What is Resource Guarding?
Has your dog ever gotten a bone or a toy and then growled or showed their teeth if you came near or tried to take it away? If this has happened, your pet is exhibiting behavior known as “resource guarding” which is how a dog shows you to stay away if they have something they want to protect.
This is a survival instinct in the wild, but in your home, this behavior won’t fly. Here’s what Sit Means Sit says you need to know.
What is Resource Guarding?
Resource guarding and a common and correctable behavior that dogs show in order to protect something they love such as treats, toys, food, beds, or even people. They may do many things to let you know not to come near including showing teeth, glaring, snapping, barking, protecting the object, or even biting.
While some resource guarding is natural and nothing to worry about in mild cases, in situations where your dog is acting like they could get aggressive, or that actually got aggressive, this is behavior that needs to be immediately addressed.
Resource guarding can go from no big deal to dangerous in less than a second.
How to Avoid Resource Guarding
There are some things you can do to avoid this bad behavior and bad strategies to avoid.
For example, you may have been told before to train your dog to not be aggressive with food by putting your hands in their bowl or taking the bowl away halfway through a feeding. This can often have the opposite and undesired effect of creating resource guarding with your dog because they are annoyed by the intrusion.
Furthermore, giving a dog a treat or toy and then taking it away may teach them to protect things in order to keep them.
In order to prevent this, you need to make your dog feel happy about releasing items to you. You can do this by trading a toy for a treat, or a toy for a better toy. This will allow them to think they are always trading for something better.
Another strategy is to give your dog an object, have them drop the object, give them a treat, and then give the item back. They will learn through this that it is worth their time to release things because they get rewarded and they also get their item back.
How to Stop Resource Guarding
If you notice this behavior has begun in your dog, there are a few things you can try.
Start by standing outside of your dog’s reaction zone and toss treats to them. The goal of this is to make them happy that a person is present when they have a treasure.
Work at a level of intensity your dog is tolerating. Do not rush it. Success will only be achieved by repetitive work over a period of weeks to help your dog feel comfortable with the situation.
Living with Resource Guarding
Many pet owners who live with dogs that resource guard are able to quickly learn what triggers their dog and simply avoid it. If your dog can’t have toys or bones without guarding, they will no longer get those things. Or if you live in a two or more-dog household, your guarding dog may need to be fed separately from other dogs to avoid food aggression.
Another method is to simply avoid your dog during high-intensity times. For example, if you know your dog is more likely to be aggressive during mealtimes, just do not go near your dog until they have finished eating and have left the high-pressure area.
Remember, safety is always the priority. Do not get closer than necessary to a dog that may get aggressive be patient with your pet while you try to diffuse the situation.