We don't tolerate fighting over toys, treats and food. If one dog is constantly trying to steal from the other we correct that dog. If one dog starts growling when the other dog comes near for no reason, we correct that dog. My problem is that Sirmiq is constantly trying to tease Kiwi. For example, we will give both dogs a rawhide. Kiwi will chew hers, Sirmiq will wait. As soon as Kiwi is done eating Sirmiq will make a show of still having his and then set it right beside him. Kiwi will try to take it, Sirmiq won't let her, and then she starts to bark. We correct her, but as soon as we get Kiwi to leave him alone, he will go tease her again. We normally end up having to take the rawhide or whatever it is away from Sirmiq, which I don't know if that is really a good solution. He does have some guarding issues, when he thinks we are going to take things away from him that he isn't going to get back, we are working on that separately. I know a lot of this is a puppy thing, they are like kids, and normally as long as it wasn't turning into a dog fight, I would just let it go, but the problem is Kiwi is a barker.

So I guess I am just looking for advice on how you guys would handle it. Would you just let them work it out? Would you take the item away in question? Would you just correct Kiwi when she barks, and then Sirmiq when he teases?

Here’s a picture of Sirmiq teasing Kiwi. See the bone there? He pretends to not care about it sitting there, but if Kiwi goes for it he will grab it real fast. And then Kiwi starts barking endlessly. We have been working on the barking issue, and most cases a no bark will stop her, but sometimes she has a lot to say and she's not gonna stop until she says it.

It seems to me that Sirmiq has figured out that teasing Kiwi results in attention and "playing." Sitka does this at the dog parks, except that he has learned that if he tries to hump a dog the dog will more often than not pay attention to him and then chase him. He's learned that the humping action results in playtime with that specific dog.

My recommendation: Give them their treats in their kennels. Don't let them take their treats outside of their kennel. This will benefit you in two ways:
-They'll associate the kennel with good things like treats and feel more welcome and at home in the kennel.
-It clearly defines who's food/treats are who's. It'll be hard for Sirmiq to guard food that isn't his and it will clearly define each dogs property.

Eventually you won't have to close the doors of the kennels and they'll settle down in there anytime that they want to chew on a rawhide or have alone time.

I was thinking the same exact thing actually but couldn't put it into words. I concur, but do your dogs have kennels?

We do have crates, and things like the everlasting treat ball and kongs are restricted to this. But the problem is Sirmiq will tease Kiwi with anything. It's getting to the point that they can't have toys. He has even stolen a hole she was digging in the backyard, and then laid on it and pretended to go to sleep. And normally I wouldn't care, I would just let them work it out since it isn't like big fights are started because of it, it's just the excessive barking with Kiwi at 11:00 at night isn't fun. Which I know we need to work with Kiwi on, I just wasn't sure if there was a better way to deal with it in the mean time.

So i guess my second question would be how to get her to stop barking? We have tried the "ahh ahh" sound when she barks, we have tried praising her when she stops, we have tried ignoring, I know her breed is prone to bark, and I don't mind some barking. It is the way she communicates, but she has that really high pitched bark and she can carry on forever.......

I wanted to add that I know you are right Chad. It started out with him teasing her to get her to chase him, so I know it is for attention. It has just gotten us worried because she is being more vocal and we live in the city so she can't be barking late at night, normally we can stop her barking, this is the one area we can't though. So I guess I don't know if it is an issue where I should just be correcting Kiwi on her barking or Sirmiq also on the teasing. He will find anything he can to tease her with, sticks, paper, sometimes he will just pretend he has something, even though he doesn't. Or maybe that last one is just Kiwi thinking he is holding out on her.

Dora my oldest female has a thing about stealing all the toys..unless Thor is playing with it. If Neeko has something like a chew rope, if Dora is around her she will watch her all serious like and wait for that right moment and go take it from her. She is gentle about it, but I think it has more to do with Neeko being aware of what is going on. Dora will take the rope and go lay down a few feet away. She won't chew it or anything, she just laysherself and the rope down and her business is concluded.

She only does this to Neeko we don't understand. I usually will take the toy and give it back to Neeko. If I have to I will sit with her for a few mintues to make sure nothing else happens.

I just fostered a husky mix puppy for two months and he was a barker, which was a new experience for me, since my three are not. At times he barked so loud that the doorbell mechanism in my house would sound! Someone at the dog park told me to spray him with a water bottle, which helped, but only when I was there. I also couldn't let him bark at early or late hours, since I also live in the city and didn't want the police called! Shushing him did no good. I found that when he was very tired, he was less prone to bark. I didn't look into the citronella collars, since he was a foster - does anyone know if they work?

Citronella collars DO work, but to be honest, I feel really guilty using one. I don't for Koda, but my aunt does for her border terrier and it's REALLY sad. It sprays and he HATES it and he gets really submissive and hides in a corner. I personally would use it as a last resort since it's better IMO than a shock collar, but the effect is very similar. It breaks my heart to see them get submissive like that Those are just my thoughts though.

I have also heard about sound things that are supposed to deter barking, do those work? And if they do do they cause the same submission. Kiwi is already pretty submissive so I don't want to do anything to make her anymore so. It's not that I don't want her to bark at all, it just so goes on and on and on, and she has that high pitched bark. If she barks at a bird, a knock on the door, or anything else I can get her to stop, that' s why I was wondering if I should get on Sirmiq, as well, when he teases her, since that is the only time we can't get her to shut up.

We found a water bottle today so we were thing about using that to deter the barking. It is a cheap onefor hair use so the strongest spray isn't very hard. I sprayed myself point blank in the face with it and was a still a gente spray. We figure the reason why we can't stop her barking in this area is because she becomes fixated on the object that Sirmiq has. So what we are hoping is that the water will stop the fixation so then hopefully we can get her to stop barking. And if we can stop her fixation on the object then Sirmiq won't have the power to tease her. Wondering what you guys thought about this idea, and if you guys have ever used water bottles to help behavoir issues. I don't want her to became scared of the water, I'm planning on using it sparingly, only when she becomes fixated. Just wondering what you guys thought about this.

I can't see that water is going to do her any harm Jen. Just the shock of it hitting her face will break her concentration and stop her from barking - maybe to start with you should offer her a treat after you have sprayed and she stops barking - I'm sure she will get the hand of it

My parent's dog is a barker. He has been since we rescued him and it never went away. We just dealt with it. However, once he got real old, he went deaf. And THAT just made it unbearable. So, we used a squirt bottle (we used to use one with our old dog for things along with a bottle of pennies). The squirt bottle works great. Roscoe would stop once he even saw us with it after a while.

However, I would suggest not squirting her in the face if you can help it. I don't think there's a need to. Roscoe's a cocker spaniel and has really thick hair, but he felt the water no matter where we shot him. Just use it to redirect Kiwi's attention and maybe even throw a toy her way when you do it.

My only "issue" with this method is that we didn't find it as a sure fix. Roscoe still barks; it was just a way to get him to stop. It also become difficult if the squirt bottle is in another room, but it definitely did make him stop when we had it.

The spray bottle worked on Amstel, my foster, but only when I was there and ready to use it. When he was outside or out of sight, it obviously didn't work. He would also start again two seconds after I sprayed him. I tried shaking the coins in a can, too, but the husky in him enabled him to ignore me. lol

I can deal with the barking, but not at 5 in the morning or at midnight. Having the police knock on the door is not any fun. Luckily, he was adopted on Thursday, so i's not an issue, but I asked about the citronella collars for the future. I never used one and wouldn't want to, but if it's a temporary solution and the alternative is to not take in a foster, then I would.