# Possessive over house/owners/toys



## Mcunnin4 (Jan 15, 2013)

Help!

My Vizsla is around 2 years old (in August). He had grown into an excellent dog this far but lately I have been noticing alot of possessive behavior from him. I will be the first to admit I spoil him alot sometimes. 

We have friends who bring over their dogs, lately a yorkie (who does very well with large dogs) and a 4 month old catahoula puppy (also smaller than him). And he definitely plays very rough with them and can get rough with me and my boyfriend too. 

I noticed that the Yorkie will sniff his toys and he runs over and grabs that toy before the yorkie has a chance to even put his scent on it (mind you, my V has his own toy that he was chewing on in the meantime). He will not take his eyes off of the yorkie and if I start petting it then my V runs over and squeezes in between to get my attention. 

My other friends also brought over their German Shep who is the same age (but larger) and my V became EXTREMELY protective of his property. He wouldnt let the Shep near him and would snap and show teeth and I immediately would discipline him for it just because the Shep wasnt doing anything wrong.

Inside the house it was the same thing, if the Shep came near me my V would try to get in between us (we put away all toys when the Shep came over because they had never met before)

How can I break him of this possessiveness? He is becoming a handful and I think its getting worse. Surprisingly hes not possessive of his water or food bowl just toys and his "humans" and his backyard and such....

I want him to be able to be okay with other dogs in the house since alot of our friends bring their dogs over. He tolerates most but apparently the big dogs are the ones he doesnt like.

Any help on this would be appreciated!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Some dogs just really don't like to share, their owners or toys.
Sounds like he knew the other dogs where push overs because of age, or size. Only the shepherd was on his level, and so he handled him differently.

My June is a attention hog, and will try and shove another dog out of the way.
Her beautiful green eyes will turn dark, if she is giving another dog the evil eye.
Its a dogs way of saying, Its my mom, and don't even think of coming over to her for attention.
I tried a few different things with her, until I found a solution that fit her personality. Because the worse thing in her mind, is for her to have to go lay down, while another dog gets my attention. That is exactly what I do.
They both get my attention until jealousy raises it ugly head. At that time June is sent away, and I love on and pet the other dog. After a few minutes June is invited back into the fold. She can stay as long as she plays nice. 
You might try introducing other dogs to yours, away from your home. Normal commands help control a situation when other dogs are around. At 2 years old your dog should know Leave it, Here, Kennel, and Down.
Using those commands should help you defuse a situation, if you catch it in time.


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## Mcunnin4 (Jan 15, 2013)

Thank you so much! Did you send her to her kennel or just to go lay down?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

At first I was sending her to her kennel, but later she was good enough to where I could just tell her go lay down. She even sometimes corrects herself now. She will get the evil eye, or do a barely audible growl, then go to her pad on her own.
You might want to consider going to some group classes, even if your dogs already knows the commands. Group atmospheres with multiple dog that are under owners control could be good for him.


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