Seriously George, do you really have to have ALL the attention all the time?
He still gets jealous when others pay me any attention. He is rather needy to say the least.
This is one time when he was getting really stroppy with me when Agnes gave me cuddles. He wanted Agnes to only hug him but we were teaching him that he cannot always have it his way.
He tries to usurp my position
But Agnes tells him firmly – NO!
He turned to Mummy to say – I WANT Agnes to hug me!
And persisted.
But another firm “no” from Agnes – while I stayed quietly in Agnes arms – actually nervous that George would swear at me again!!! I don’t like it when he gets aggressive like that. I go all quiet. 
May’s comment: George has come a long way. He has been a bit of a challenge at times and still is.
Aside from the unforgivable rolling in fox poo, his recall is getting better everyday! Yippee! He would still do a runner at times, but now I know he actually returns.
But the thing that upsets me most was when he started his aggressive behaviour towards Darcy. Those occurrences emerged about the second month after he arrived. It all started one afternoon when he had a go at Darcy while Jane was visiting. She cuddled him a lot and when she turned her attention to Darcy, he became aggressive towards Darcy. I thought it was a one off. But when I then held Darcy, he did it again. He got told off. A few weeks later it happened again. This time it was with Praewa. The same thing happened.
I couldn’t get Vanessa, the dog behaviourist over quick enough to sort it out. We did the positive reinforcement, i.e. treats whenever he looked at anyone holding Darcy. It communicated the message we wanted – that his rewards are positive when he sees Darcy being cuddled and fussed over. It has not happened again with Darcy but he still goes after any other dogs that would get in the way of his attention seeking. He has a go at them. I think he swears at them in Hungarian doggy snarls and growls.
His resource-guarding is focused on food and affection. The food is totally understandable but not forgivable. He had to fight for his portion from the days when he was roaming the streets. He still does not know that he no longer has to fight for food.
But the jealousy part – I am only guessing that he had to depend on humans giving him food for survival. He is never aggressive towards humans but he fights off other dogs for attention. While it upsets me to see the aggressiveness in him, it also breaks my heart to see this little guy being so desperate for attention.
It is an interesting combination of insecurity where he is guarding what is precious to him. The first two months he was timing and unsure of his environment. As his confidence grew in familiarity and knowing this is now his territory, he takes a stand and fight to guard what he needs.
He and Darcy are now good friends and everyone who meets him say he’s amazing for a rescue. He does wonders for Darcy. They play together and sleep side by side. We travel together and share experiences. But sometimes he can’t help himself and his old needs keeps creeping up. And it always involves a new person in the immediate environment who should pay attention to Darcy. Sometimes Darcy takes him on but most times she just leaves him alone. But he would not give up his sudden urge of great jealousy – he can’t let it go unless he is snapped out of it by putting him back on a training lead or leave him in another room to break his “stare-you-down” dare!
I hope in time he will also learn that he has a home and someone to look after his needs.
Rescues often have hidden issues – who can blame them if they had such a rough start in life.
Yesterday we told Jasper’s story. And it’s been a very focused goal on his owners to change his perspective on life. And I’ve heard of so other stories of rescues – the things they never overcome even 14 years later despite all the love and care you give them.
There may be things we cannot change but we can try to change what we can and give them the love and the reassurance and teach them trust.
One Response
My Gus does the same thing and he has no excuse. He was never on the street and has been with me since he was 6 weeks old. He watches everything. I think jealousy can come with male dogs. I’ve always had females and they were more inclined to live and let live. But Gus inserts himself everywhere and will paw me when i am petting one of the others or try to steal their treats etc. He is the alpha dog in our house and has to be dominate in everything. He will even create a diversion if I am being affectionate with one of the others…he will race to the door and start barking at some imaginary intruder and get the others to.join him. As soon as they are engaged he comes back…completely successful in his attempt to disrupt the activity. Gotta love them…xo