Is Your Dog Possessive of Toys? Learn How to Stop It!

Okay, so today I wanted to tackle a common problem: my dog, Buster, gets super possessive of his toys. It's cute sometimes, but honestly, it can be a bit of a pain when I want to play fetch or, you know, just not have him growl at me when I get near his precious squeaky hedgehog.

First, I tried just grabbing the toy. Big mistake. BIG mistake. Buster wasn't having it. He gave me the look – you know the one, half-whale eye, half-snarl. I backed off pretty quick. I am not trying to lose a finger today.

My DIY Training Attempts

Next, I remembered something I'd watched. I attempted the "trade" method.

• I found a treat – a really good one, a piece of chicken.
• Approached Buster while he was gnawing on his favorite rope.
• Showed him the chicken, said "drop it" in my most authoritative voice (which, let's be honest, isn't very authoritative).

He looked at the chicken, looked at the rope, then back at the chicken. The internal debate was clearly raging. For a second, I thought I had him. Then, he just scooted back, rope still firmly in his mouth, and gave me a look that clearly said, "Nice try, human."

Defeated, I moved on to the "distraction" technique. I grabbed another toy – a less-favored tennis ball – and started bouncing it around, making excited noises, trying to look like I was having the time of my life.

Buster watched me with mild disinterest, still guarding his rope like it was the crown jewels. The tennis ball was clearly not cutting it. I even tried throwing the ball. He watched it bounce away, then went right back to his rope. Zero interest.

Finally, I decided to try a combination of both. I took the super-high-value treat, then I also used my playful behavior to try to get him interest in another toy.

• Got the tasty treat.
• Bounced around with the tennis ball.
• When I can see his focus, said "drop it" and showing the treat to him at the same time.

Buster looked at me. Took the treat. And dropped the rope. Success! Then he picked up the tennis ball! It's a beginning I think. We repeated this a few times, and he started to get it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a huge improvement from the growling and guarding.

So, my takeaway from today's adventure in dog training? Patience, high-value treats, and a willingness to look like a complete idiot bouncing a tennis ball around are key. It's a work in progress, but hey, we're making progress!