A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the causes and treatment of resource guarding. It generated a lot of interest, and no wonder. It is such a common problem. Ironically, I was reminded of that by the opposite: My new dog Maggie seems happy to let any person or any dog take away whatever she has in her mouth. She is the classic “dog in a manger,” because she wants whatever toy Willie has, even if I give her its exact replicate. She wants it because Willie has it. And yet, any one could take a bone out of her mouth, and she is happy to share her water bowl or the wading pool and just about everything else I can think of. Perhaps happy isn’t the right word. What do I know about how she feels about it? But she tolerates it without any sign of distress, and I am grateful every day that RG is not a problem we need to work on.
Heaven knows it is an issue that I’ve spent many years evaluating and treating, no doubt, as all the comments to the first post attest, it is such a common problem. I thought it would be useful to post it again, in part because we have so many new readers, and in part to check in with those of you who commented about your own dogs. Any success stories? Useful cases that weren’t so successful?
Here’s the post from May of 2013, it would be great to hear feedback from you if you have been working on this problem.
YEARS AGO, I took care of a gooey-sweet adolescent Border collie, (Tilly, I’ll call her) who flattened her ears and folded them like a bird’s wing every time you said her name. She was responsive and polite, and the other dogs seemed to like her as much as I did. It was especially rainy when she visited, so I appreciated that she never objected to endless paw wiping and toweling off, not to mention body checks for ticks and dental inspections. One morning I saw that she had grabbed something from the leaf litter in the woods, the kind of “something” you figure would be better off melding its way into the soil rather than ending up in the stomach of even the hardiest of dogs. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked well on its way to rotting itself into organic mush. Probably not the best snack for a dog to eat. I didn’t think twice about reaching toward her mouth to extract her woodland treasure, given how deferential Tilly was to both me and the other dogs. At least, not until I saw her body go stiff and her eyes go hard as the quietest of growls floated into the misty, spring air.
Uh oh. That’s the posture that behaviorists, trainers and owners of resource guarding dogs know well, (or learn fast), and it immediately sends the primitive part of your brain into Alert Mode. I always picture some version of a submarine’s warning signal blaring: UH ooooGA! UH ooooga! as the captain yells DIVE! DIVE! to the first mate. It’s a relatively common posture in the world of dogs, and it’s message is clear: “This is Mine. Attempts To Take It Away Will Be Met With Force.” Common although it might be, what do we know about its origins, and how should we handle it when it happens?
DEFINING THE TERM First, I should be clear about what I mean by “resource guarding” (RG, also known as “possessive aggression”). I define “resource guarding” as behavior that discourages another to take, or get too close to, an object or valued area in a dog’s possession. Usually this refers to food, treasured toys or sleeping areas, but I’d argue that some dogs guard their humans as if they were the best bone in the house. RG can range from a quiet head turn to a deafening growl, forward charge or an actual bite.
[Note: If you are primarily interested in how to treat or prevent RG, skip to the bottom of the post. I’m beginning with a discussion of more theoretical interest.]
(Someone asked a related, and great question: Should we include “territorial aggression” into the category of “resource guarding”? Hummmm. On the one hand I’d say No, in part because of my dislike of the term “terr’l aggression,” since so often it is used to describe agonistic displays from dogs who are not actually aggressive but are afraid of strangers. Given that neophobia is a very different motivation than a desire to possess something, much of what is called territorial aggression may have little to do with possessiveness. On the other hand, I’ve worked with several dogs who showed absolutely no sign of fear when I approached the house, but signaled what I interpreted as “You might want to rethink coming any closer to my den.” Thus, I’ll use my standard answer to all good but complicated questions: “It depends.”) By the way, Lee Niel and Jacquelyn Jacobs, in the Department of Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, are currently doing research on “possession aggression/resource guarding,” which included asking a number of behaviorists their definition and what term they most often use. Stay tuned, I look forward to seeing their results when they come out. [Update, June 2, 2014: They were still looking for participants in January of this year, so I’m guessing that their data aren’t yet analyzed. But I’ve sent them an email and will keep you posted if I hear from them with any news.]
WHEN IS IT A PROBLEM? Between Dogs: It is perfectly reasonable for one dog to signal another that his chew bone is HIS chew bone, thank you very much. Appropriate signals are head turns, stares and, depending on a host of other factors, a quiet growl. Appropriate responses are immediate withdrawals or strategic (and often brilliant) attempts by an item-less dog to worm her way into the others good graces. (Not to mention the famous distraction technique of Einsteinian dogs: BARK BARK BARK BARK!!! says the dog who wants the chew bone, vigorously vocalizing at the front window. Dog with bone drops it on the way to join in the barking, while Einstein Dog circles back and gets the bone.) Every owner has to decide what is acceptable in their own household; my criteria are quiet warnings like head turns or stares are acceptable, anything else is discouraged.
Between a dog and a person: This again is very much up to the owner, but I’ll go on record as saying that, in general, I expect every one of my dogs to let me take anything away from them without protest. Caveats: First, I am very careful not to abuse that right. I work hard to train my dogs to drop things on cue so that I am not taking something out of their mouth by force. Second, there are exceptions: Tootsie grabbed a dropped metal twist tie and ran off to swallow it a few days after she came to the farm. You’d better believe I swooped in like a falcon and took it out of her mouth. On the other hand, before Tulip my sheep-guarding Great Pyrenees died, she would occasionally find the body of a small mammal or bird in the woods or pasture. I made an executive decision that if she was in charge of protecting my flock from coyotes and stray dogs, she could be in charge of any treasures she could find in the woods or pastures. Not so in the house however. The two of us seemed to come to that agreement easily and with clarity.
CAUSES OF RESOURCE GUARDING: That’s easy to answer: We don’t know. Seriously, we really, really don’t know. Does growing up in a large litter and having to fight for food make a difference? Could there be a genetic predisposition to resource guarding? Katie Martz and I could find nothing in our searches, so I emailed a list of Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists to ask if there is any research on genetic or environmental factors related to RG, and and there simply doesn’t appear to be anything out there on this specific topic. However, PhD behavior-geneticist Steven Zawistoski and PhD psychologist John C. Wright reminded me of some of literature that might relate in some way. Remember the early behavioral genetics studies done at the Jackson Laboratory by Scott and Fuller? Steve and John directed me to some of the early papers that might relate. Pawlowski & Scott (1956) did some of the early work on priority access to a valued item (which is the correct definition of “dominance,” by the way) among 4 breeds (Basenjis, Beagles, Wire-Haired Fox Terriers and American Cocker Spaniels) and summarized their results: “It is concluded that these differences are the result of genetic inheritance, which probably acts through physiological mechanisms which affect the threshold of stimulation.’ Of course, dominating access to a bone is not exactly the same as guarding it, but it includes it, because some dogs maintained ownership of the bone by doing what we define as RG.
More recently, Liinamo et al (2007), looked at genetic variation in “aggression-related traits” in Golden Retrievers in the Netherlands, asking if owners saw “aggressive” behavior in a variety of contexts. Those related to RG were family members either approaching or removing a dog’s food, or removing a dog’s toy. The context of approaching or removing food had high “heritability” factors (.94 and .95) which does not mean that the behavior is “mostly genetic,” but means that there is a large amount of genetic variation related to the trait, and thus one could begin a selection process of selecting for or against a particular trait. (I always have to stop and take a breath when interpreting the term “heritability,” because a trait like “herding” in Border collies would show a low heritability, it being pervasive in BCs, and thus showing low genetic variability. Make sense? (Steve Z explained to me that he considers this term the genetic equivalent of the term “positive punishment,” because it means the opposite of what one might think.)
I would argue, based on the little research we have and my own experiences with hundreds of RG cases (1,000’s?), that there is a genetic component to the behavior. I’ve worked with litters of 11 dogs in which the biggest and strongest (and first to get to the nipple) pup became the RG dog very early in life. On the other hand, there is a great deal of research on a variety of species that reminds us that experience plays a significant role in “winning” and “losing” competitions. (See Hsu & Wolf 1999 for example.) One early win makes subsequent wins more likely, and vice versa. I suspect that this is one of those complicated behaviors that has both a genetic and an experiential component, and that the resultant behavior is some kind of interaction between nature and nurture. But again, we really don’t know. Anyone looking for a PhD topic?)
TREATMENT FOR INTERSPECIFIC GUARDING: I’m going to talk here about resource guarding between dogs and people. Treating it between two dogs uses the same basic principles, but requires enough alterations in technique to deserve its own article. That said, the most effective technique for stopping a dog from guarding resources from human intervention is to change your dog’s internal response to another’s attempt to possess their “treasure.” That is why you are best off using Desensitizing and Classical Conditioning to teach your dog to love it when you approach and reach toward an object. In other words, in this case you are not training your dog to respond to a cue, but conditioning an internal response to someone approaching something that they cherish.
Before going any further, stop here an contact a behaviorist or progressive trainer who understands how to use classical conditioning if your dog has ever put you at risk of being seriously injured. You’d call an electrician if you thought your wiring was unsafe in your house, wouldn’t you? Meanwhile, or if your dog is threatening but not dangerous, follow the steps outlined below.
STEP ONE: Be an armchair ethologist by thoughtfully and specifically writing down what objects your dog guards, what your dog does to cause you to say she is guarding, and how close you need to be to see any sign of guarding. Here’s an example:
Objects: Chew bone, stuffed Kong, favorite stuffed toy in the shape of a deranged dinosaur.
Behavior & Distance: My dog first stops chewing or eating, and stands motionless if I get within 4-5 feet of her while she is chewing on her Kong. If I move to within 2-3 feet, her body tenses and her mouth closes. If I walk right up to her and reach toward the object, she will growl.
STEP TWO: Find something your dog likes even better than what she guards. Usually it will be some form of meat, but every dog is different. Be sure to experiment–every trainer or behaviorist has seen X,000 numbers of people who swear their dog “doesn’t care about food” until we get out our super stash of cooked chicken or freeze-dried liver and get their dog turning somersaults for it. Food is ideal because you can have it on hand and chop it up into pieces that allow you to create lots of reinforcement.
STEP THREE: Stocked with lots of treats, set up a situation in which your dog would guard. In the example above, give your dog a stuffed Kong, leave the room and re-enter with a handful of cooked chicken. Stop WELL BEFORE you would predict a reaction (any reaction) from your dog. In the example above, that would be at about 7-8 feet away. Toss a piece of chicken so that it lands right beside your dog’s mouth. (If you are like me, and flunked softball in school, just toss another one if you miss.). Wait for your dog to eat it up, and toss another piece. Repeat once or twice, then leave the room. If your dog leaves the Kong and comes over to you for more, look up at the ceiling and ignore her. You want her to learn that food only comes out of the sky if she is eating and you are standing nearby.
STEP FOUR: After a few sessions of this, start where you began in the last session, but don’t toss any food until you walk forward one step closer, no more. Toss chicken and withdraw one step. Walk forward one forward again, toss a treat and then WALK AWAY. You want your dog to think “NO! Don’t walk away!!” If, however, your dog reacts by stiffening, make a mental note to start farther back or to only approach in half steps. You can either stop there, or leave the room and re-enter it, repeating Step Four one or two times.
STEP FIVE: Gradually, ever so gradually, decrease the distance between you and your dog. Walk to within 5 feet in one session, then 4 in the next. Go back to just 5 feet for 2 sessions, then go to 4 and possibly 3 IF the dog is responding well. “Responding well” means that your dog is switching from “Oh No! She’s going to take my bone away” to “Goody! Here she comes! Whenever I have a chew bone and she comes close to it I get something better! How cool is that????” That means your dog’s body is loose and not stiff. She does not start chewing frantically as you approach. Her mouth is open and she looks as if she is happily anticipating your approach.
What if she leaves the bone and come to me? Well, good girl Fidette, that means you’ve stopped guarding the bone in search of something better. Again, simply ignore her and wait for her to return to her bone. It might take awhile for some dogs, but if you look away (this part is important) she will eventually give up and go back to her Kong or dinner bowl.
STEP SIX: Once you can approach your dog and stand right beside her, begin skipping the food toss until you are a few strides away, and start classically conditioning a reach toward the object. Keep in mind that you are working on re-wiring her brain so that she forms a new association between your actions and how she feels about them. Walking toward her is a different action than reaching toward her, so you need to think of it as a different category. (Understanding the distinction between each action you make is perhaps the most important aspect of being able to use classical conditioning to turn around a behavior, and it is not something we do naturally without training ourselves to be expert observers and thoughtful analysts of behavior.) First, bend toward the food or toy, drop a treat and then straighten up. Do this several times, or as often as necessary for your dog to remain relaxed. Remember: your dog drives the system here, not an idea you have in your head for how long this should take. Gradually move your arm and hand closer and closer to the food or object, eventually taking it away and giving your dog something wonderful in return. I once convinced a head-strong and very RG’y dog to give me the dead bird she had in her mouth, and when she did, I gave it back to her. The people watching were appalled, but that’s what she wanted more than anything in the world, and she trusted me ever after.
STEP SEVEN: Keep it up. Forever. Not every day, or even every week, but at least every month or so you should remind your dog why it is in his or her best interests to let you take anything away.
PREVENTION: That’s easy–just follow the step above, but you don’t have to go as slowly as you would if you were trying to turn around an established behavior. Willie and Tootsie both love it when I pick up their bowls, because it means they are getting something even better. Neither have ever even suggested a modicum of RG’g, which is exactly why I continue to remind them how fun it is to let me take things away from them.
OPERANT CONDITIONING?: One last comment–there is a role for operant conditioning here, which is to teach dogs to “Leave It” or “Drop It” (those are different in the mind of a dog I suspect: in one case the dog is focused on something, in another he or she has it in his or her mouth, and possession is the law in canid society.)
Again, I’d love to hear from you about your success (or not) with prevention or treatment, and any updates you might have from last year.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm. Suggestion: Avoid forgetting to close the moon roof on your car before retiring for the night and before the 1 AM thunderstorm rolls through. Whoops. The fans are still going as I write.
But the sour cherry/rhubarb pie came out of the oven looking good. Having friends over for dinner tonight, hope it is yummy! [Update to the update: It was.]
Joe says
Interesting notes on RG!! Now, with Cocoa, she exhibits no RG in the house–I can take food or bone away from her with no objection on her part. The problem is outside–She LOVES eating dead birds, roadkill squirrels and rabbits, and best of all, (ugh!) the feces of cats or other dogs. She “guards” these not with a growl, but by being so quick to eat them that I often can’t stop her. She will Come, with a half-eaten piece of flat rabbit, chewing on it the while, and allow me to take it out of her mouth, IF, she hasn’t managed to get it down before I call her. I’m sure this isn’t classical RG. Her “defense” is a really fast offense! Any comments/suggestions?
widogmom says
We dealt with this for our American Water Spaniel’s entire life. The breed was developed, among other things, as a “market hunter” and, owing to competition between the hunters (who would take your bird out of your dog’s mouth if they got to it first), the breed has rather a less willing “give” than do other gun dogs. Kali took this to the extreme (possibly because two large litters were group-fed – a total of 20 puppies – IDK) and we finally decided that the solution was “don’t screw with her while she eats.” This was problematic with hazardous objects such as little green apples, which she would swallow whole and which I always worried would cause a blockage. She even RGd her vomit when she got sick (me at 3 a.m.: “Oh, for God’s sake, Kali, just let me clean it up!”) which was always an adventure. She lived to be over 14 and never responded to any of our or our trainer’s counter-conditioning attempts. Kali was a brilliant, dynamic personality but, boy, was she difficult at times!
Anne H says
You mentioned that treating dog-dog resource guarding would merit its own article, since there would be a number of changes in techniques. I would love to see that article some day, if you write it! Our dog tends to resource guard with other dogs, but I have not seen her do this with people. We have been trying to adapt ideas from different sources, but it’d be great to see a post with such clear steps and training scenarios as this one for dog-dog interactions!
Holly says
And if the person is the resource being guarded? I think this behavior is diminishing with a verbal correction, but if I’m sitting in a room with dog A at my feet and dog B comes in, A tells B to move right on out-with a raised head and ‘look’. I correct her (because I do not want this to escalate) and she then assures me that she ‘meant it in the nicest possible way’. I’m very open to advice on this situation!
Frances says
I played lots of games of swapsies when mine were pups, following your advice and giving them both the treat AND the original treasure whenever possible, and so far the conditioning has stuck. When Sophy caught and killed a rabbit out on a walk and set off with enormous pride and determination to carry it back to the car I didn’t try too hard to get her to drop it though – some trophies are too important, and it was a big deal for a Papillon (and the poor rabbit was dying of myxy, which meant that she had also saved me from having to kill it…). Fortunately it dawned upon her when we got to the car that she couldn’t lift it in without my help, and she dropped it in exchange for several liver biscuits.
Nanette says
Molly, whom I’ve had for about 3 years, recently started RG. When she first moved in, she was extremely submissive to other living creatures, and very timid. Any time somebody tried to take something that she was in possession of, she would tuck her tail between her legs and walk/run away. After 3 rounds of R+ training classes, Molly has developed into a happy, confident dog. This past week she’s been growling at the other dogs when they approach her if she has anything, and she stole a chew from one of the other dogs when he stopped paying attention. I went over to where she was and reached out with my hand – I got the narrow-eyed hard stare and a low growl. I removed my hand and said quietly but firmly: stop it. She spat the chew out and jumped up excitedly, wiggling her body happily and expecting a reward (which she got in the form of a back scratch and belly rub).
Gayla says
Not sure I believe you baked the pie. Can’t see a single dog hair on it…
Robin Murray says
Such great advice, but I have to re-read it because it left me when I saw the pie. Sour cherries!!!!
Becky Longval says
I work as animal care manager in a shelter. I have always found resource guarders fascinating, behaviorally speaking. I adopted a 4 mos old St Bernard who had some pretty good guarding skills. She was being considered for euthanasia and I knew I could manage this in my home setting…so off we went. Also she displayed no aggression with other dogs and her food, just humans. Knowing she was going to grow up to be a very large dog I started immediately. I have a farm so I have access to alot of chicken!! I boiled chicken weekly and I gave her dry food only (no special treats) so when she ate and I approached, chicken fell in her bowl. It took only a few weeks for me to be able to take the bowl but she caught on very fast that good things happen when people approached her while eating. After a few months of family members doing this I got brave and asked guest to join in…not taking the bowl but throwing chicken in the bowl while she ate. I also worked hard with teaching her a drop it and leave it command with treats and toys. She is now 3 and mastered drop it and leave it and is absolutely fine around her food. She has grown up to be 170lbs and I am very thankful that Phoebe has responded so well to all the training. Because at that size someone could of been seriously injured with a RG bite. I am now working with a 8lbs Parti Pomeranian, Riley who was 4 mos when I took him home from the shelter. His guarding extends into alot more than food. Toys and almost anything he has in his mouth and at his age he has alot in his mouth!! lol I am having great success with him as well. Although I made up a spot in the kitchen where his treats are kept and I call it the “trading post” so when Riley has an object in his mouth he should’nt, sock, pencil etc…we go to the trading post and trade. It has been a successful tool I made up and works really great for him. Now when I say lets go to the ” trading post”, he drops whatever he has, runs to the kitchen and sits and waits for his snack. As Im picking up the item he dropped he dosn’t look back…just continues to wait at the “trading post!” Im working on 2 success stories at this point. But one thing I would like to say is that I feel its never really “cured” its only controlled. I say this because I think somewhere in them it always lies. Phoebe and I went shopping at the local farm stand and there were those layered rawhide bones. Being level to her she pulled one out and got it pretty slobbery. This is something I would not give her normally. But obviously I purchased the slobbery item! We got home and she had it on her bed and was chomping away. I began to pick up the toys around her bed to put them away. When I approached, she lifted her lip, low growled and whaled eyed me. I immediately said “Phoebe drop it” and she went into a sit position and dropped it. Next came the “leave it” and was able to take it from her with no incident. I say this because I dont want people to feel that there is a training to cure them forever. I think careful and mindful management of resource guarding is the way one should think of it. Changing thoughts about situations are great and use it all the time..but situations change often and being mindful in those situations are important. I was surprised when she growled but wasn’t shocked that she found something so valuable she regressed for a very short moment. By mastering her drop it and leave it command it help her or I should say, us get out of a situation that could of been bad for all training we did. Its an interesting training and I am anxious to read any information coming from that study in Canada! Enjoy your day!
jackied says
Well, last time you wrote about this I commented about the difficulty of getting half-killed prey animals away from my RG dog.
It prodded me to actually do something about it and I no longer have a RG dog 🙂 I followed your protocol and also bought a copy of Jean Donaldson’s ‘Mine!’ If necessary (I don’t push it) I can take a splintering bone out of her mouth, and when she catches prey she brings them to me and drops them on my feet. This afternoon she put her freshly emptied kong on my lap (ick!) presumably in the hopes that I’d refill it, and regularly brings me her treat ball to open if she gets bored of working it before all the kibble has come out. She is also now more relaxed around valued items with my other dog, though I still am very careful if they both have bones.
So thank you very much indeed for prodding me, it has made life with Lucy a lot more relaxed!
Gwyn says
If you put that pie in front of me… You bet I would turn into a snarling, arms encircling pie resource guarder!
Nice article! Thanks. In learning to train Service dogs, we begin at once exchanging food or a toy/treat for their bowl . Better yet, we begin by feeding one piece into the bowl at a time and keep our hand there and drop in another piece with the other hand. We “trade” food for a toy often. Desensitizing early on.
Susan W says
I would definitely growl if someone tried to take any of that pie away from me.
Ashley Parks says
My dog is selective with who he resource guards. Our cats, a small puppy, children. It’s typically food related, but recently he got upset over a stick, and attacked our neighbors puppy. I wouldn’t know how to address this, since I can’t put any of those things in danger to test if things are getting better.
Any help or ideas are appreciated.
Laceyh says
Surely Maggie is NOT the classic dog in the manger, because that dog is resource guarding. Maggie’s jealousy of Willie’s possession is quite different, as she is showing you.
Lisa says
I would love to hear training tips for dogs who resource guarding their people. I recently had a foster dog that would do his best to keep my other dogs away from me. It was very nerve wracking! 🙂
Karen Spratling says
Interesting reading but not relevant to me. I have 2 dogs, male Boxer X Archie and a small female Rescue Boxer Maddy, who I love dearly. They will both let me take anything from them. If I have food then Maddy will sometimes growl or even attack if other dogs come near me. Or if I give them treats and she doesn’t eat hers and walk away, if Archie then comes along to eat it, she can becomes very aggressive. This happens with other dogs when they visit or if we’re visiting. I tend to remove myself and food from her line of sight or if home, put her outside for a few minutes. Please help as this upsets me greatly and obviously upsets my two dogs.
Karen
Christa McElroy says
Great article, thanks for re-posting. Since I have a new year old foster collie, this is something I need to revisit. My 6 year old female collie guards EVERYTHING, but not from the humans. She once lunged at her BFF, an 8 lb pom/chi mix and put her eye out with that long collie nose. It was awful. She has never bitten another dog, and will stop if I tell her to “knock it off” – I did train her not to guard from people, I’m not sure how to translate that to other dogs, or if it’s even possible. She even guards the “fun” … (we call her the fun police….) If a couple of the dogs are playing and having a great time she gets upset with them for PWP (playing without permission).
So… is fun a resource???
And that pie…… wow.
Britta says
We have 3 dogs with no problems of RG between them or between them and people. However my youngest dog (4 years) RG food when other dogs (not ours) are around. What would be the best approach to fix that problem please?
Nan S says
My 5-year-old Lab rescue dog (“The Very Hungry Labrador”) steals food off the counter and resource guards it. I’ve been practicing drop it with lower value items (sock for biscuit) with considerable success, but he recently got a whole roast chicken and took it into his crate and it was clear I shouldn’t try to get it back. (I googled “my dog just ate a whole roast chicken-what do I do?” And had to laugh out loud at the sheer number of similar qs and answers that came up! Three days of the runs and he is fine.) There is clearly nothing of higher value than a whole roast chicken to trade for. (Except maybe his thrice-eaten sock or a road-kill squirrel’s head.) After the significant success of a whole chicken on his part we are starting all over. I got half the bag of breakfast bagels back only because he couldn’t guard them all at once after the bag broke and they started rolling. Yes, I am changing my behavior to make him less successful at the stealing. And yes, I’ll buy another few chickens and work back up to desensitizing him, as long as I never make a mistake and turn my back on him when the chickens are out on the counter. Thanks for this timely post.
Barbara Roman says
I also would like more help with resource guarding of people. My rescue dog is very possessive of my husband. He charges and barks aggressively if I approach my husband. He has gotten better because I am trying to do more obediance with him and also show him that I am not afraid of him . He does not guard anything else. Any suggestions would help please.
Maureen Stotland says
I have a 9-year-old female rescue border collie/Australian shepherd mix whom I’ve lived with for six years. She spent the first two years of her life chained to an outdoor breeding box, so she definitely loves being a house dog although loves daily walks and weekend hikes. The minute we brought her home, she “glommed onto” me; we were warned that in her foster home she had decided that the 9-year-old daughter was her savior. She’s whip smart and highly athletic as well as extremely food motivated. She got her CGC the first time out. She’s very timid and passive. She guards me over my husband, guests who try to be social, and our cats and other male rescue BC. We’ve been working with canine behavioral specialists and have reached the conclusion that her RFG has a genetc component and will be a lifelong challenge. I welcome others’ experiences.
Greta says
I do not mess with RG between dogs unless and until it is becoming a significant problem. It is a significant problem if: (1) It is resulting in damaging fights between the dogs; (2) The dog doing the RG is stressing itself out a lot by doing it; (3) A dog being guarded against is being very stressed by it; or (4) There is a human in the house who is likely to try to intervene in a stupid way and get bitten on redirect.
Some people see any sign of conflict, any growl, as a problem and feel they must intervene. But this is normal behavior between dogs and as long as it’s limited to communication and negotiation, leave them to it!
Roger Askew says
read your article with interest,Iwas pleased to see that the way I have trained my BC’s over the years was vindicated by your advice.I have always taught them to leave or drop food bowls/toys and once learnt life is so much easier,I once found our three year old grandson feeding our 7 year old BC by hand from his food bowl,this method of being fed had gained Bob’s(dog) undivided attention. He has however has become a bit jealous of our neighbours kittens if we are making a fuss of them he will sit next to us but otherwise he puts up with the obligatory head-butting etc. from the kittens.
hakirby says
I vary in what I do with Tom.
He RGs food. Any food. Any body’s food.
I never leave food out for more than 30 mins, but that doesn’t help if he’s guarding the dinner I’m making, which he’s not getting, in which case he’s punted straight out of the kitchen and not allowed to come back in for a few minutes. when he comes back in, he is a much politer dog. He’ll be given praise and treats for behaving.
If he’s guarding me, I leave the room for a few minutes. you need to be in control of the resource he’s guarding, even if it’s YOU.
I also make sure all other members of the family do stuff with him, like food prep and things, so he’s not reliant on me. He still prefers me, but he’ll accept them doing it as well.
HFR says
I remember a hundred years ago my best friend adopted an adult dog. She was quite large and probably had some guard-dog breeds in her. She was extremely sweet and friendly. One night, shortly after she adopted her, we gave her a steak bone (yes, that’s how long ago is was…no danger there, right?). Anyway, when she started to clearly have trouble chewing it, we tried to take it away from her. Welcome, Cujo. We quickly backed off. We were freaked.
After that, she was never the same dog. Whenever we came near her at all she let out a low grumbling growl. My friend called the rescue group and told them what happened. They said that by backing off we had let her become the leader and there was no going back now. We were instructed to bring her back immediately. I credit them for being so responsive as I know my friend was in way over her head. I think the dog went on to be adopted by someone else and hopefully that went better. I’ve always wondered tho if that was true. Did we irreparably harm her by giving into her?
I love the idea of a “trading post”!! Makes me smile.
That pie looks good and I don’t even like pie …
Liza says
I too would like to read an article about RG between dogs too.
We have a 70# Aussie mix & a 11# Papillion. The Aussie has no RG w/people about anything. But when it comes to toys, they are all his. The Papillion learned this quickly & rarely grabs a toy to play tug or shake if he’s nearby. Should she forget, he’s there in a nano-second to end her play session. How can you teach a dog to share & play nice w/others?
Naomi says
My daughter’s neutered male shih tzu gained a housemate, a little mini dachshund female, and from the moment the puppy arrived, she owned the house, the little-boy dog, and all of his toys. Her first action after meeting him was to grab his leash and drag him across the living room. And he was okay with this. After a couple years, the dachshund was killed in a most horrible and sad accident and the shih tzu’s grief was heartbreaking. Everyone cried for days, but as much for the depressed and despondant shih tzu as for the lost dog. He discovered her grave and laid across it, literally ‘shrunk’ into himself overnight. This is when he suddenly exhibited resource guarding; no one could touch his bed or toys. This previously laid-back, happy and always-hungry dog simply dwindled and became detached–from everything in his environment except those material things that were his. It took time and a new puppy friend to bring him out of this behavior; he is no longer guarding his ‘stuff’ and while he seems to be mostly recovered from his grief, his personality has changed. Even with the new puppy, he was very slow to warm up to her, trying to be aloof. She persisted and ignored his cold shoulder, finally getting him to run and play with her but he’s a more sober, less adventuresome fellow now. On very rare occasions he will still object with a growl if she attempts to snag one of his toys or his treat, or if he’s in a certain mood, not allow her to get into his bed. I’m guessing that one doesn’t have to be a behaviorist to understand why he was trying to keep his possessions safe. I wondered if others have had similar experiences with sudden-onset resource guarding.
Rebecca says
What’s your thoughts on the “remove your dog’s dinner bowl frequently to show them that you control the resources” school of thought? Does this help prevent resource guarding, or cause it in dog’s that might not have developed it otherwise?
Laura says
MMMm, pie. If I could, I’d give you puppy eyes until I got a piece. “Oh please may I have some? I’m starving and my mom never, ever feeds me. Please? You’re my only hope for food, without you I’ll shrivle up and die.” kidding, but really, now I want a slice, preferably warmed with some vanilla ice cream on top. Ok, I’ll have to get lunch soon. Anyway, back to dogs.
Seamus let’s me take things away from him, unless it’s something he really wants. He isn’t aggressive, just passively stubborn. He will not open his mouth to release what he has. I remember last year, at a Memorial Day get-together my family was having, Seamus got a hold of a corn cob. My brother saw that and grabbed the corn cob and Seamus’s jaw. The two just stood there, my brother repeating “drop it” in a deep voice and Seamus just looking up at him, gently swishing his tail back and forth as if to say, “Nope, this is so much better than what ever you want me to do.” He doesn’t show signs of stress, at least none that I can determine, he’s just not willing to release the object. I’m working on it though, because this dog loves food. Perhaps freeze dried cheese or liver will help? we’re working on a good “out,” cue since he’s already got “leave it” down, good boy. I’ll keep you all updated. Tonight after work, we’re going up to our local pet store to do some “leave it” training. there are bins right at dog level, by the doors to the store, full of treats. did I mention they were open? My por Shay-Shay, what’s a dog to do? He isn’t disciplined enough to ignore them on our way out yet, but he’ll get there, I know it. keep the comments coming, I love them all.
Trisha says
I hear your questions about RG between dogs! I’ll write up my thoughts sometime in July. Right now I’m working on interview questions for a taping tomorrow for a documentary about the relationship between people and dogs (Please don’t rain. Please don’t be one of the days I seem unable to speak a coherent sentence….) and on my two talks for Sparcs in Rhode Island in a few weeks. But I get that it is a common problem, and I’ll work on it after the Sparcs talks are over.
So many good questions/comments! I can’t answer them all, but here are some thoughts to randomly selected questions:
To Rebecca: So glad you asked about “removing a dog’s dinner bowl to control the resources.” I never do that myself. It seems to be the opposite of what I want to teach dogs, which is to love it when I come over and mess with their food. I know of no research on this issue, but after 25 years I’d bet a considerably sum that it makes some dogs worse than they were before.
To Naomi: Heart breaking story, just heart breaking. I can’t think of a similar case, but I have known many dogs who changed markedly after a companion died. And to think that an article appeared in Time just last year that argued that “dogs can’t have friends.” Sigh.
Trisha says
Nan S: Thanks for the laugh about the vast number of google inquiries titled “My dog just ate a whole chicken.” This after I discovered Maggie licking up the butter in the butter dish while my back was turned. She managed to eat about a quarter of it, luckily, no signs of distress. And good for you for going back to basics. You never know how far you can go. As I mentioned in the blog, I conceded baby animals to Tulip when she found, for example, a rabbit nest. There simply wasn’t anything I could give her that was higher value, and nothing I could think of that she’d fight for, so we called a truce. A chicken stolen from the counter is another thing altogether however. You might try using another cue too, like Sit/Stay or some silly trick that changes the emotional energy, but no guarantees. Best of luck, keep us posted.
Trisha says
Several of you have raised issues about when to intervene if RG is between two dogs. I think that is a great question, I’ll be sure to address it when I write about it in July. I agree, with Greta and others, that a quiet growl is not a problem in many contexts, and that trying to micro-manage relationships between dogs can be problematic.
Kerry M. says
I have a dog-dog recovering resource guarder and two younger dogs. He did his worst guarding with my two previous dogs, so we are mostly in a good place as we had already knocked this issue down to a manageable size. Today, I have to be careful with kongs – even if they are empty, but that’s about it. The biggest success we have had in the past year is his play police tendencies. I love the idea of that being “fun resource guarding”.
We are using lots of treats and ccc. Early on, I’d call him away if he decided to intervene and he would get rewarded for backing off. Now, he mostly sits on the couch while the young ‘uns are playing and gives me a loaded look that fully expresses his frustration and annoyance about the racket. I just say, “good boy” and treat him for letting them be. The trick for me was to stay positive and not let myself get frustrated since that would have made him more frantic. I knew I was asking something that was difficult for him to do, so I rewarded it well when he did it. Then, as he got better, I tried to notice when he made his own choice to let it go so that I could stop intervening as often. Also since he does like to play himself, just not as often as the young ones do, I try to get him alone time with each dog so he has a chance to initiate play when there is a two dog dynamic rather than a three dog dynamic.
em says
Fantastic post, fantastic pie, and what a perennially helpful topic resource guarding is.
I’ve been lucky enough never to have had responsibility for a resource guarder for more than a week or so, but I have often been surprised by how many of the dogs I’ve met who have serious problems with RG are otherwise very sweet and deferential.
The one dog I had brief charge of, a corgi cross rescued by a friend of mine, had a very severe problem- he was a charming, gentle, happy, deferential, and sociable dog otherwise, but anyone (dog or human) who approached him while he was eating was likely to be seriously bitten. He didn’t freeze, or growl or offer warning snaps, either, but immediately escalated from calm to rage, charging and dealing out deep puncturing bites to every member of the (all-adult) household at one time or another. He survived this behavior mostly by dint of being a manageably small dog, but it was quite shocking to see. While I was dogsitting, I managed him with hand feeding (he had no issues with being hand fed, or even with being handfed treats right beside the other dog in his household, though I never risked it) and gating and had no problems. His owner moved not long after, and I don’t know whether she ever got his behavior under control, but I’ve never gotten my surprise at the transformation of this otherwise friendly and docile dog the day I saw him lunging furiously at his owner like small furry crocodile.
On the other hand, my Sandy is as covetous a dog as any I’ve met. She wants NOTHING more than whatever Otis has (food, toys, bed, attention, whatever). But she is absolutely not a resource guarder. If Otis asserts himself about something (just his bed, pretty much), she immediately backs off. She won’t touch his toys when they’re inside the house, either, though take the same toy outside, and she’ll have it pried out of his mouth in five seconds flat. I have no problem getting her to drop anything, no issues at all approaching her while she’s eating/holding a prized object, and she even brings her periodic rodent kills right to me and drops them at my feet at the slightest prompting, usually wandering off again before I can dig out a reward. She’ll play-guard (mostly with other dogs, Otis is too much in the habit of giving her whatever she wants and never trying to take anything from her) a stick or toy at the park if she’s actively engaged in a game, barking or inhibitedly lunging at a dog trying to steal her prize, but she never stiffens or shows a hard eye or any other sign of anger, the dog coming almost never backs away, she continues to use play invitation postures, and she never makes physical contact or escalates beyond this pantomime-y level, so I feel pretty safe calling it play.
She IS one of those Einsteinian dogs who knows how to bark at a window to get what she wants (Otis is too, but he learned it from her), and she has excellent social skills in general, so I just chalk up her tendency to openly covet Otis’ things to her bossypants, socially aspirational personality.
Trisha says
To Joe, first comment, about dogs snarfing food as fast as they can once you ask them to stop. Ah yes, a common problem indeed! Tootsie just did that this morning when she discovered her most favorite of all foods, cat poop. I don’t think of it as RG, more as a reasonable behavior of an individual who doesn’t want to miss out on the wonderful stuff they just found, and knows the best way to hang on to it is to eat it! Best solutions I know are 1) Teach a really great “Drop.” (Meaning, it’s in your mouth, please let it go, versus “Leave It” which means, you’re looking at it, please back up and don’t even think about picking it up. Big distinction to me. Agree?) 2) Try a totally different cue. Sometimes it works to surprise dogs by asking to do something completely out of context. Back up! Sit Down! Look Pretty! If they know and like the cue sometimes dogs will default to it and forget about what is in their mouth for a moment. Otherwise, if I can get a hold of the object, I’ll work through the cue (Take It, Drop) and then give them the nasty item back as a reinforcement. I gave a disgustingly aged dead bird carcass back to a bird once, because my gut said she’d never trust me if I didn’t. She did drop on cue (after I ran around the yard playing hard to get versus chasing her) and I gave it right back to her. My friends, watching from the porch, were appalled. But she look straight into my eyes as if equally surprised, and trusted me completely ever after.
Laura says
At Nan S,
I know how you feel about counter-surfing. Seamus was guilty of that as well until I got help last year. the final straw was the day my husband returned from visiting his family in Georgia. He’d brought home a lemon pound-cake soaked in Tennessee whisky… oh wow was that good. We’d had dinner and had already sliced into the cake for dessert. He and I were in the kitchen, washing dishes and talking and he went back into the dining room to collect the last of the dinner dishes. It was then that I heard it, a cry of dismay and anger. I came out to see Seamus lying on the floor and happily finishing a slice of lemon cake. He’d quietly snatched three pieces off the plate while we’d been in the kitchen. I took him into the bedroom and made him stay there while we finished the rest of the dishes. it was then that I decided I needed help. I called the school and soon, two instructors came out to help me. We put Seamus on a leash and, armed with my bate pouch and the clicker we approached the table like this.
First, I would walk with him at a heel and with my hand close to the clip on the leash so that I could feel his head with my hand. I would walk towards the wall, with the table between me and him and if he didn’t turn his head towards the table, I’d click and treat.
Second, I’d turn Around, with Seamus still in a heel at my left. Now he was beside the table and one of my instructors had put a slice of bread on it. we walked forward and if he didn’t turn his head towards the table, click and treat. We did this several times and then my instructor suggested that I click and treat whenever I felt his head turn towards me.
It worked, I’m happy to say and now, Seamus doesn’t approach the table, unless I’m over there and he’s curious, but even then, he doesn’t get as close as he once did and doesn’t try to sniff or take food off of it. Perhaps this would help you nan S? It’s helped us, and even now, we still work on it, because it’s good for him and because he enjoys training so much. And in case any of you are wondering if the whisky in the cake effected him, it didn’t. He was just fine… my dog with the iron stomach. 🙂
Pat says
When I was growing up many years ago we had a Cocker Spaniel. My mother gave her a soup bone as a treat. Honey was fine with us but didn’t like the younger kids getting close, and didn’t seem to know what to do with the bone except guard it. Finally, after a day or two, my mom let her out and threw the bone away while she was outside. Honey came back in, looked around, seemed to let out a big sigh of relief and was back to being her sweet self!
I too would like to see a discussion of dog – dog aggression. I currently have an English Cocker that will guard food and occasionally myself from our other two dogs. I’ve tried to become more aware of doing things like petting him just because he’s there and wants it. We’re also very careful with food around them. I’ve heard that correcting a dog for growling may lead to them skipping the growling and going straight to the next step. I’d be grateful for your thoughts on this, as my husband will tell Joe to knock it off if he growls at the others.
Thanks so much for your blog and I also think the pie looks wonderful!
Stephanie Whetten says
I truly enjoyed the article but, as others have also said, I would love to learn how to handle dog on dog RG. I have 2 Great Pyrenees that get in to it over toys, bones, kongs, etc. My 7 month old Pyr knows leave it , drop it, etc. but my 5 year old rescue that we have had for 5 months just has not been able to grasp it. She gets so stressed when I work with her on leave it. She also seems to be the one that just has to have what the puppy has no matter what it is. Even if I give her her own chewie etc. Any ideas would be helpful
Judy says
I have a severe resource guarder who came to me at 7 weeks – so I’m blaming genetics! When he was just a few months old I once found him chewing on a plastic spoon and in a moment of insanity offered him a lamb steak in exchange – he leapt at me and bit me on the shoulder, drawing blood. You don’t mention ‘trading’ in your article, but I always think it’s worth being aware that some dogs are so threatened by the fact that you want something they have, they won’t consider whether it’s worth the swap. In his mind, I think the lamb steak convinced him that the plastic spoon must be REALLY valuable.
He no longer guards non-food items, and is safe when approached as we worked through the guidelines you gave above, as he no longer feels threatened. But we still have a rule that if he manages to steal food, it’s his, because to my mind this is safer than him going back to worrying that we might want to take something off him. He’s also always muzzled outside the house in case of any incidents involving bunnies or picnics… And he still gets a reward if he steals a sock out of the laundry and presents me with it, because he used to attack me if I just looked at him when he’d nicked a sock!
Could I have done more? Maybe. But after a failed training attempt using a rabbit skin, I decided that he was manageable, and after a couple of years of agonising I was going to start enjoying him. The day he brought me his kong so I could scrape the last bit of peanut butter out of it was a very special day!
Nic1 says
Trisha, excited to hear that you are involved in a documentary. Keep us posted! 🙂
RG is endlessly fascinating in all contexts I find. I looked at last years discussion again and it was fascinating…I learned so much from every bodies comments as I always do on here…
I read on a blog recently about someone using LAT as a tool to address RG issues between household dogs. I suppose it would help address this as a de-sensitising exercise? Can’t see how that would work with Maggie though when she just wants whatever Willie has or other dogs who express a similar behaviour in that context? Has anyone ever tried I?
Gosh Naomi’s post was truly moving….dogs do seem to experience acute grief, or something similar, but it seems that the loss of his little friend induced chronic depression in this case. His resulting behaviour was so nderstandable….Trisha, have you ever written about how the death of owners affects dogs? I guess so many of them go through some similar emotions anyway when they are given up for adoption? Stress – possibly PTSD in extreme cases; depression and anxiety perhaps. I often wonder what my dog ever ‘thinks’ or if she ever gets olfactory reminders of her previous homes or owners. (she had three that we know of….) Is olfactory memory similarly powerful in dogs? I think you may have touched on this in ‘For the Love of a Dog’? Must re-read….
Gosh sorry to go off on a tangent but this blog often inspires that as there are so many fascinating stories…
I enjoy reading every comment.
LisaW says
I can commiserate on the wet car interior (not sure if that was last post or an update). I have left my sunroof that goes from front to back open on more than one occasion (slow learner). Years ago I had a great VW Vanagon that had a sunroof that hand-cranked open at least four feet. I had my dogs with me and had to run into an appointment, and sure enough, a thunderstorm blew through, and I got back to the Vanagon and there were two drenched dogs and enough water inside to need a bailing bucket. The dogs gave me that look that said: “You have thumbs, you could have closed the roof, why do you keep doing this?”
I, also, am anxiously awaiting your post on dog-dog RG. Someone else asked this, and I would like to know, too. When is it appropriate to give a mild correction and when is it not? Our RG’er does respond to a low, deep, “Olive, that’s enough” or depending on the intensity, a “Hey, leave her be,” or “Olive, it’s fine, nothing to do with you.” There have been a few instances where her intensity got too high, and we all just left the room and left her there for a few minutes. She does respond to verbal cues and a calm stroke.
I have not been successful or embolden enough to test her with CC on certain items; they are both too food motivated, and I worry about a scrap over the super delicious treats and there are some toys that really do bring out the bad side.
Beth says
Haven’t had a chance to read all the comments yet (or revisit the first set of comments) but I wanted to say that my Maddie is just like Maggie: she wants whatever another dog has, even if you offer her something identical. And she willingly gives up anything in her mouth. Which is good, because nephew Jack definitely has resource guarding tendencies. Alas, he knows she is a pushover and, given the chance, will walk up and take a toy right from her mouth. When this happens, Madison doesn’t growl or protest, but she DOES look at me as if to say “See what happened? Please get me my toy!”.
When we get new high-value toys, I must referee. Interestingly, for a dog who you could lift right off the ground during a game of tug if you were so inclined, she gives only one or two half-hearted tugs if Jack tries to take a toy away, and then just lets it go.
diane says
So interesting. I’m going to keep reading, but temporarily stopped at NanS with the whole chicken episode. I don’t have a lot of resource guarding problems with my dogs, present and past. But my story involves my first dog, a Husky BC mix, who never took any food from counters, etc. One New Year’s Eve, I had a ham in the middle of my dining room table. I joined my husband and guests down stairs to listen to some music, and when I came back upstairs, the ham was in my BC mix mouth under the dining room table. I’m trying to wriggle it away from him, while he is RG big time with growling. It finally dawned on me that I wouldn’t serve it anyway….so why am I risking a bite!!!! (my dog got “maggot of the year” award that year for this episode!) Maybe my contribution to this blog is simply you never know when the “resource” is worth guarding, and best learn prevention and how to handle it (including backing off)
Frances says
I have seen that sigh of relief when an object so precious that it is a source of anxiety is removed – I always think it is a bit like having jewellery that is too expensive to wear and enjoy, and that means you have to set alarms and treble lock the house every time you leave!
Many years ago my mother’s poodle was not allowed to tease the cat, but was permitted to protect her food and chews from unwanted incursions. The dog would leave a bone right in the middle of the floor and hide under a chair. When the cat walked across the room, and perforce went near the bone, out shot Popsy with a great show of growling to claim it back. I think she just enjoyed the game, as they got on very well the rest of the time – the cat would even drop stolen food down to the dog from tables and benches!
Frances says
Ooooops – yet another post! A tiny grumble from Poppy this afternoon made me remember that their is a small RG issue with my two toy dogs – my lap when I am sitting down. Usually Poppy gets there first, and Sophy is content to settle on a bed by my feet, but recently Sophy has had a sore neck and has discovered that being on my lap where I can massage the stiffness out while reading or watching a film is a Good Thing For Papillons. My first reaction when Poppy was a pup and growled when one of the other animals wanted to join her on my lap was to put her down on the floor (cue a refusal to even look at me for some time); my second, more considered, response was to ask her to move over to make space, and reinforce with lots of praise and cuddles when she did so. I was reading a Victorian novel the other day, in which children were repeatedly reinforced for unselfish behaviour with praise and the promise of rewards to come, and suddenly got to wondering just how much of our own morality is down to the careful conditioning applied by our parents and teachers, and just how far we can condition our dogs to the same framework…
Trish K says
I have two 1yr. Old bc and bc mix. So far there hasn’t been any resource guarding towards me or any other human. Well I’m sure there has been no guarding of toys because I have tested it but I really don’t know about food. I haven’t ever felt the need to touch their dinner bowls or treats while they are eating. Although they have stolen paper napkins from the counter but drop it when I ask. Actually have noticed Simon swallowing part of the napkin rather than dropping it lately. I didn’t consider that guarding. I’m going to work on a GREAT drop it rather than just a good drop it as it seems that would solve a lot of potential issues. I’m going to test the food RG tonight. I do have Dog to dog food guarding and can’t wait for that discussion.
The pie looks delicious! Feel like sharing?
Trish K says
So I just tested my dogs for food guarding as I approached them while they were eating and took their bowls. I should’ve video taped it so I could try to pay attention to slight details because I have to admit I was a bit nervous, more so with Bella than Simon. I tried to be as casual as possible not going in too fast or too slow. I tried Simon first, I think I said “hey Simon” then picked up his bowl and set it down twice. Walked over to Bella and because I was nervous I had treats in my hand to show her before I picked up her bowl. As far as I can tell there is no food guarding with my dogs.
Robin Jackson says
In our household, a great Leave it and Drop it are essential, as I’m a partial quad, wheelchair dependent, with limited hand control. So a lot of things fall to the floor in our house, and not all of them are safe for dogs. I’d guess we’ve spent over 500 hours with each dog on these behaviours, but the pay off has been worth it.
We use the trading method a lot. And our drop it cue is a very cheerful, “Can I see?” Followed by ” Ooh, nice!” And calling the dog over to get the traded for item.
We have found often the most successful method with really tempting stuff is for person and dog to walk together away from the item, leaving it there, and go get the great reward elsewhere. I suspect, but don’t know for sure, that it may be emotionally easier to give up an abandoned item than one that is taken by the person.
We started this because since I’m in a wheelchair, it often wasn’t possible for me to immediately get the dropped item. But it’s worked so well I had the kids do it, too.
So our sequence is:
Dog has item
Cheerful cue to drop it
Dog drops it
Admiring cue to walk away from item
Person and dog both go in another room, or to another place
Person gives dog excellent treat
Dog is shut in another room
Person goes back and cleans up item
This is trickier with multiple dogs together, but still doable.
So for the chicken under the table, my first goal isn’t to get the chicken away from the dog. It’s to get the dog away from the chicken, if that makes sense.
My mom would call this “aligning goals.” If both the dog and I want to go in the kitchen so I can give her some smelly cheese, we both want the same thing. Goals are aligned. The fact that the chicken gets left behind in the dining room is almost incidental. Then once we’re in the kitchen, I can put the dog in the bedroom. And then go clean up in the dining room.
On the other hand, if I’m trying to get the chicken away from the dog, inevitably our goals are out of alignment, because just the presence of the chicken makes the dog want to keep it. And every time the dog sees me reach for it, it triggers the conflicting goal.
So I don’t take the chicken until the dog is somewhere else.
But again this is also based on literally hundreds of hours of training that walk away behaviour.
Anyway, just a different way to look at things I thought might be interesting.
Susan says
Thank you for the insightful article Dr. Mc Connell. I have never thought about a dog resource guarding a human being. I recently had my dobi mix assessed and was told she was agoraphobic. I think I made two mistakes. I should not have taken the dog out and the assessment should have been done in my home. I adopted Coco from a shelter before a knew anything about animal behavior. She was in a cage with her twin sister. Her sister was jumping and barking at the window while Coco was sitting in the corner looking away. We adopted a full grown insecure dobi. I am certain we have made things worse by bringing other dogs into the picture. Coco will growl and snap at anyone who gets too close to me. I realized that I do not even know what her ears should look like because they are always horizontal or back. She sit next to me with her head and paws resting in my lap and until I started learning about behavior I did not know she was in a state of eternal stress. Can I help her? Would a dog like this respond to BAT? Thanks again….
Gayla says
Even though nothing happened, Trish K’s post, (about being nervous,) is a good reminder that the level of confidence we exude affects the dog’s response. Other than the fact that you’d never want to do it, – it would be an interesting experiment to see if RG could be created in a dog that showed no natural inclination.
Mireille says
Shadow was the pup that found all the treasures in the house, especially socks. And then my sunglasses, my purse, my shopping bag. We successfully managed trading, and one important factor was following your advice by using a command with the appropriate emotion attached. So we used “Did you find something goooood?” 😉 instead of NO.
Shad was one of the heaviest pups in the litter, much heavier than puppy Spot. Spot is now bigger and heavier. Shad is a resource guarder, especially towards Spot, claiming toys and goodies, with the occasional fight BUT we are now at the point that I can give them chews and bones, play with two high value balls (one each) and both will fetch (whereas in the past Shad would give Spot a LOOK and he would just saunter away pretending not to be interested) and today we did the ultimate test. Both with a Kon Wobbler in the yard and it went very well. So, after 2,5 years, with not a single squabble going further than a growl in the past 6 months I feel rather satisfied ;-). (Okay, I’m typing this with glowing satisfaction, must mean something will go wrong in the coming week 😉 )
Interesting note: when we had a visit form a young labradoodle I removed all toys. He still managed to find one of Shad fav balls. It was in the time that Shad and Spot had occasional fights. To my surprise the only thing that happened was that Shad implored me to help. His look just said “Mum, he has my ball. DO something about it.” Sorry, probably antromorfism but I just cannot translate it otherwise. Happy though that he just looked from the doodle to me but did not attack the doodle ;-).
Mireille says
By the way, we were visiting a couple in France that had a BC (Jessy) and a Beauceron cross (named Toutou) Whenever a ball was thrown, the Beauceron claimed it. The BC had learned to get it (she chased but never grabbed it) because Toutou body slammed her and took the ball. BUT: Toutou did not bring the ball back to be thrown again. Only when we asked Jessy to “Go get the bal” she would go tot Toutou and jump around her and bark at her until she released the ball. Than Jessy would bring it back to her human to have the ball thrown again ;-).
Kat says
Resource guarding the human, me is the big issue with Finna. She seems to feel a need to protect me from everything and to compete for my attention. In some ways it’s a source of ongoing entertainment because she’s learned that if she tries to resource guard me I will disappear but she still has a strong desire to guard me from my husband so she transfers that need to grabbing and guarding the first thing she sees. This might be a toy or a piece of junk mail that hasn’t been tossed in the recycling yet–it’s not about the value of the item but transference of a fear based resource guarding behavior. If my husband enters the room she’ll often look at him, dart toward me, remember it doesn’t work to guard me and then find some other item. Her frantic search for something to guard is heartening (she does get that guarding me isn’t acceptable), amusing, (70 lbs of canine darting frantically around the room in search of something to grab and guard), and heartbreaking (what a messed up dog she is that the mere sight of “Dad” coming to talk to me triggers resource guarding). Endless hours of my husband rewarding her for not reacting to his approach and trading her high value treats for whatever she’s guarding and we still haven’t put this issue to rest. She has gotten better over time but it continues to be an issue.
It would need to be a supremely valuable item for her to guard it from me or the children (a whole roast). She has a good drop it but not great. However, if she knows I want it and she’s reluctant to give it up she’ll come to me and let me take it from her mouth. She found a hard plastic play pineapple today and was loving the feel and sound of it in her teeth. She was many feet away and I asked her to drop it trying to capitalize on the fact that I had a ball to throw which is her favorite thing (we generally play with two balls and when she forgets to drop the one she just brought back I cue drop it). Instead of dropping it she came to me and sat next to me where I could easily put a hand on her collar and reach into her mouth for the toy. I love Robin Jackson’s method of going somewhere else and leaving the forbidden object behind. That’s something we’re going to be adding to our repertoire. I can see how that would make things much easier for Finna and be a very valuable tool if she ever does get the whole roast.
There’s some mild resource guarding between the dogs “grrr, mine go away” used by each to the other and which each respects so it’s never escalated beyond that. Finna started out trying to horn in on any attention Ranger or the cats were getting but over time she’s learned to share, instead of coming between me and Ranger she’ll sit next to him for her share or sit on my other side. If I ignored this she’d probably revert to pushing between but I like her willing to share so I encourage sharing.
Kelly Schlesinger says
WE have a now 12.5 year old Leonberger who is an RG. I always found it easier to have him leave things so I could “take possession” in his mind before I reached in for whatever it was. One day we were walking in the woods and I saw him very interested in something – then he picked up what I figured was part of a deer carcass: a huge bone with dangling rotting flesh. I thought, “Oh my God, I’m going to have to go over there and get that,” but when I said “Drop it,” to my everlasting gratitude he did and came back to me. One of my best dog days ever! And then I got to laugh at my friend, whose dog rolled in it and she had to put him in her car and drive him home.
Margaret McLaughlin says
@ Robin, I really like your concept of getting the dog away from the chicken, so to speak–it flips the problem on its head.
I have never had an RG dog, & hope I never do, but at the moment I am dealing with a variant; a “finishing” guide dog puppy who came to me at 5 mo with a thieving behavior well established. She is obsessed by fabric, & loves to get things she shouldn’t have in her mouth, & dance around just out of reach. A straight trade doesn’t work, because what she has has more value than anything I’m liable to hhave on hand to offer. The school told me that, unless she had something dangerous, I should start not only ignoring the behavior, but ignoring her, & instantly start treating my own dog. It is working well. Sometimes she drops the stolen item right where she is & follows us to get in on the fun, sometimes she brings it along & drops it at my feet while she’s also responding to the cues that are earning Nina treats. I NEVER reach for it, just put my foot on it so she can’t snatch it up again I’ve been thinking of it in terms of “value added”; the tea towel is more valuable than kibble because I want it, the kibble is more valuable than the tea towel because another dog is getting it.
Although this is a game to her, not serious RG, I wonder if some version might be useful in RG between dogs, in diminishing the value of what the dog is guarding.
Trish K says
I think I might have a case of territorial RG. I took Bella to the lake with me for the weekend last weekend for a girls only getaway. I left Simon home with “The Cook”. When we got home the boys were out and about and when they did come home Bella barked at Simon quite a bit and acted as if he were a stranger although she treats strangers nicer than she greeted Simon. Am few minutes later all was fine and they played as if that incident never happened. This weekend Simon stayed home with me and The Cook took Bella to the lake. It will be interesting to see if Bella reacts the same way as I plan on being here when they come home.
Francoise Maxwell says
When it comes to objects: Trade, don’t take.
If I was given a slice of strawberry pie, I wouldn’t mind giving up a slice of rhubarb pie.
I don’t think it’s anthropomorphizing. Dogs understand that when the choice is offered to them 🙂
Michelle says
I would be interested in reading about RG from cats, too, since there’s the language barrier between species.
Hats says
Thanks for re-posting this – it’s a fascinating topic. I own a 7 year old rescue greyhound/deerhound/saluki mix (we got him about one year ago) who tends to guard from other dogs. He is fine with people – to be honest we don’t really have much need/inclination to take things from him as he is incredibly soppy with us and doesn’t react at all if you enter his space while he eats or even idly stroke him as you go past. He also takes objects very nicely and gently (he never snatches or tries to take our food) and will settle down to eat them right beside us. He does try to bury a lot of his high value items but I’ve always assumed that is quite normal, especially for a dog who was starved (as he was)?
The problem we have is outside the home with other dogs. He was (is?!) very reactive to all other dogs when we got him but that has improved an awful lot by building up his confidence (he was attacked several times before we got him which I think led to a lot of fear issues, combined with a lack of early socialisation). However, he gets very ‘guardy’ when certain dogs are around. He is fine with his friends but if a more unfamiliar dog approaches me or my partner (ESPECIALLY if we have treats) he will often start barking and lunging and things can escalate quickly. Sometimes he can be perfectly nice with another dog but as soon as they come to us for any attention it all changes. We had an unfortunate incident with a puppy that ambled up to him while he was lying down and eating something he had found – the puppy just kept coming and our boy leapt up and pinned him to the ground, leaving a tiny puncture wound on its snout. It was mortifying – thankfully the owners were incredibly nice about it but I was absolutely gutted and felt like I had failed both my own dog and the puppy by not being more vigilant. He has also lunged and squabbled with a dog that came up to a lady he really likes when he was getting some attention from her. It’s one of those difficult (and very public and embarrassing) issues that we really want to try and tackle, but don’t quite know how. A blog on dog to dog/people guarding would be amazingly helpful!
LisaT says
I was hoping to find a companion dog-dog article, when a maturing dog starts RG from the older dogs in the household.
Sarah says
We have a very stubborn coonhound who weighs in at 90 lbs. at 14 mos. old. He is extremely loveable and obedient until he gets hold of a new bone or any “stolen” object. My husband and I are going to try the above method, but sometimes we are too late and don’t see an object until it’s been stolen and well in his grasp. The other day for instance, he stole a lightbulb off of a shelf and my husband didn’t see it until he walked past Carson while he was licking it (thank goodness he never bit down on it) and got a growl/bark. At that point, all we wanted to do was get it from him to keep him from getting hurt, but had it been a less dangerous item, is this a situation where it is ok to treat him as a trade or would that signify to Carson not that we wanted to trade, but that he was getting treated/rewarded for growling at us? He hasn’t yet mastered his “drop it” and “leave it” (an article on how to train those commands really well would be super helpful!), but “No” and “Off” result in barking, so our only option at that point is to trade for it. He very willingly drops items for a treat, but I don’t want him to think he’s getting a treat for the wrong reason.
Others also mentioned sometimes just leaving the dog alone if he steals food, etc. because it’s not worth the fight. Doesn’t this teach the dog that if he steals from the table/counter there is no negative consequence?
Thanks in advance for any insight anyone has on these 2 issues!
Penny weemer says
I have stumbled across this article in my desperate attempt to understand the issue better, thank you very much it had really shown me that I am on the right track
Boo, our 11 month GR has shown resource guarding since be was 8 weeks old, in the beginning we backed off when he growled and after reading one of the comments above I am now worried that this has taught him that he is above us although my thought is that RG isn’t about who is boss but more about trust. In the beginning he guarded food and treats and we knew how to condition this and saw big results however after months of no guarding I have seen 4 instances in 1 week and now it is harder as it seems to be items he finds or steals. Also he is doing it with other dogs so he will stick a stick from a dog and then guard it when the dog tries to get it back. Is there any solution for this? Should I set up a “trap” for him to steal something just to counter condition?
I also loved the roast chicken story. It’s so reassuring to know I am not alone with this issue, when you discuss it out and about people either respond assuming you have a bad dog or that your dog thinks he is the boss, it’s tough trying to explain that the answer here isn’t to scold the dog
jenn says
this is a really good explanation of heritability–
http://www.indiana.edu/~p1013447/dictionary/herit.htm
Vita says
I’ve had two “resource guarders”.. both having similarities but also grave differences. I will not rest til I get to the bottom of what drives guarding in the first place, if it can be rehabbed successfully and the statistics of how these cases turn out.
Koba, my most recent, was a pit mix with a fuzzy history. His previous owner cared enough about him to get his hip replaced at some point, though the artificial hip was out of place when he came into the shelter. He came in weighing 52 lbs, about 20 lbs under weight. This baffled us being he was so skinny/neglected when he came in, yet someone had spent 5 Gs to get his hip replaced. He was 2-5 yrs. We picked him up from a good samaritan (we think) who had supposedly found an old “drunk” walking him, super skinny. The samaritan asked if he could buy Koba and the owner said, “Here, take him.” That’s all I know for SURE and even that info could be misinformation. I have speculated he was hit with shoes, and towels, and had a traumatic experience with dogs.. still.. only theories from how he acted at home. When he was bad, he thought I was going to hit him, it was so sad. He LOVED people though. Children too. He’d greet strangers on the street like he’d known them for life.
He guarded mainly his food at the shelter. Though he was also capable of guarding the garbage, toys and other high value items. He never showed any signs of guarding with me though, even though I didn’t really try taking things after being told he was capable. There was one incident when he was still at the shelter when he found a dead mouse while we were hanging out. Knowing he guarded, I said drop and prayed he’d leave it alone. He did.
I fell in love more and more and decided to adopt him. In the weeks prior to adopting him I taught him leave it and the drop command. I started to condition him that hearing “DROP” meant a spill of hot dogs or other high value treats. He did great with this and once he was used to it in a lot of different situations.. I implemented it with his food bowl. I worked with the trainers and made sure to see what his guarding looked like before he came home so I could be aware. I noted his warnings. They told me even if he improved, there will always be a chance that the guarding could pop up in any fashion. They said to be careful in his spaces like my bed, his bed, his crate. I decided if he was comfortable with it when coming home.. I would get him used to having people in those spaces so that it would be normal to share his spaces from the get go. He loved hanging with people, having company and greeting strangers, and was never territorial in his kennel at the shelter so.. Good idea, right? Good intention, but I was SO wrong. I’ll explain further below.
By the time he came home, he wanted nothing more than for me to come over to his bowl to drop something in there. From his first to last day home with me.. he never growled at me for taking/being near his food and we could share food together without him guarding it. It was as if it had vanished. By month two, he demanded I hold his bowl to feed him. He wouldn’t eat a full meal without me being home, and I always left a bowl of kibble out.
The drop command was the best thing. I used it with all of his toys. I also took advantage of his desire to carry his own toy inside. I only would take his toys if he initiated play. Even then, if his paw was on it, that was his. The FEW times he guarded toys from me.. it was always in places where he couldn’t run away with the toy. He’d freeze, do the whale eyes, tense up, growl. Once or twice he’d snap the air.
The worst he ever got with me was 2 months in.. standing over his new toy, growling, showing teeth.. after warning me with an air snap and a growl when on his chair with the toy. Granted I would usually never take a toy from him, he always warned. That night, I decided to teach him get in your bed, and to put his own toys away to get around this. I never allowed toys on the bed with others, but decided from then on no toys on the bed even just with me, and that they should always be away when company was over. I talked to the trainer and we set to meet that wednesday to further address this.
The next day I had him in my car at the shelter. He used to sit in my car all day during the days I’d volunteer before I adopted him, to give him a break from his kennel. He would come with me to visit after I adopted him when I’d walk the other dogs and hang out in the car. One of his fav. staffers was saying hi to him in the car when we were leaving. All wags and kisses. Then she leaned over him to help me put his seatbelt on while I was in the drivers seat and with little warning he tried to bite her hand. I let the trainer know and decided to be cautious in his spaces and make sure the other person got in first and to look for his signs.. which were very subtle. I was unsure if he was guarding the car or guarding me.
The next night, my aunt came downstairs to hang out like she often does with no incident. We all hang out on my bed. He was riled up and excited for her to be down there. I had put his toys in his crate and he was acting strange when she approached it, and his crate is next to my bed. I had her move away from it and give him a treat. Fine. Then she asked for paw, he snapped at her hand. I was uneasy.. but he loved her and never had incidents previously. My aunt said that she thought he was snapping to get the treat. I wasn’t sold but I also didn’t see his face and she had. I reset him in the other room.. had my aunt go in my room and get on the bed first. He got on and so did I. He went next to her to lay down and he was starting to relax like his normal self. (Normally, if he ever guarded ME, which was rare… he would guard me from actual dangerous people and my grandpa who always has a bad attitude.. he’d bark and put his paws on me when he’d hear him come downstairs. )
He was on his back like his normal mush self and his droopy lips were hanging down, so his teeth were showing. He did this all the time though when falling asleep. I started to relax too. Then he lifted his head onto her chest and looked up at her still pretty mushy, she looked back. Then, I saw his body tense up and the squinty look became a frozen stare, and knew it was no good. I didn’t want to say something to make my aunt nervous or abruptly move off the bed.. as I felt that would cause him to actually growl or bite. Her face was so close to his and she was in the corner of the bed, worst situation possible. I told her he was looking at her in a way I did not like and as I went to grab his collar he lunged up at her face and bit.
I went straight for his mouth and told him to let go calmly and told her to be quiet. He let go after a few seconds though it felt like eternity. He was still over threshold as I told my aunt to get off the bed to avoid a rebound. He didn’t show ANY desire to redirect on me. I went numb after that. I feel so responsible for not knowing to abort that whole situation.. I just never thought he would actually bite a person with intent to harm.. especially guarding me. I wish so many things were different.
I was committed to making it work with Koba but everyone at the shelter advised me to put him to sleep as he put 60 stitches in my aunts face. My grandmother is my landlord and would no longer let me keep him in my apartment past his bite hold. I couldn’t afford/find an apartment that I could stay in with him away from other people in that time. I offered to muzzle him and everything while working with a behaviorist and looking for a place. No mercy. The shelter would euthanize him if I gave him back after 10 days of being back where he was so miserable to begin with. I set him free in my home in my loving arms but feel so guilty. If I had the means I would have kept him and tailored my life around him.. but I felt I couldn’t ever guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again.
My point is, I wish I had had the sense to realize that if a dog were to guard spaces or myself that it wouldn’t be until he was fully comfortable and secure that these things were his. So the fact that he was “used to people on the bed” and “comfortable with A, B,C” in the first month meant nothing. Once he stopped guarding food, I became his greatest resource. During the 10 days after his bite, he was still his sweet self but I definitely noticed he was guarding me more than I would have liked to admit. Mostly gas station attendants, neighbors with a loud truck, or people who came into my room, which were few. I’m happy that I never had to see him escalate and lock him away from the world which he was still learning was a safe place. He loved life. I also feel devastated knowing that he wasn’t given a second chance after doing so well in food bowl specific treatment. I will never know what was driving the guarding, not knowing his past.. and that kills me. I feel if I knew his story I may have had more to go off to fix it.
So after this experience, I’m torn up inside. I need to get to the bottom of this whole guarding thing. My other dog who guarded, was a totally different animal. She was a buff cocker spaniel She would hide bones and growl/air snap just like Koba… but it was all threats. Only time I was ever bit by her was taking a steak bone out of her mouth.. when she’d bite back down to avoid it being taken. She’d usually only guard stuff she knew she wasn’t supposed to have.
How is she different from Koba, other than size? I wonder. I also wonder how much of this was genetic and how much had to do with his past. I wonder if his pain played a part, and how much. He was finally set for a surgery consultation that following Monday, which he never got to go to :(. I wonder if he bit before in a previous home. I wonder if he was taught to not growl hence his lack of warning. I wonder why he would warn ME with a growl but with my aunt, it was just a look.
I wonder if other dogs who start out mildly/severely guarding food or even toys end up guarding PEOPLE in this same pattern going from an air-snap to a serious bite. I’ve been reading countless forums for people who have had to euthanize their aggressive dogs.. finding that guarding food, or toys seems to be a pre-cursor to a serious bite guarding their owner from another loved family member or stranger.
I wonder if there’s any cases that you can actually successfully fix guarding of an owner. I feel defeated. I wish I knew that I was that valuable to him. Now that I think about it, it makes sense.. I saved him and his life was finally great, he didn’t want me taken. In my mind, I thought he knew I’d never let anyone take him from me. But why guard me from some people and never others?
These are all mysteries we need to search for an answer for and refuse to settle for an I DON’T KNOW. We need to get to the bottom of this so we can actually help these dogs properly and actually guide the owners in a more fool-proof way. I will never forgive myself for letting him go but I think about how much effort I put into him and it scares me to think that another may get a dog like him with mild guarding issues and then run into this escalating issue without knowing how to handle it.
I was pretty on top of things, and even I failed. He was a great dog, it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t mean it maliciously, he genuinely felt the urge to protect me even when I didn’t need it. How do you explain that ? Genetics ? Past? We need to start demanding answers and conducting research!!! Koba deserved a solution other than putting him to sleep!!!
I don’t want any “it was his breed.” BS either. Also Please, don’t hate me for my decision. I already hate myself enough for it. We need answers, for the Koba’s everywhere.. just waiting for us to help them overcome their inner conflicts.
Trisha says
Oh Vita, what a sad story. I’m so sorry you’ve been through this. I don’t have many answers for you. I doubt that anyone does. We simply don’t have good research on this issue. Resource guarding, or possessiveness (which is what it is… “It’s mine” versus “I’m afraid you are going to hurt my person or my toy or my dinner”) no doubt has both a genetic and learned component. The only helpful thing I can say is that I always advise people to not let RG’s on the bed with them and to never leave them in cars with windows open through which people can stick hands or faces. And please, please, although I so understand how painful this is, do not feel guilty that you felt forced to put Koba down. 60 stitches in the face is a horrible injury, and there are so many reason you simply could never take the risk that that would happen again–ethically, legally, etc. Please gather together your village and do all you can to get the support you need right now, because that’s what you need. Not facts, but support. It’s well deserved.
Jo Waits says
I inquired about this resource guarding problem to a dog behaviorist and she implied my dog didn’t have any respect for me or trusts me. I know without a doubt that my dog trusts me. There is no one she trusts more. I’m the only one who can calm her down in tense situations and she shows her love for me everyday. I’ve had vets tell me she’s only calm and less stressed when I’m with her.
No where in any article have I found anyone who agrees with that opinion. How founded is this belief?
Trisha says
No idea where this “no trust” idea came from, but I’d never say and don’t know anyone who would. And I’m always cautious about the “no respect” moniker. I’d forgot about it and use Classical Conditioning to work on the issue. See Mine! on the Dogwise site, it’s very detailed but very good.
Denise says
My boy, a 7 year-old hound mix who I found as a stray around age 1 is RG with other dogs as well as people in certain situations. I have managed his RG by feeding separately when in the presence of other dogs, though he is now an only dog so don’t have to worry about his RG in the house. I found your article due to a recent experience of RG that resulted in him biting me (which resulted in an ER visit and stitches).
Due to what I’m guessing being a stray dog and having to forage for food, my dog is extremely RG when he finds food or anything of high value when we are out on walks. I’ve always carried treats on me and we have been able to train a fairly consistent “leave it” or “drop it”. But if the treasure on the ground is too appealing then those commands go out the window. A couple days ago I was out walking him and he dipped his head into a bush and pulled out a rancid bag of chicken. Terrified that he was going to consume it and become horribly sick, I began sprinkling treats everywhere in hopes that he would drop it. No such luck. I ignored all of the warning signs – stiff body, lowered head, whale eye, and I made the bad choice of pulling hard enough on the leash that he dropped the bag, though not by choice. Unfortunately, the force from pulling on the leash caused me to lose my footing, I tripped over my two feet, and fell on the ground. Upon landing on the ground he came over and bit my face, causing several lacerations on my ear and a laceration across my eye brow. It was an extremely traumatizing experience to see what my dog is capable of when in his RG mode. He has bit me before but only when my hands were near his mouth (and these were years ago, when I didn’t understand RG), and he had fairly decent bite inhibition as he wouldn’t puncture. This bite was different in that he came after me as I was on the ground.
My partner and I have now decided that CC’ing to a muzzle is our next management step as I now see that he cannot be trusted when out walking. My questions is: how do I CC to random treasures that he may find outside? It’s unpredictable what he may find, and living in a city has taught me that just about any dangerous item can and will be found outside. We are planning on meeting with a vet behaviorist as the level of this bite is way past a “warning snap”. I’m heartbroken to be honest as I have worked so hard on working with him and his insecurities. I know that our bond will heal, my emotions will heal, and my household will move past this. But at the moment, everything is still very raw.
Katlyn says
I would love some advise with our dog. She is a 3 yr old mini aussiedoodle. She has always taken to me more than my husband but she loves him too. In the last year she has become more possessive over me to the point where she has started nipping my husbands hand if he touches me and she is close to us. He has never abused me or the her in any way so we are finding it so odd that she feels the need to “protect” me. How help train her against this before she becomes more aggressive towards my husband?
Trisha says
To Katlyn: I suspect she’s not “protecting” you, she’s protecting her exclusive access to you. Think of yourself as her favorite bone! Get yourself a copy of Feeling-Outnumbered, which has a section on training dogs to enjoy the approach of a “competitor”. Basically you condition your dog to like it when your husband gets closer, cuz she gets a treat every time.