In the behavior office at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society, I regularly get calls from people whose dogs have started to trouble them in one way or another.
Something we hear about a lot is possessiveness in dogs, also known as resource guarding, which can happen over food, toys, territory, and any number of other things that are valued by your dog.
Such calls start something like this: “He’s the sweetest dog, but he has started growling at us.” “We can’t imagine why he nipped the little girl when she tried to pet him.” “He’s under the bed with his chewie and we can’t get him to come out.” People say these guarding behaviors have started suddenly, but most likely the behavior has been showing up in small ways for a long time.
Resource guarding in dogs is as old as the hills, one of those behaviors left over from ancestral communal hunting days, when dogs had to fight for enough food to thrive and procreate. There is really nothing to support its existence in today’s domesticated canine. Our dogs (at least the lucky ones) have it all: a couple of square meals a day, trips to dog parks, tons of toys, cushy beds, and families that adore them.
So why can’t we approach Fifi’s food bowl? We gave it to her, didn’t we? We are surprised by such behavior and often view it as a betrayal. We give our dogs unconditional love and then they turn on us over a $1.98 chewie?! What have we done to deserve this?
No need to take it personally. It is an instinct-driven behavior that shows up in one way or another in a large percentage of all dogs, though most frequently in types that have been selectively bred over the centuries for guarding.
The guarding instinct can take a lot of forms, from simple dog park ball guarding, to not allowing parts of the body to be touched, to protecting food and toys (sometimes not all toys) – and even the very air around a selected person.
In dog-dog interactions, the aggression is merely a ritual threat. The guarding dog stares, growls, and/or snaps and the intruder backs off. Sometimes there is a short altercation, but usually no major damage occurs. But when a dog takes an aggressive stance toward people, the matter becomes more serious. How serious depends very much on the dog’s age and breed, what he is prone to possess, how far he is willing to go in order to back us off, and his level of bite inhibition (which unfortunately cannot be assessed until he actually bites someone).
Despite the occasional news story of a heroic dog thwarting a crime and Internet videos of dogs doing such “cute” things as attacking the mail as it slips through the slot in the door, possessiveness in dogs is hard to live with. Dogs who habitually guard the little perimeter inside the length of their leashes don’t do well on walks and can make every daily outing an ordeal. And in homes with small children, who tend to dribble food and toys all over the place and who are not likely to recognize when a dog is threatening them, this behavior can become dangerous.
The good news is that the guarding trait usually can be deactivated simply by starting early with a good leadership program – in which your dog must earn his food, toys, treats, and privileges – and continuing this program throughout your dog’s life. You can prevent guarding from ever surfacing with such dog-friendly practices as using food tidbits to “purchase” objects your dog has grabbed, giving treats while touching your dog in places he is prone to resist, and making it fun for him to give you things. This type of “cookie therapy” teaches dogs to be friendly and affable about all the things they might otherwise tend to protect.
Working with older dogs who guard can be tricky. If your dog’s behavior is scaring you, get some professional help. There are plenty of useful tips and techniques out there, but you should be careful and thoughtful when implementing any technique, as you can make your dog worse as well as better.
Working with your dog on reducing or eliminating guarding requires that you commit to a methodical and consistent program and that you provide an environment that minimizes temptations.
Nancy Frensley, is the training manager at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society K-9 College, which offers private consults as well as group classes. She is a certified pet dog trainer and holds the second level of Competency Assessment in clicker work and behavior shaping. If you have a training question, visit www.berkeleyhumane.org and use the online behavior advice form. Visit Nancy’s website at www.finnessedogtraining.com.
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