Resource Guarding

January 9, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Resource Guarding in Dogs

How do you feel when someone leans or sits on your new car? Mercy! You’ve worked hard to pay for that shiny new car. Folks need to show respect, right? Now, you understand why dogs guard their new toys.

What is Resource Guarding?

Every dog possesses the need to guard objects. Guarding resources is a primitive survival instinct. You can’t survive without shelter, food and water so it behooves you to protect valuable resources.

Aggression is a learned behavior. If you threaten someone, as he approaches your food, and he retreats, you’ve learned that aggression works. The dog world lists material, territorial, protective, possessive and sex-related aggression as different types of aggression, but when you peel back the layers, the cause is usually due to guarding babies, territory or mates. So I lump these terms into resource guarding.

What Does Resource Guarding Look Like?

Dogs will warn before biting. It’s up to us to notice the telltale signs. As another dog or person approaches, most dogs will:

Freeze or stiffen their bodies
Lower their heads over their prized object
Widen their eyes with the whites showing (whale eye)

If a threat continues approaching, dogs will increase their warning by:

Making direct eye contact (“Um, this is mine!”)
Growling
Showing teeth
Snapping
Lunging
Biting

VIDEO: Resource Guarding

Stella (Mini Bull Terrier) guards an antler. Sobek (Rottweiler) is asking for it, but Stella says “No.” Sobek takes the hint and relaxes. Sobek is dealing with his frustration and Stella never becomes aggressive. Her body language told the story.

Prevention

One ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold and this is so true for resource guarding.

Play the Trade Game

Instead of taking away a prized chew toy, play the trade game. Offer your puppy or dog a piece of hot dog for his chew toy. As he drops the chew toy, pick it up and give him a piece of hot dog. Hey, if you try to take away my cheesecake because you think I’ve had enough, I just might growl at you too! But if you give me a $100 bill for my cheesecake, then we’re cool. 🙂

Good Things Happen

Approach your dog, as he’s eating, and toss something really yummy into his food bowl. Dogs will learn to back away from their bowl so you can toss delicious chunks of roast beef or a huge scoop of canned food into their bowls. Basically, they’re learning that “approaching” does not mean you’re taking away their food, but adding to it.

RELATED: Prevent Resource Guarding

Separation is Good

For multiple dog households, separate dogs to prevent resource guarding behavior. It never fails; one dog finds the nylabone that has not been chewed on in years. Suddenly, the forgotten nylabone becomes a hot commodity. Every dogs wants to chew it right this minute. Or, you hand each dog a bully stick. They don’t want their stick. They want the bully stick being chewed by the other dog, oi vay.

Ask dogs to go in their crates and reward with a bully stick or scheduled meal. It’s best to add visual barriers (see no evil :)), such as sheets or blankets, to prevent crate guarding opportunities. Once all dogs have finished their chews or dinner, open crate doors, pick up food bowls and release dogs from crates.

Management for Dogs Already Resource Guarding

Food Bowl, Chew Toys and Food Stuffed Kongs

Practice sharing games and teach the trade cue. I promise, it will get better! If not, seek professional help.

That’s My Spot

Some dogs will guard their favorite napping spots, usually the sofa or bed, from dogs and even people. My general rule: If you act rude, you lose privileges. If a dog is guarding a spot on the sofa (or bed), toss a treat on the ground while saying “off.” You are not rewarding your dog for guarding; you’re rewarding him for getting off the sofa. Don’t make this a standoff because then you’re reinforcing guarding behavior. They’re getting to practice it.

RELATED: Offensive Dog Aggression

If she jumps right back on the sofa, say “off” while tossing a piece of treat on the ground. Usually, by the second or third time, your dog takes the hint and finds another spot to rest.

Plus, play sharing games. Resource guarding dogs will usually protect other prized possessions too.

That’s My Human

If someone gave me free access to car rides, cheesecakes and donuts, I would totally guard him too! Most resource guarding dogs practice this behavior while sitting in your lap. The moment you notice the first sign of resource guarding, which is usually body stiffening or hard stare, I say “off” and toss a piece of food on the ground. The person being resource guarded should put the dog on the ground.

Secondly, change your dog’s perspective by playing sharing games.

Don’t Touch My Puppies

Maternal instincts are hardwired for a reason so listen to the momma dog. If she doesn’t want other dogs around her puppies, place barriers around the whelping box to prevent visitors from gawking at her puppies.

Get Off My Lawn

Knock knock. Who’s there? Why do dogs bark when the doorbell rings? Because it announces someone is there!

Your dog is not dominant. He’s saying , “Hey mom, someone is here.” So what do you want your dog to do instead? Lay on a mat? Run to you when they hear the doorbell ring? Sit quietly at the door?

Once you figured out polite guest announcement behavior, get busy teaching with yummy treats and a clicker. Start by attaching a leash to your dog.

Teach her to sit by the door (or lay on the mat). Practice 5 times a day for a week.
Ring doorbell (or knock), then lure your dog into “sit” or “lay on mat.” Continue to practice daily for a week.
Ring doorbell (or knock) and wait for dog to offer “sit” or “lay on mat” behavior.
Now the doorbell (or knock) is the cue to sit quietly or lay on a mat.

Get Your Own Girlfriend

Does your house resemble the nightclub on a Saturday night? This happens when dogs are intact (not spayed or neutered) and a female dog goes into season (heat cycle). It seems all the boys fall madly in love with her and will defend her honor. If altering a dog is not an option, separate using multiple barriers. Give the poor boy a break and have him sleep over at a friend’s house until your girl has completed her season (about 3 weeks from start to finish).

Resource guarding is normal, but you don’t have to live with it!

Prevent Resource Guarding

January 9, 2015 by Fanna Easter

Use Sharing Exercises to Prevent Resource Guarding

Does your dog guard his food, toy or you? This is normal dog behavior, but it can be corrected. Use these sharing exercises for preventing and managing resource guarding.

Note:

For multi-dog households, feed other dogs in their crates while practicing sharing exercises with your guarder. This keeps everyone safe and ensures success.
If you, a family member or other dogs have been bitten or resource guarding worsens, seek professional help.
Between meals, keep empty food bowl in a cabinet or behind a closed door. At times, some dogs will guard an empty food bowl.

Approach-Toss-Retreat Move

Before beginning the process, it’s vital to learn the move. This resembles a bowling move:

Step forward.
Crouch down as you toss the treats.
Step back.

Week One

While your dog is eating a meal (or chewing a high value treat), take one or two steps toward your dog while tossing hot dogs or cheese toward his bowl.
The yummy treat does not need to land in his bowl, just near the dog.
Back up one or two steps away from your dog, turn away and ignore him.
Repeat 2-4 times per meal at each meal time.

If your dog growls or freezes, you’ve moved too close to his food bowl. Next time, try taking only one step forward while tossing food. Or try tossing treats from across the room. Treats should land near your dog. If he scatters about, that’s okay too.

Week Two

By now, you’ve practiced your bowling moves during your dog’s meals. Now, your dog will lift his head up and away from his food bowl as you approach. Some dogs will even take a few steps away, as they’ve learned your approach means treats. Good job!

As your dog is eating a meal or chewing on a bone, approach closer. Try to approach within 2-4 feet of your dog. Toss treats and retreat. Since you’re moving closer, try tossing treats in the food bowl or at a chew toy.
Practice twice per meal or during chewing session.

If your dog begins growling as you approach, increase distance. You’ve moved too far too fast.

Week Three

Usually, this is the homestretch. Your dog has learned to step back from his bowl or move his head away from the chew toy. It’s time to add a cue.

As you approach, say “food” while tossing treats about two feet from his bowl. Try to toss treats toward the right of the dog bowl or chew toy. “Food” means “move away from your bowl.” For toys, say “give.”
Once your dog walks over to eat the treats, pick up his bowl (or toy).
After your dog eats the treats, ask him to “sit.” Once he’s sitting and there’s still food in the bowl, put the bowl down again. If all food has been eaten, pick up the bowl and place on a shelf.

Maintenance

Your dog understands that the “food” cue means you’re approaching and picking up his food bowl. To maintain this polite behavior, practice makes perfect!

Meals:
- Once or twice a week, walk over and toss something super yummy in your dog’s food bowl like a spoon full of canned food or hot dogs.
- Say the “food” cue while picking up his food bowl.

If, at anytime, your dog reverts back to guarding his bowl, start back at Week One. Setbacks happen, so don’t fret and get back to dog training. 🙂

Multiple Dog Household Tips

September 22, 2014 by Fanna Easter

How to Manage a Multi-Dog Household

Do you live with two or more dogs? Are you fostering or pet sitting? I have fabulous multiple dog household tips for you! And yes, it’s possible to expect polite dog behavior even if you have a furry gang.

As a dog trainer, my home has fluctuated having between 2-4 dogs for the last 20 years. While each dog and situation is different, there are a few really good best practices to follow. Here are mine!

Provide each dog with his own area for eating

Preferably, it’s best to feed dogs in their crates with the door closed and latched. While some dogs may not have an issue, some dogs can resource guard (protect their food bowls) so an ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold!

Don’t allow bullying behavior

If one dog is constantly bullying, scaring or pushing another dog around, don’t allow this to continue or let the dogs work it out amongst themselves. This almost always makes the behavior much worse. Instead, step in and teach dogs how to behave politely to each other. I recommend tethering the bullying dog. It’s not fair to the bullied dog, as I would not want to live with a bully for my entire life.

RELATED: Supervised Dog Tethering

Leaving dogs alone at home: When leaving dogs alone, always crate your dogs.

Leaving one dog loose: My older dog usually earns big girl privileges, which means she can safely be left loose in the house. I always crate my other dogs. Basically, only one dog is left loose in the home while the others are confined. When dogs are crated, I put visual barriers between crates to prevent any arguing when I’m not home. Visual barriers can be a wall or blanket covering one side of a dog’s crate.
Prevention: As a dog trainer, I’ve encountered numerous situations where multiple dogs can co-exist peacefully alone and loose in their home until a thunderstorm or doorbell (usually from the FedEx, UPS or solicitor) causes stress and they begin to fight. I remember one case where three dogs lived together for 5 years with no issues. Then a terrible storm passed through and two dogs killed the other one (no one was home to stop the fight). Yes, it can happen. Remember that ounce of prevention. 🙂

Training multiple dogs is much easier than you think!

Separating: When teaching new behaviors, I use treats and a clicker. To prevent one dog from outperforming the other dog, I confine one dog in another room with a luscious food stuffed toy. Then, the training dog and I practice for 2-3 minutes. Then, dogs are switched out until all dogs have had a few rounds of training.
Training together: The dog that sits first gets the treat and the dog that comes back to me the fastest gets the treat. Or, the best treat goes to the first performer, and the others get Cheerios. If you have an older dog, it’s not fair to assume a 12-year-old dog can outperform a 2-year-old dog so keep it fair. If dogs fight over treats, use praise and only train one dog at a time.

Exercising two dogs

First, teach both dogs how to walk politely on a leash separately. Use this time for training sessions and end it with a nice leisurely walk offering plenty of sniffing opportunities for your dog. Until your dogs learn polite leash manners, make sure each dog has his own handler so each dog has a different person holding his leash. Example: two dogs are walked with two people and so forth.
If your dogs become too excited and turn their over-the-top excitement on each other (start fighting), keep them separated by walking one dog at a time. Never allow this behavior to continue, it will only get worse. Focus on teaching the excited dog calm behavior. Once the excited dog learns calm behavior, then add the other dogs but only with their own handlers to hold the leash. If the excited dog has an excited moment, the other handlers should move away from the excited dog.

RELATED: Crate Training

Play sessions: Keep these under control

Even the best play sessions can become chaotic. Have you ever watched two young boys innocently wrestling? Eventually, one boy becomes upset because he was accidentally hurt, then a fight begins. This can happen with dogs too!

Too rough play: When dogs’ play session quickens or an increase of growls and snapping occur, split dogs up. You can stop dog play by making a loud repeating sound, such as smooching sounds, or calling dogs by their names. When they stop playing, call them to you and give them both treats. As a rule of thumb, when in doubt, split them up. 🙂
Bullying dog play: When one dog runs away from the other dog usually with his tail tucked, stop the play. It’s not fair to the scared dog to be constantly bullied by another dog. Tether the dog that is doing the bullying. He needs to learn this is not polite behavior and good things end when he acts rude. If you don’t step in, you are asking for a dog fight. This is a perfect time to teach consequences of behavior. If you’re rude, no more play. If you play nicely, play continues. And yes, dogs totally understand this game. 🙂
If a fight breaks out: Refrain from screaming, as this will only make it worse. Dump a bowl of water on the dog doing the biting or grab the biting dog’s back legs (by the hocks) and leave them up — kind of like a wheelbarrow — until the biting dog lets go. By lifting his back legs, he loses his balance and must let go. Still holding the dog’s back legs, grab the dog being bit and put him in another room to assess and stop the fight. Many times, if you let go of the biting dog’s legs, he will go right back and attack the other dog. It takes a lot for another dog to attack and bite a dog so I highly recommend contacting an animal behaviorist to prevent the biting dog from doing this again.

Provide each dog with his own special time with you

Provide each dog with special time alone with you. This can be individual training sessions or a walk in the park with you and one dog. Strive for individual time three to four times a week.

Toys

Now, I’m able to leave toys out at all times. Before, my four dogs would fight over who can play with certain toys. It was not pretty.

Fighting over toys: While I know you don’t want to hear this, but this is the only way to prevent fights: remove all toys. Toys are not worth having fighting dogs period. Instead, increase daily walks to 30 minutes per day and provide food puzzles while crated.
Offer food stuffed toys daily while all dogs are confined: This provides plenty of enrichment and confinement prevents fights. Use visual barriers between crates, as this prevents resource guarding. Yes, dogs can still resource guard when crated. My Rottie never ate the food out of his Kong toy. I videotaped him when I left and my Bull Terrier would growl and lunge at him through her crate, mind you, whenever he tried to lick his Kong. I was mortified! I put visual barriers in between both crates and now my Rottie enjoys his food stuffed Kong. 🙂 Yes, I confirmed it with multiple video sessions and I still check to make sure this does not happen again.

Please share a multi-dog household tip in the comment section below!

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