Pig Ears

[Jonathan Large]

I have a 4 month old male rottie named Dozer.
I bought him pigs ears from the store as a special treat. When he chews on it he is fine
but when I pet him with the pig ear in his mounth or when I try to take it away he gives
an agressive growl. I know the difference in
a play growl and an agressive growl. He only
does this with the pigs ear, notheing else.
When he did this I looked in his eyes and told him "NO" bad dog and but him outside.
When I went out back to see what he was doing
he knew he was in trouble and did not even bother to come to the door to come in, which
he normally does. Does pig ear or any other meat product treats do this to Rott's or is it just my dog.I have not gave him pig ears anymore and he has not once gave me an agressive growl since then. Please inform me about possible agression that he may have on
anymore treat I may give him. Thanks for reading my long post.

[Burns]

Jonathan-

I had the same problem with my boy when he was right around that age with the good 'ol pig ears. He would snarl at people and even snap. That was not acceptable.

He's just showing some signs of dominance over his food. While some people will let this go, I believe it is too much of a liability. If you want to take something from him, let him know with a command. I use 'leave it', then take the item. You need to be firm and stop this behavior now.

[LisaMD]

This problem is easy to fix and is very normal.

Before you give the pig ear to the pup. Hold it in front of the pups nose and allow him to chew while you are holding it. (you can sit or lay on the couch while doing this, it may take as long as the pig ear lasts)Just sit there and allow him to chew but, don't let go of the pig ear. Perhaps take it away and give it back, like a little tease-play. You want him to know that he doesn't own the pig ear and that you are still in charge. You don't have to hold it until he is all done but, make sure you hold it for a sufficient amount of time before letting him go and enjoy-perhaps half way through you could turn him loose. Keep on doing it for a few more ears and when you are able to walk up on him and take it without growling then the chore is done. You shouldn't have that problem again but, it is possible you may have to try this method with new toys and such.

LisaMD :)

[FredAl]

Good advice, LisaMD. The only thing I would change there is that YOU should be standing up when doing this exercise. Being at a higher elevation makes the dog understand that you are also at a higher position (hierarchy-wise) than him.

[OurBoyKane]

Yep, we had the same thing with our boy at 3-4mths with his first lamb shank. Boy did it come as a shock!

Anyway I worked on the premise that I was going to take it no matter what, and the less fuss made, the quicker he got it back. He caught on very quickly. He doesn't seem to care if you take it anymore, because he knows he'll get it straight back.

You must be consistent and persistent with this though, test him every now and then because he's growing up and it's "hey he never did that before!" time.

Thank god it worked at that age because him and his teeth are a hell of a lot bigger now!

Evan

[brandiwine]

Sounds awfully familiar. Only mine started with a bone and she did more than growl, she got fierce. I've tried everything the trainer told me to and the trainer even worked with her and the trainer even bit her back as a last resort to see if this would help. The trainer would normally NEVER
do this, but my dog acted crazy over this
bone. Nothing seemed to be working.
I continually worked with her on this, finally one day she was in her cage and I tried getting it from her. She growled to bite at me, I lifted front end up on her cage and shook it, she immediately dropped it, looking at me stunned. I reached in and said "give" and took it. She didn't do a thing. After that, she gave me her bone, of course contunually work with her on it. If I give her a bone, we work on "give it". Or I will sit with her and pet her while she has bone. She never, ever does it anymore. When I introduced pig ears to her I did not have a problem. When something works, you need to be consistent with it, and that was what I did, and still do. Only had to shake the cage once. But the consistant training goes on, and on, and on. Good Luck.