My dog gets violent

[Banian1968]

I have a 16 month Basset male named Speedy. He is the sweetest dog most the time, and I would have written it off as a fluke that happens sometimes, but.....

I take him to a pooch park almost everyday for him to socialize with other dogs and to run around, the past 3 days, he has picked up another dogs toy, and when I try to grab it from him, he growls and becomes violent. Yesterday, I was able to borrow someones squirt bottle and give him a shot in the face so he dropped the toy, but today there was no bottle available. When I finally was able to take the toy away from him (after 10 minutes of fighting and growling) he bit me in my leg. How do I break him of this habbit? I have friends with small children and god forbid he bites one of them if they try to take a toy away from him.

[prolibertate]

How long have you had the dog? Has he ever resource guarded anything before at home - toys, food, etc.?

This is NOT a fluke; this is your dog resource guarding and if you don't stop it now it won't go away. For right now you have to control his environment, until this issue is resolved - that means either don't take him to the park, or if you take him there don't let him play with any toys - none.

Since he's 16 months and bit you when you took the toy away from him, your best bet maybe to immediately see a trainer who is also a behaviorist; make sure they actually have the knowledge and experience, and aren't just someone calling themself a behaviorist; and make sure they've worked with this type of problem before. Your dog needs to learn to give things back, or drop them, as soon as you ask him to. At his age and adding in the fact he bit you, plus it sounds like this guarding behavior has happened before, you need to get yourself and your dog some help from a professional asap.

I wouldn't say your dog is 'aggressive', but he could become aggressive if this behavior is allowed to continue. Spraying him with the bottle may have worked, but 1) it's not something you want to have to do all the time - you want to ensure this behavior never happens in the first place, and 2) when your dog sees you squirt him, he associates bad things happening with you and that will damage the bond you have with him eventually.

[Banian1968]

I've had him since he was around 4 months. The guarding started as of late. I try to keep him away from the toys at the park, but sometimes, he slips by or a dog will drop one near him. I will seek a behaviorist asap! Thanks for the advice!