# She's being possessive?



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Has this happened before? How old is your dog? Are you sure she is feeling well? Since she just had the flea treatment I would make sure she feels ok. If she is still a pup then there plenty of easy things you can do to prevent resource guarding and possessive behavior. Same things will work with older dogs, just may take more time. Look up "nothing in life is free" for a start.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

I'm also wondering since it was the only thing not treated if she retreated to the bedcoat in order to avoid a smell left from the household flea spray treatment. Their noses are so much more sensitive than ours. Maybe this is a silly thought though.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Streetcar said:


> I'm also wondering since it was the only thing not treated if she retreated to the bedcoat in order to avoid a smell left from the household flea spray treatment. Their noses are so much more sensitive than ours.


Yes, if that was the only thing not treated, it is the only place safe from poison. I would use some high value treat to get her off of it to throw it away. Also put it in a tightly tied plastic bag so none can escape. 

Then you might consider opening all the windows, and leaving for a day or two. My spoo gets really ill from flea and tick treatments. I finally discovered that the spot on treatments resulted in seizures for him.


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## YoungZebeee (Jun 29, 2014)

It's been a while since then, and I think the smell has probably gone now? Although, she's starting to growl when I need to move her off of a chair or sofa in the living room. Both the chair(s) and sofa has been sprayed so I'm thinking it might just be possessiveness now.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

It sounds like resource guarding. I doubt it has anything to do with the flea stuff.

Teach her placement cues instead of physically moving her. Make it a game. Coax her off and have a super fun, new toy to get her interested. Save the special toy just for this purpose. Use your silliest, playful, squeaky voice. Remember, this is a game. When she gets off (not before) give her a very high value treat. Real chicken, steak...something especially tasty. And lots of praise. Use a word, like, "off" as she's getting off, not as an elicitor yet. Once she's down and has had her treat, pat the couch or whatever and coax her back up..."up!" Give her mild praise, ("good") but no treat. Show her other places to move...like over a few feet, not only "off." Mix things up. Try different locations and contexts to generalize the behavior. Make it rewarding for her to move where you show her.

Additionally, if you're going to pick her up for some reason, at the same time give her a high value treat and lots of praise. Try to avoid picking her up and then immediately doing something she doesn't like. Since she's finding this threatening or fearing that she's losing something she loves, make sure what you have in store for her is_ better _than what she might be losing. 

I use to want my Doberman to turn around on the couch and face the other way. In the summer when I had shorts on, he'd sit next to me on the couch and put his foot on my leg which scratched me. He had rough pads. So, I'd show him to "turn around" and he'd stand up, turn around and curl up facing the other way. So you can point, pat, or otherwise show what you mean and even baby steps in the right direction deserve reward. As she gets the baby steps right, up the ante.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Be sure she's not experiencing any arthritis or something medical that could make her not want to be handled like that.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

You don't say how old your poodle is - is she a puppy just reaching adolescence? I absolutely second what PoodleBeguiled says - one of the best things I taught my tinies was "Budge over", with lavish praise and rewards for doing as I indicated. I have also found that small dogs often hate being swooped upon and picked up - a cue that you ate about to pick them up, and taking time to let them prepare themselves, can make all the difference. Sophy likes her space, and is particularly protective of her plume-like tail. She also likes to be warned before being lifted. If people are about to tread on her tail, or grab at her, she will give a small, polite grumble as a warning - which seems very fair to me!


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