Treat/Bone Anxiety?

[kayepaye]

I always have a hard time explaining this, but my dog.. Harbour, is weird. It's really the only way to describe her; she is the strangest dog I have ever owned.

Harbour is a 23-month-old fox red lab


So to begin with the explanation of one of her many "issues". She loses her mind when you give her a bone. She will get this panicked look on her face, and her eyes get really wide. She'll take the bone from you "reluctantly" and then she will fast-walk/run around the house just screaming (a VERY high pitched whine) and just in a complete panic with the bone in her mouth. She wants to hide the bone, and I have to help her because she gets too worked up to find a place herself. So I usually end up throwing a blanket into a pile on the couch, and showing her where to hide it, and then she'll put the bone in the blanket and cover it with the blanket using her nose.

She will never eat the bone, ever ever ever, but if you accidentally uncover it then the WHOLE process starts again. She doesn't guard it or defend it, and if I or another dog try to take the bone from her she couldn't care less. But she treats bones as if they are a grenade just waiting to explode in her mouth.

I haven't given her a bone in over 6 months, because she doesn't eat them anyway, but is there any way I can get her to take a chill pill and just EAT the darn bone instead of having a aneurysm over it?

She sort of does the same thing with treats. If you try to give her a treat, she will sniff it first, and as long as it is no bigger than about half a milkbone(if it's too big she thinks it's a bone and then we deal with the above issue..), she will take it, bring it somewhere and then lick it to death. If it's a treat that she's never had before, or has a different smell, she will still take it, but she then drops it on the floor and "dances" around it whining, before eventually walking away. She'll come back after a while a eat it, but it's such a process. I can't just give her a treat and go, it doesn't matter what it is, it could be a tiny morsel of chicken or beef or liver, or a commercial dog treat, it makes NO difference.

If anyone has any experience with these sort of oddities, and has any insight, that would be wonderful.

Like I said.. weird dog!

[Labradorks]

That is weird! I would probably nix the bones and either find a new way of rewarding her (toy, praise, or play) or maybe treat her with her kibble. Or will she react in the same way?

[Brutus]

Sounds like maybe OCD behavior or related to something in early puppyhood. My 3 dogs engage in hiding and stealing bones but don't seem to be anxious about it, just devious and underhanded. Sounds like using small treats for rewards would be better. Most dogs have some indiosyncracies.

[kayepaye]

That is weird! I would probably nix the bones and either find a new way of rewarding her (toy, praise, or play) or maybe treat her with her kibble. Or will she react in the same way?

She won't take kibble as a reward, she looks at me horrified if I should even attempt to trick her with her food. She's such a twerp haha. When we did obedience classes I typically used a toy as a reward, which worked well for us. I'd just like to be able to give her a treat like you would a normal dog.

[kayepaye]

Sounds like maybe OCD behavior or related to something in early puppyhood. My 3 dogs engage in hiding and stealing bones but don't seem to be anxious about it, just devious and underhanded. Sounds like using small treats for rewards would be better. Most dogs have some indiosyncracies.

She has done it since she was a very young pup, I've had her since she was 5 1/2 weeks old (she was a rescue) and although she never got bones until she was old enough, she's always been anxious about them, it has gotten worse with age though. I've taken to just not giving her bones and she hardly ever gets treats either to be honest. We play with her toys and she gets lots of praise, so she doesn't really need them. Plus I don't want her getting too pudge :P

[Maxx&Emma]

I have a rescue, 1/2 Lab - 1/2 Border Collie, with lots of anxiety issues. I have found over the last 9 years to avoid situations/items that cause her anxiety. Each dog is different, sounds like her favorite reward is a toy and praise so stick with that.