as a slightly unrelated note, do make sure your sister is not doing a lot of ball games with her - at only 6 months old, she is still growing and her skeleton will be more susceptible to damage from high impact activity and chasing and fetching a ball is very high impact.  Light stuff like catching is ok though.

I have got 2 bitches who live together, go on walks together and are fine with each other until there is a toy around then they will almost certainly fight. We removed all toys and they only get toys when they are on an individual basis with us, when they go for a walk they get walked, not exercised with a toy.  They have bones and Kongs in the house as they are ok with them but tennis balls and tuggys are a definite 'No'

We don't have any tennis balls in our household as thought it could be because of her season. Unfortunately tho it is a ball obsessed dog so toys are a NO!!

Nessa

I am worried that it will have spoilt her trust with other dogs now since this was the first encounter since she left her litter mates

I'd make sure u get yours around some calm friendly dogs who don't have issues. Mine as a little pup get bit in the face by a wiemarna, I think he didn't actualy mean to bite her just give a warning snap but he knocked out one of her puppy teeth and cut just above her eye. She was afraid of that dog after and when she met other dogs of that breed she was nervous at first. But other dogs she was fine with no problems.

As the ball was the problem I would defernatly ban it when u ever visit. My girls best doggy friend who she plays with most mornings they love each other so much so if we get to the field first when he arrives with his owner as soon as she lets him off lead he will run off to find us. But if he has a stone in his mouth (his owner throws big stones in the river for him) he will have a go at her if she gets too close. So now when they see us coming she will make him drop the stone befor we get there.