Does your dog growl at you when you approach his food bowl? Does your puppy grumble when you try to take away a toy? Does he snap at you when you even step near him when he's got a bone? Does your dog bare his teeth when you approach the couch? If not, you're lucky! Read through this information and start working with your dog now, to keep him in the blissful state of loving your approach to his food bowl. If not, read on to find ways to help your dog. The technical term for this behavior is Resource Guarding, and it's an absolutely normal dog behavior. However, it's not something we humans appreciate. Fortunately, resource guarding is also a behavior that we can change.
A dog is an animal, a specialized wolf living in the human den, and not a furry little person - matter how we view him. Simply because he lives in our home and because we view him as part of our family makes most owners think we should be able to take a bone or any other item from our dog at will. We become easily affronted if our dog decides to become possessively aggressive about his toys - even more so than if our kids become angry if we try to take their toys away! But when our dogs become aggressive about keeping hold of their bones or toys or bed, the first thing we must do is not to see the issue as one of our dog engaging in 'point scoring' with ulterior motives of longer term control of his human pack, but rather as one of safety for ourselves. If we become drawn into physical combat with our dogs over possessions, as we will see later, we are more likely to cause ourselves a great deal of problems with our dogs in our day-to-day lives together than we are to teach them not to guard their toys or bones.
Dogs, being predators, come programmed to guard resources that are crucial to their survival as part of their
behavioral inheritance from their ancestor, the wolf. Some of those resources may be in short supply at certain times of year or in certain environments, and are therefore valuable. It is beneficial for wolves and dogs to have the propensity to look after their food and bits and pieces against other animals including, sometimes, members of your own group. For example, this is usually not true for grazing animals in terms of food - after all, what's the point of arousing yourself to look after your supply of grass when grass is everywhere?
It's very much a mistake call resource guarding a bid for 'dominance.' This is largely because it is just too simplistic to think that everything a dog might do which his owners disapprove of is some kind of a attempt at dominance. The 'dominant dog' label can also encourage owners to look for opportunities to score points back on their dog when their time would be much better spent looking for opportunities to teach the dog not to guard his possessions and to reward him for doing other things. This may contradict what you have seen on certain tv shows. But think about this: If you use force or threats to tell your dog that resource guarding is not acceptable, all you are really telling the dog is that you are aggressive around her food and resources. If it it does happen to shut down her resource guarding behavior, the emotion is still there, just hidden, ready to reappear with a less aggressive human - like a child or the friend that your dog meets at a party at your house. Instead of giving the lovely warnings that come naturally, you may have convinced her to not growl. Then we have a dog who suddenly goes from "I'm okay, I can hold it together" to "I can't take it any more!" and a bite without warning. A real "leader" doesn't need to prove they're in charge by growling. Not dogs, not people.
Here are a few of the myths about resource guarding, according to Jean Donaldson's new book "Mine! A Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs."
So if the answer is not to "dominate" your dog or shower it with freely available food, then what is it? Simple. Make your puppy or dog understand that the approach of a human to his food, toys, space, etc. is a Good Thing. The process is called classical conditioning. Just as the clicker is associated with treats in your dog's mind, the approach of a human hand, face, or other body part to his food dish should mean better food is on it's way.
The following process should be done with ALL dogs, for their entire lives. Definitely do it with young puppies. The only part that changes is how often you do these exercises, what sorts of things your dog has when you approach, and how close you can get to the dog before presenting it with the treat. Every capable member of the family should take part in these exercises, keeping safety firmly in mind.
Maintenance. After your dog or puppy is happily accepting any human approach to his food or toys (a state that humans call 'normal' and dogs call 'strange'), you are at the maintenance stage. Twice a week, at first, then once or twice per month, approach him while he's eating, pick up the bowl, and plop in a handful of treats before setting it back down. Do the same with toys or bones as well. Occasionally practice the "give" cue, replacing the surrendered object with something else if you really must take it away. Finally, continue the Say Please Protocol for the rest of the dog's life, incorporating new tricks as your dog learns them.
Oh no, he's doing it again! If your dog ever starts up again with resource guarding, it's not because he is trying to take over the world. It's probably because you weren't keeping up on his training and he has started to notice that it's not such a good thing, after all, to give up his resources. Remind him that humans are the source of all good things by going through the above process again.
No guarantee is stated or implied in this article and if you follow any of the advice in it, you do so at your own risk. If you ever feel that you, your dog, or others are at risk because of your dog, please seek the services of a professional dog trainer.
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