I also teach my dogs that I am the one that hands out resources, and I am the one that resolves resource conflicts. Here is more on what I do at home to keep the peace between my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

Hugs to your Shiba!

Our Shiba has more of a possessiveness of toys towards other dogs than humans and it doesn’t matter if the toys are hers or not.

Do you have any tips on how to break her of that or teach her to share?

Thanks!

As for the bird, that is a very high priority item so it is not surprising that Reptar decided not to exchange it for anything less than a pig’s ear. Gotta love that Shiba independent spirit

Sephy also doesn’t want to give up bones and such that he finds on the sidewalk. Usually I don’t use force to take things away from him, but if it is something dangerous like a chicken bone, then I hold onto the bone and tell him to leave-it firmly. He will do so, after a little bit because he knows I mean it. But I only do this very rarely.

In terms of playing chase outside – Sephy is the same way because he knows that I pretty much have no chance catching him outside – lol. But Shania is great at catching him and then rolling him on the ground. I usually get her help when I need to nab myself a Shiba.

Another thing that may help is to put a long line on Reptar when he is in the backyard. That way he gets his freedom, but you can easily get him if you need to. But Reptar is already such a good boy and so great with recalls, that I don’t think something like this is necessary. The bird thing is a rare occurrence, and super high priority. I think Reptar already did really well because he ultimately came in on his own.

LOL – love that picture. Looks like Reptar has grown a whole bunch. How big is he now?

I’ve noticed in a few of your posts and comments, you have mentioned that “drop it” or “leave it” if originally trained in the house, don’t apply outside. That makes a lot of sense. I am able to take anything from Reptar in the house with little threat of a chase game to follow, unless he gets a sock then I have to be a bit more clever.

Outside on the other hand, if he has anything in his mouth whether it’s a ball, a pine cone, a stone, or another toy, if I need or want to take it away, chase game ensues 100% of the time. He’s onto my bribery and trading of items, so he ignores me. For example, the other night all was well until I heard very upset bird noises in the backyard. Reptar who comes when called always like a good boy, comes busting out of the bushes with a baby bird. He was very proud of himself for such the big accomplishment and just wanted to play however he would not trade me for another toy, treats or any games I had to offer. It wasn’t until I got a pigs ear that he dropped the bird and came running in to m.

He certainly has me trained and it’s no good. How can I rectify this situation we have going on in the yard? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

PS, see his “I just played with a bird face” here. It’s priceless. http://colleenrcallahan.com/photos/bird.jpg

I may have also concluded that it is not the bowl that makes him feel aggressive, its just simply close movement ((or when he feels he may be touched)) WHILE he’s eating that makes him angry inside.

And thanks for the hugs! :]

He shows almost no effort to do movement commands ((his eyes stay plastered on my hand)) and if I try to execute a recall, well he just follows me anyway.

That actually sounds fine. As long as he is following you around that’s a good thing. Just move a few steps away, ask for his attention (eye-contact), and feed him some, and then just keep going. At this point, I would hold off on the touching.

It may be best to do this until we are back to steady state and then you can slowly increase the challenge. Only change one thing at a time and only do it in incremental and gradual steps. For example, once he is ok with the no touch, then teach him the touch command (where he approaches you and touches your hand with his muzzle). Then you can teach him shake/paw where he offers you his paw, etc. Start with asking him to do the touching rather than you doing it. After he is 100% comfortable with that, then consider slowly moving forward with other challenges. Only do it very slowly, so that you don’t lose any of the progress you have made.

Re trainer questions –
Three areas are probably key for Roush:
1. Identify whether the trainer uses reward or aversive based techniques. In my experience, reward training gets much better results especially for a Shiba, but you can also get more opinions from other Shiba owners.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/

2. Ask about food aggression cases they have dealt with and what methods they used that were effective.

3. Ask about other Shibas that they have dealt with, what their issues were, and what methods they used on the Shibas. You can also ask them how Shibas compare to other breeds, and what about Shibas they think are most challenging.

>>> HUGS < << Things will get better

So yesterday, we had spent a good 4 hours at the beach yesterday. Lots of water, squirrels, birds to chase .. there was a lot of running and a lot of resting ((for me too!)). Maybe that was too much for him?? Between the exercise and his meal time, there was a 2.5 hour period where he just napped and relaxed. So I figured he would have been calm by the time he ate. I suppose I should have written that to begin with. Is too much exercise possible??

Though it was a long day and he was in a “black mood” by night, I figured come morning, he would be alright. But breakfast this morning was a no-go. He shows almost no effort to do movement commands ((his eyes stay plastered on my hand)) and if I try to execute a recall, well he just follows me anyway. And from there its back to the beginning. So I tried to start out slow with him ((or so I thought)) and after a couple failed attempts at movement commands, I tried to just give him a small touch on his chest and before I knew it ((no warning and DEFINITELY right away)). he was coming at me with his snapping and this time, he bore down right on my foot and it was a good 2 seconds with his teeth in me before he let go. That upset me, brought some tears, but I called it quits and he got about half his meal this morning.

Normally, his “warnings” to me are curling the lips, ears go down almost to the side of his head, and he tilts his chin upward in a completely tense state. There was none of this. Ears up right, lips were taut, chin was down and eyes were focused on my eyes and his bowl.

I guess I was hoping that maybe he was just so tired from yesterday when it happened last night, that this morning would be okay, but he wasnt quite ready for that little touch. Dinner time tonight was good, tense but good. And certainly better than his past two meal times. And I DID take it a lot slower so I am sure that helped. But I think for the time being we will take a few steps back and do the short-handling exercises.

What would be some good basic questions to ask a professional?? I know it is not feasible to gather ALL the information I need in just a phone call, but as much as I can get out of them is my goal before I decide to introduce the situation to someone in person.

This is a very nice and gradual escalation of body language – compared to resorting to aggression right away.

It usually works well for me to stop as soon as I notice the first signs of discomfort from Sephy. For example, when it is time to brush his teeth I will come over with the toothbrush and ask him to go on his side. Sometimes he is not ready for that type of handling so he will choose not to do it. At which point I will brush my Siberian’s teeth instead, then I will try Sephy again. If he still refuses, then I leave – together with all my yummy cheese.

At a later time I will try again. Usually Sephy will comply then because he really does like his cheese

Thanks for the update. I think you have already made some great progress on your own and at this point, having a professional evaluate Roush could be very helpful.

I went to many trainers with Sephy. It was helpful to get different points of view from different people about his many problematic behaviors Here is the process I went through while looking for Shiba trainers –
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer

Make sure to prepare a list of questions to ask them over the phone so you can decide whether they know what they are talking about. For example tell them about Roush and ask them how they would deal with food aggression issues. They will likely say – “Need to see it in real-life blah-blah-blah”, but push them and ask them what food aggression cases they have dealt with, what they did, and what the result was.

With the desensitization exercise, you only want to do it when he is receptive to training. If you note that he is stressed and otherwise in a bad state of mind – I would delay it and do it at a later time. My Shiba sometimes gets into a mood (I call it his black-moods) and I usually leave him alone when he is in that state. Sometimes I get that way too

If the walk is interesting and exciting, it may be best to wait for a bit until he calms down and has moved on to his restful stage before doing any training. Once a Shiba gets into a heightened state of mind – it is difficult to teach him anything until he calms down.

This training exercise may help –
Have two bowls – one on each side of the room. First have one bowl in hand with a handful of food in it. Make him do some ‘Touch’ commands (i.e. have him come touch your hand with his nose instead of you approaching and touching him). Once he does this, praise and let him eat from the bowl. Do not touch him while he is eating.

Instead, pick up the other bowl, put a handful in it and call him to you *after* he is done eating. Repeat with some touch commands and so on. Then once he is totally comfortable, you can call him to you, get him to Touch you, briefly touch him back on the chest, and then give him the bowl.

It is important not to move forward too quickly because the goal is to get him comfortable with the process without having him resort to any aggression. As soon as you notice that he is getting tired, stressed, or uncomfortable – end the session and pick it up another time.

Also consider feeding him from different bowls/containers so that you start fresh and make sure that he does not have any negative associations with the bowls themselves.

Another thing I used to do with my Shiba is really short handling exercises. Briefly touch chest (no stroking – just a light extremely short touch) – some kibble – briefly touch body – some kibble – etc. Dogs are more sensitive on certain parts of their body – e.g. paws, butt area, muzzle, face, so start where Roush is less sensitive. Different dogs may be more sensitive on different areas.

Once he is totally comfortable with this you can slowly lengthen the time of touches. First only do this without the bowl then you can slowly reintroduce the bowl – e.g. place the bowl a far distance away, and do the same exercise. Then if he is totally comfortable, move the bowl (no food in it) an inch closer – and so on.

Hope this helps. Many hugs to Roush.

I feel I have reached this stagnant point with my little pup. His is barely progressing. Feeding him from a bowl is just out of the question. I tried this a few times by placing his empty bowl just off to the side. Then I would give a command, praise him, and put a small handful into his bowl. Right before he emptied the bowl completely, I would place another small handful in and this time, I would brush my hand down his side as I pulled away .. and I would do that each time he needed a new handful .. to see if I could get him to associate the touches with more food. It worked a little bit, until he figured out that he could just point his body completely away from me and he’d be out of my reach and no more touches. And I was not going to reach over him to do this either.

I have concluded that walks are prohibited before mealtime. Doing so makes him more anxious = super aggressive. Today about an hour before his dinner, we took a nice long walk in the park and a few sprints here and there. When it came time for dinner, he was angry x10. After getting in a couple handfuls via his chin rubs and good behavior, the growling started. Movement commands became useless. And when I gave it one last shot, my goal of just ONE chin rub, he growled and snapped and actually came AT ME with his snapping.

In the 8 weeks prior to him being under my ownership, I have no idea what went on where he was, but I am at the point now where I just need someone here seeing our behavior first hand. What I’m doing wrong / right vs his aggression. I just dont know what to do anymore. Any thoughts?? Do I need to just keep pressing forward on my own?? Would it be wise to have a professional observe to see what the heck I am doing wrong / right?? And more importantly, how and WHERE do I find a professional that actually knows the breed??

I love my little Roush, I just hate seeing him angry over food any time its present, whether its his or not. :[