Resource Guarding (RG)

Resource guarding is a natural behavior, and some dogs have a stronger tendency towards this than others. If a dog is Resource guarding it means that they fear losing a resource. They may communicate this by:

-running away with an item
-hiding with an item
-consuming/swallowing it quickly
-hovering over the item and becoming very still
-standing between you and the item and using their mouth to snap at, growl, mouth or bite the threat
-freezing, staring, growling, snapping, biting

NEVER punish a growl! - a growl is communication, the training below and everything we’ve done so far like learning body language will prevent the growl in the first place.

If your dog guards food, items, people or places, we want to teach them to feel safe, and not threatened by your presence or the presence of other people or dogs approaching.

Every person who does not want to share IS a resource guarder. All animals guard their things to some extent. We guard our food, money, and possessions. Why would dogs not do the same for their most prized possessions? Some dogs find their food bowl, bones, toys, beds, and guardians valuable resources that they want to guard and sometimes items that make little sense to us like paper or poop!

The presence of people and other dogs can increase the desire to guard. Our goal is to create an abundance mentality vs scarcity. Scarcity triggers guarding and fights.

Some of the training can feel repetitive & boring but this is how we build a solid foundation, which will make a big difference long term.

If your dog has medium to severe guarding issues, we need to do more than preventative, we’ll create a management plan, you will learn about start buttons and your training plan will be customized to your dog and homelife.

Resource guarding becomes a problem when —

- dogs can’t communicate well or don’t trust that others will listen to low-level communication
- one dog is so insecure, they feel uncomfortable with other dogs anywhere near a resource - even across the room
- dogs consume dangerous items

If you don’t work on the preventative training, communication could escalate. Training with specific management and SET UPS will change the pattern, but you must understand and do the work to make the changes.

Here is a break down of the management & preventive work you can do on an ongoing basis:

TOP MANAGEMENT TIPS!

• Put away anything precious/expensive/tempting.
• Use crates, gates and x-pens.
• Provide your dog with places where he can have things and places that he can't have them.
• In multi-dog households, be sure each dog can eat or play with food enrichment games in spaces that are separate.
• Don’t let any person, dog or even noises like the pool or yard maintenance outside bother them when eating / chewing.
• If your new dog is a ‘vacuum’ or has Pica and keeps grabbing everything, put a conditioned leash on in the house.
• No free feeding & No toys out in certain situation

For more ideas on how to occupy your puppy with safe enrichment check out my FREE 43 page Canine Enrichment Guide: https://thepuppycarecompany.com/canine-enrichment-guide/

CAUTION⚠️ Taking items away from your dog can increase rather than decreasing their desire to keep, steal and/or hide items. When you take items away, your dog may lose trust and be unsure of your approach or your child's approach next time.

Keep in mind that we don't steal our toddler’s food and favorite toys as they are eating or playing with them. Set up environments with objects and food they can have. Learn the training games that create a pattern of playing with you and the items vs guarding/consuming.

SAFETY

If your dog has an item in their mouth that is not safe to ingest, use food or favorite toys to distract and then remove the item. Here's a video demonstrating how to use food to help remove the item: https://youtu.be/_SClflKizsQ

Remember to prioritize you and your families safety from being bit.

With 'vacuum' puppies this is often a phase they go through. They are learning and exploring with their mouths. Be kind, patient and manage things so they don't ingest or destroy items they find interesting.

FOUNDATION TRAINING 

• Work on food and object fluency for waiting for toys & food and 'get it' and ‘out’ on cue in a controlled way with chews and toys.
• When your Pup releases anything treat or trade to start, then shift into only giving big praise.
• Recall - build a turn on a dime recall, calling your dog off of anything is challenging but so worth the time it takes to create this habit.

TEACH A RELEASE 

When you teach the cue OUT/DROP as part of your retrieve game you will have built in great habit loops, reward outs in multiple ways, we can go over this in more detail

When your dog has something they consider a precious resource, top it off with something better. Hands and people approaching = good thing! AND they get to keep their resources. You are showing them over and over and over that you are not a threat. (With multi-dog households, you can set up versions of this idea using crates and gates for safety and feed when other dogs are seen, this can be tricky to understand the timing, be sure to set up a training session to go over this, if you have issues with your dogs.)

ADD MORE

If they have a toy, add some kibble or a small treat.
If they have kibble, add some peanut butter.
If they have peanut butter, add some meat. 

TRADE UP & GIVE BACK

Before doing the trade game, just work on adding more when you approach.
Trade up when we want something a dog has.
Make sure that your trade game training often includes giving back the original high value item to the dog.

• Redirect when something is stolen… run the other way, jangle keys, get the harness/leash, ring your doorbell, open a favorite door, open the fridge, make a fuss over another person or animal in another room etc.
• Become Disneyland, the bringer of great times and great things.
• Using a muzzle on walks for Pups that are vacuums will help prevent situations that create more guarding behaviors.
• Make sure your Pup is getting consistent mental and physical exercise

Our goal is to have our dogs' emotional response to an approach be soft and welcoming when they are eating or playing with something they love. If you approach and they show signs of guarding, don’t approach. Go back to the basics and contact me. And/or read the book “Mine!” by Jean Donaldson. In it, she lays out a more detailed step by step plan that will help you succeed.

Instagram body language videos:
https://www.instagram.com/fivebyfivecanine?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA=

Susan Garrett Podcast on resource guarding:
https://youtu.be/11bkaaX7LXY?si=HYHy8CEV6k-FjqBu

Drop/out method:
https://youtu.be/ndTiVOCNY4M

Prevent resource guarding in puppies:
https://youtu.be/2nyt2WLdQGs

https://www.facebook.com/drayton.michaels/videos/10214218470034804/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/puppyhelp/posts/?ref=page_internal

Book on Resource Guarding:
https://a.co/d/08Ac0pCe