Okay, so a bit of background.
In January I moved my then one year old hound mix here to IL. My husband at the time had two huskies. A 14 year old male, and a 5 year old female. Introductions went well. Ginny the female and George, my hound seemed to hit it off. They get along well, occasionally have their tiffs. Usually just Ginny losing patience and telling George off. No big deal.
Sam the 14 yrld passed away about a month ago. Neither of the two seemed to notice. Shortly after his passing I brought home my 15 year old Japanese Chin. Ginny has a very high prey drive, and becomes very unresponsive once she latches on to something. So I do not take the little guy out unless she is locked up or supervised. When I do take him out, she seems very jealous and will follow right beside me the whole time.
She doesn't have a very good "leave it" but it is being worked on. In general she is very hesitant to be obedient. I've really worked on her coming when called, sitting/laying down for food. Just generally adjusting her to working for what she wants. She has improved drastically.
We have encountered a problem here recently however. She is becoming very over protective of her food, or the area in which she eats. To the point where she has attacked George 3 times now for even going near "her" spots. Even if she was finished eating hours ago. These aren't small little corrections but full blown attacks. Its progressed to the point where I do not feel safe leaving them unsupervised at all.
So far I have removed any bowls and feeding spots to defend. She gets fed in a different spot every feeding and the bowl is then removed. I try to make feeding a positive time. I start her off with a small amount and slowly add food as she eats.
She obviously feel insecure. But why I am having a hard time figuring out. They have been together without issue for 8 months and now this. They have never been fed together or even near each other.
In January I moved my then one year old hound mix here to IL. My husband at the time had two huskies. A 14 year old male, and a 5 year old female. Introductions went well. Ginny the female and George, my hound seemed to hit it off. They get along well, occasionally have their tiffs. Usually just Ginny losing patience and telling George off. No big deal.
Sam the 14 yrld passed away about a month ago. Neither of the two seemed to notice. Shortly after his passing I brought home my 15 year old Japanese Chin. Ginny has a very high prey drive, and becomes very unresponsive once she latches on to something. So I do not take the little guy out unless she is locked up or supervised. When I do take him out, she seems very jealous and will follow right beside me the whole time.
She doesn't have a very good "leave it" but it is being worked on. In general she is very hesitant to be obedient. I've really worked on her coming when called, sitting/laying down for food. Just generally adjusting her to working for what she wants. She has improved drastically.
We have encountered a problem here recently however. She is becoming very over protective of her food, or the area in which she eats. To the point where she has attacked George 3 times now for even going near "her" spots. Even if she was finished eating hours ago. These aren't small little corrections but full blown attacks. Its progressed to the point where I do not feel safe leaving them unsupervised at all.
So far I have removed any bowls and feeding spots to defend. She gets fed in a different spot every feeding and the bowl is then removed. I try to make feeding a positive time. I start her off with a small amount and slowly add food as she eats.
She obviously feel insecure. But why I am having a hard time figuring out. They have been together without issue for 8 months and now this. They have never been fed together or even near each other.