Puppy is a thief

Elin

My husband and I picked up this cute little Puggle from the pound on Thursday:

Adorable, right? He's about 2 years old and has been named Rocky Raccoon.

So far he's been a dream. Quiet, affectionate, plays nice with the Pug. However, he seems to have stolen her favorite toy. This one:


That's not a real issue, she has 2 others and I'll buy her another. The issue is what he's using it for. It's basically a pacifier, he's sucking the nose and kneading the body. He's also protective of it. I can get near him/take it from him, but he growls at Layla if she gets too close to it while he's using it as a binky. I've never seen the behavior in a dog, I have seen it in a cat. A few random websites said it's normal but I thought I would ask you fine folks here. Should I just let it go, protective behavior and all? He's ok with Layla being near him and HIS dragon, she just can't show any interest in it.

Sentry

Oh man, I have a Chug (chiuauah/pug) named Gozer who's just the most adorable thing... I'm a huge fan of mixing pugs with things and yours looks incredibly cute.

As to the issue, I'm not a dog-whisperer, but it seems perfectly normal to me. Some dogs are just slightly more territorial about toys... Gozer won't even bat an eye when one of the other dogs comes up and takes a bone or chew toy, she just says goodbye to it and moves on to something else. I think it only becomes an issue if Rocky Raccoon becomes territorial when YOU try and take it away. Or if the other dog won't let it go and it starts a fight. When that happens I usually just put it up somewhere until they forget about it.

L Ron Howard

My dog has a ball. I should say THE Ball. He always knows where The Ball is at all times. He often runs around with The Ball. If he loses The Ball, he will spend hours looking for it, and he will be remarkably bummed until it is found again. He doesn't always chew on The Ball, but when he leaves the room and roams around the house, he brings The Ball with him.
So, I would say, in my total expert opinion, that it's normal.
I assume Layla is a daughter or niece or something? As somewhat related, when my nephew comes to visit, both he and my dog are often at ends. I believe dogs see small children as other dogs, so they have their territory and whatnot. They often try to show dominance and everything too. Your dog might be afraid that Layla, being another dog, is going to steal his toy and run away with it. So he's just preemptively growling to keep her away, so that the doesn't steal His Dragon.
I believe it's normal, and you should let it go. I would get worried if he starts getting more aggressive, though that can be a measure of the dog telling Layla to back off if she gets too close or affectionate or something.

Mayday

L Ron Howard wrote: »

I assume Layla is a daughter or niece or something?

Nope, she's the Pug.

ihmmy

My dogs were both very into slowly gnawing on soft toys. Well, one still is, the other grew out of it somewhere between 2 and 3 years old. Chewing on soft things, not to destroy but simply to work on chewing soft things seems entirely normal to me and my friends who also have small dogs.

Also: d'awwwww!!!!

Elin

L Ron Howard wrote: »

My dog has a ball. I should say THE Ball. He always knows where The Ball is at all times. He often runs around with The Ball. If he loses The Ball, he will spend hours looking for it, and he will be remarkably bummed until it is found again. He doesn't always chew on The Ball, but when he leaves the room and roams around the house, he brings The Ball with him.
So, I would say, in my total expert opinion, that it's normal.
I assume Layla is a daughter or niece or something? As somewhat related, when my nephew comes to visit, both he and my dog are often at ends. I believe dogs see small children as other dogs, so they have their territory and whatnot. They often try to show dominance and everything too. Your dog might be afraid that Layla, being another dog, is going to steal his toy and run away with it. So he's just preemptively growling to keep her away, so that the doesn't steal His Dragon.
I believe it's normal, and you should let it go. I would get worried if he starts getting more aggressive, though that can be a measure of the dog telling Layla to back off if she gets too close or affectionate or something.

Yeah, Layla is my pug, the one in the picture with her former dragon. She backs off when he growls at her, which is surprising because she's pretty dominant normally. I've been keeping a close eye on them because she's been pretty fickle about liking dogs around her in the past. She's really been mellow about Rocky so that's good. I booked them both into basic obedience training, our first class is tonight actually.

Good deal that it seems normal, just weird to see it in a dog. I've seen plenty of cats weaned too early have that false suckle reflex, I am just newer to having dogs I guess.

mcp

My Japanese Chin loves softly chewing on fabric. Kinds looks like he's sucking on it.

I find it annoying, 'cause sometimes that's the only thing that'll get him to sit down and relax and I don't always have something like that I want him chewing on.

I guess it's just one of those things though.

Bagginses

My dog's pretty old, and he still sucks on stuffed animals. Of course, he's not exactly normal. He walked into a signpost the other day.

Lankysean

Our Chihuahua has one stuffed cow toy that he loves. He's not very protective of it if you are near it but if you pick it up he goes nuts. Our German Shepard doesn't have any special toys but she's very fond of anything the Black Lab has... go figure. Dogs is the craziest peoples...

Psychotic One

My brother's chihuahua has a pretty similar habit. He loves comforters and will pick a corner of it and lick and suck on it for hours. He doesn't really play with other toys but he loves that comforter like its his safety blanket. Dogs can be weird with their habits. As long as he'll let you take it away from him with out a fight I wouldn't worry too much about it unless the other dog decides that the toy really does belong to her.