Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I have a question about one of my four-leggers.
We have one male dog in our house, Dakota. He's the biggest of the group. We rescued him three years ago, when he was 4. Dakota is a very sweet dog, very loving, very lazy, and very particular. For instance, he has beautiful white paws that he HATES to get dirty. I realize this isn't because they're white, to him he just doesn't like getting dirty. But it's funny to tease him about his pretty white paws.
He has one habit that is kind of funny, but I also wonder if it couldn't turn into a bad issue. He's my baby, very attached to me. Loves to be in my lap, even though he's 90 pounds. He talks to me a lot, goes to bed when I do, etc. When someone sits next to me it's almost like he gets jealous. 
Here's an example. The other night my husband sat next to me on the couch. Dakota came up on the other side of me, started whining, and eventually got halfway in my lap. But he kept whining. I was talking to him, petting him, inviting him to sit on my right side, but he just kept whining. I knew he wasn't hungry, they had just had dinner. He has a dog door so he can go outside for his business any time he needs to. The whining continued (with the tv up real loud so my husband could hear it 
) and eventually my husband got up to go to the kitchen. As soon as he was off the couch Dakota jumped into Darrin's spot and sat down leaning up against me and just looked at my husband like "yeah, that's right." He does this with my mom, my son, other dogs. Sometimes it's funny, like the look he gave my husband the other night. But I worry that this seemingly possessive behavior may turn into agression. Am I crazy?
Leslie
Chloe was a bit possessive with me, but she never became aggressive about it. She followed me everywhere. She was ok with me loving on her sister Skyler, but didn't tolerate my being too affectionate with another dog. It did seem to get worse as she got older, so I learned (actually she trained me) not to pet other dogs while she was with me. My previous pup Tori was the same way, but again there was no aggression.
Cathy
Yup, you are on target. My mastiff was adopted at 4 years old and we ran into this scenario. We thought it was cute at first, but with 180 lb dog it can get ugly pretty quickly. If you pet him while he is whining, he will take that to mean you are encouraging him to continue with this behavior. It is not just reassurance you are giving him, but the green light to keep you all to himself.
It can get you in trouble because if I stranger came up when he was around it may trigger a more intense response. Not even with just a stranger but possibly your family members too.
If he gets vocal and tries to stay by your side and get your attention ignore him and make him get off the couch. The only way to have this response go away is if you let him know you don't approve. It is cute now, but with my mastiff it almost got our neighbor bitten and my dog could've lost his life if my neighbor decided to press the issue.
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
I hesitate to offer any advice because I am trying to train myself with my little ones right now so they won't get into another scuffle. I've had my share of scary dog fights and horrible situations in the last 20 years which has affected me emotionally and now that I am arming myself with behavior modification, I can see I did everything wrong in the past which explains why I had unruly dogs! Positive training is aces because it works!
This is what I have learned so far about possession guarding:
It sounds like he is guarding you or even the spot on the cough.
To change this behavior rather fast, you have to reward Dakota for not guarding you, the couch or anything else with a tasty treat. If he gets on the couch when you don't want him to, then offer a treat to get off with a simple command like, "down" - then a treat. He'll get the idea that it's not so bad on the floor since I get something good in return.
Same thing with meeting strangers or dogs. Distract him with a treat. If a dog associates good stuff when a stranger approaches or another dog, then he'll be less likely to act out and will defer to you for that special treat. It now becomes a pleasant experience.
Just my 2 cents!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
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