Bad Tempers with Rawhides

[Heide]

Yesterday I gave all 4 kids a rawhide to munch on.
After a little while I hear growling and find out that Maggie is close to Cassies rawhide. Cassie is growling and Maggie starts growling. Next thing I know they are tearing into each other. I mean teeth and all, just going at it. I quick grabbed Cassie up off Maggie and seperated them like that. I was scared to death. I checked out Maggie and she is ok. Maggie is the smallest of all them and is not a fighter.
So in the trash went the rawhide and needless to say there will not be anymore.!:afraid:
I think rawhides brings out the nastiness in them.
Cassie and Maggie have been getting along fine. Playing with one another and such. I sure hope this doesnt make them enemies. Maggie still doesnt know what to think when Cassie comes near her now. She acts on the defensive with her.
Have any of you had this kind of problem before?

[lotsadox]

I used to have this happen quite often. I had an alpha female and a wannabe alpha female. We occasionally had problems (usually over food or a chew toy). I even had to take Pebbles to the vet once when Bandit scratched her eye. Mine ocassionally growl at each other now when they have chewies or bones (mostly Cash or Bogart), but that's as far as it goes. I allow them bones and chew toys just because I want them to keep chewing and not have to go have dentals done (my dogs chew a lot and rarely have to have their teeth cleaned), but I supervise.

[TessieMom]

Perfectly normal and not just with rawhides. Miss Lucy is exerting her alphaness now that a new boy is around... she is just plain nasty to Tess and Kibby. Time for obedience class to start again... we will practice tonight and go to class tomorrow night.
Rena and the Waco crew

[dutchman]

It can happen like Rena said obedience classes can help. Tanner will growl at the other boys when he has a rawhide or bullie. A couple of times he and Frank have come to blows over a chewie. One suggestion if you have to pull two fighting dachshunds apart the afest handle is their tail. Grab one by the tail and pull them back away from the other. Don't be worried about hurting them that way. They were breed with a sturdy tail so that the hunters could pull them back out of a badger hole when they didn't want to backout on their own. By using the tail as a handle you are keeping your hads furthest away fron the business end of a fight. While in the fight mode a dog can bit their people before they realize that is what they are attacking.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[Lauri Gengor]

I have the same problem with rawhide. Magic will become over protective of it and growl at Misty if she approaches her. It's in a sense a food and she guards it. I have no problem with nyla bones, gum bones or toys, just the rawhide. I no longer give rawhide for two reasons: one, Magic now will get sick on it, two, I do not want an all out brawl which happened once before when Misty crossed the line and tried to steal it. They all seem happy if rawhide is not involved.

[onebigmickeyfan]

anymore. Casey gets down right nasty with either Missy or Zeke over a rawhide and we just wont have that so no rawhides for anyone. They all do really well with the greenies and the cornstarch chew flips so I get those instead.

[AnnieC]

My Cassie and Jacob don't usually fight over chew treats, but when I give each of them one, they both want the other's, even though they have the same thing! Cassie will wait until Jacob walks away from his chewy and then run and grab it and run off with it! It is quite funny. Cassie did go after Jacob one time when he tried to steal hers away, but I don't generally have a problem with aggression towards each other in that respect.

[doxunzX3]

I don't give the dogs rawhide because of the problems they have passing them if they eat them. Surgery is just to much money. OK I have seen to many surgeries on Animal Planet with rawhide.

I only give bones in the crates in the house. That way everyone is safe and no fights. Plus they get their teeth cleaned too. :D
Plus sometimes it helps to have them crated while I am at home and in the house. Otherwise if I don't do it they get a bit spoiled.
Were are those bones by the way?
I do have some huge bones that we only give outside. But because they can all go in their own direction it seems to work. . But then they are superviesed just in case anyone gets pushy. They get picked up and no one gets them then. It seems to have worked out good so far. ;)

[dutchman]

Actually rawhides were the treat of choice when I taked to the head of the dental unit at the VTH one year at the VTH open house. She said once the rawhide gets soft (ever pick up a rawhide that's been chewed on it acts like dental floss. The soft rawhide fibers push up between the teeth under the gus helping to remve plaq and tarter.

At the pet first aid class the head of emergency medicine at the vth said he had no problems giving dogs rawhides if they are supervised. He recommended supervision because of the potential choaking danger.

So I'm guessing the supposed dangers of rawhide chews is over stressed. True there may be some dogs that the present a bigger risk to than others.

Now for a general tip when trying to reak up dachsundswho are in a serious blood draw fight. Grab the tail of one of them and pull them away fronm the other. IF you know which one is naturally the more agressive they would be the best one to pull away as they may follow the other one as you attempt to pull it away. The tail is far enough away fron the fighting end or the dachshund so that you minimize the odds of geting bit. Trying to grab the chest or shoulders to pull a dog off is placing your hands dangerouslly close to teeth that at that point have no idea what they are sinking into.

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[Heide]

TOm
I know when I pulled them apart I wasnt even thinking at the time, as just didnt want either of them to get hurt.
I never allow them a rawhide unless being supervised.
Right now I am just to freaked out still to have them get a rawhide. I just didnt like that scene at all.
It will be some lo-cal milk bones and carrots for us for quite a while.:eek:

[Molly's Mom]

Rawhide bones made our big dogs mean too, so much that we had to stop buying them too. However, for some odd reason, we found that those flavored rawhide chips worked better for us. Sammy isn't that crazy about the flavors, so maybe that's why we don't see any fights, but Molly just chews on hers all day long.