Our friend’s Robin and Lisa come over for dinner and they bring along Skylar who is one of Rio’s and Deuce’s BFF. The dogs are excited to hang out together - first inside as it was still hot. Just as the sun was setting we all step outside to go to the field and let the dogs play hard. They run and take turns chasing balls. My eye caught Rio at least twice politely deferring to Sky her big red ball. Good girl Rio! I told her as I smiled with motherly pride. They continue to play for a bit and now the ball is back between these two. We are all kind of gathered around the dogs when a spat took place between Sky and Rio. It did not last long. We quickly remove the ball from the field.
They keep hanging out and I see that both dogs are back to “normal”. Good, their relationship is intact.
Afterwards I am thinking about single child/dogs and if they are at a deficit when it comes to learning how to share with other dogs. Similar to some single (human) children who find it difficult to do so. I sustain this thought for a few minutes and I reach the conclusion that any being that is alive will have to learn to share resources and protect them as well. Yes, it is true that when there is more than one dog in the household the dogs get daily practice in negotiating all sorts of stuff such as places to lie down, food and other goodies.
It is also a fact that some dogs really like their toys and they might not be as happy about sharing with others. Here is the case of Sky and Deuce. I am not sure if this is an ongoing problem between Sky and her other doggie-pals because this was the first incident of her guarding the ball from Rio. Or perhaps Rio was the one who began the posturing because she was not willing at that point to have Sky keep the ball. Who knows; it all happened kind of fast.
Deuce, for example, is so good about sharing almost everything. He totally looks the other way when Rio (food monger - per excellence) steals his half-eaten chewy or a Kong. However, I need to separate them when I roll out food-dispensing toys (with the exception of the Kongs - go figure!).
If I don’t separate them, Deuce will give Rio and the food-dispensing toy a hard stare and begins to vocalize in a very high pitched tone. If Rio remains close to the toy, he will go towards her and sort of peck on her with his muzzle. Since I know this, I just don’t expose Rio to this sort of nonsense. So they get to eat and play with the food-dispensing toys always apart. Now, Deuce and Rio have a toy box filled with all sorts of goodies that they can access at any time. They each have their favorite toys, with balls ranking # 1 for Deuce. Rio loves them all!
I don’t recall if they have ever felt possession over one of these toys. Perhaps because there are so many to go around that there is truly no need to guard them.
Conflicts between dogs are potentially dangerous for them. That is why for the most part, (unless the dog has learned that pulling his weight around pays off) most dogs tend to exhibit ritualized behaviors that never escalate too much. It is evolutionarily advantageous to remain injury free.
Either way, I try really hard to keep the relationship (yes, it is a true friendship what these two have) between Deuce and Rio as conflict free as possible and the same goes for their other doggie-friends. Playing it smart and anticipating any possible conflicts pays off and will allow for many hours of fun play with or without a precious ball.
They keep hanging out and I see that both dogs are back to “normal”. Good, their relationship is intact.
Afterwards I am thinking about single child/dogs and if they are at a deficit when it comes to learning how to share with other dogs. Similar to some single (human) children who find it difficult to do so. I sustain this thought for a few minutes and I reach the conclusion that any being that is alive will have to learn to share resources and protect them as well. Yes, it is true that when there is more than one dog in the household the dogs get daily practice in negotiating all sorts of stuff such as places to lie down, food and other goodies.
It is also a fact that some dogs really like their toys and they might not be as happy about sharing with others. Here is the case of Sky and Deuce. I am not sure if this is an ongoing problem between Sky and her other doggie-pals because this was the first incident of her guarding the ball from Rio. Or perhaps Rio was the one who began the posturing because she was not willing at that point to have Sky keep the ball. Who knows; it all happened kind of fast.
Deuce, for example, is so good about sharing almost everything. He totally looks the other way when Rio (food monger - per excellence) steals his half-eaten chewy or a Kong. However, I need to separate them when I roll out food-dispensing toys (with the exception of the Kongs - go figure!).
If I don’t separate them, Deuce will give Rio and the food-dispensing toy a hard stare and begins to vocalize in a very high pitched tone. If Rio remains close to the toy, he will go towards her and sort of peck on her with his muzzle. Since I know this, I just don’t expose Rio to this sort of nonsense. So they get to eat and play with the food-dispensing toys always apart. Now, Deuce and Rio have a toy box filled with all sorts of goodies that they can access at any time. They each have their favorite toys, with balls ranking # 1 for Deuce. Rio loves them all!
I don’t recall if they have ever felt possession over one of these toys. Perhaps because there are so many to go around that there is truly no need to guard them.
Conflicts between dogs are potentially dangerous for them. That is why for the most part, (unless the dog has learned that pulling his weight around pays off) most dogs tend to exhibit ritualized behaviors that never escalate too much. It is evolutionarily advantageous to remain injury free.
Either way, I try really hard to keep the relationship (yes, it is a true friendship what these two have) between Deuce and Rio as conflict free as possible and the same goes for their other doggie-friends. Playing it smart and anticipating any possible conflicts pays off and will allow for many hours of fun play with or without a precious ball.
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