Resource Guarding

[steph90]

Kodi has been developing a guarding behavior for some time. It has gotten to the point where he seems to be trying to micro-manage my boyfriends dog, Vader, whom we have lived with for 3 years. He guards his own toy, his own food while he is eating, his bed, and now he has began being protective over the container we keep the dog food in. So, I have scoured youtube and cannot find too much on correcting this- definitely didn't see any methods I agree with, other than basically distracting the dog. I really didn't see a lot on preventing the it, either. I have been working on settles and really rewarding calmness for a few months hoping it might impact this particular behavior, but it hasn't. I have also played games that some videos recommend that give the dog a sort of reassurance about the problem thing, and make it fun and not worrisome. But Kodi doesn't generalize this to Vader as well. What I see in his body language isn't so much aggressiveness, but anxiousness with a touch of neurotic. He will face and stand over the thing, and be very shifty while glancing from Vader to the thing very quickly. Ears flat, tail down, head slightly lower than his body. I've seen dogs resource guard with very different postures that looks much more intimidating and confrontational. Now, if Vader even comes in the room Kodi gets up to be near the dog food bin. Vader is about a hundred times more laid back than Kodi on a bad day and ignores these displays and goes about his day. Kodi gets lots of exercise and training daily, but is still so prone to anxiousness. I'm pretty worried about this because of how little I've been able to find on it, and I am a little nervous he might start doing it with other dogs and/or people, since it has been progressively getting worse. Does anyone have experience with this? Any help would be appreciated.

[Dutchringgirl]

none of our dogs, from the beginning, are allowed to "own" anything, toy, vehicle etc. From day one, I would go up and take the object away and then hold it for a second then give it right back. Same with food. Sadie gets protective of her food bowl but she gets a big NO when she tries to growl at Thalie [ thalie dosnt care what sadie does anyway] and I take Sadie away from the bowl.

When just playing alone with K take the object away then give it right back. Food bowl, toy, what ever, he is not to own anything.

[steph90]

Would you recommend having them share food bowls? Like switch them up I mean. I'm not sure I should do that because my boyfriends dog is a GLUTON and is terrible about stealing food or just gulping anything remotely edible. I try to keep boundaries with what Vader is allowed to stick his face in and eat. Maybe Vader's gluttonous behavior triggered Kodi's guarding response. But Vader isn't generally confrontational about anything. Either way it is mostly a problem between them and thats why its kind of hard to control. I can control how I feed him and play with his toys, and I have even been having friends do it too and he has been fine, but I can't really control the situation when it's between the dogs. I tell Kodi "no" when he displays a guarding behavior but it seems I am just making the situation more stressful for him, and he still does it again the next time the situation occurs. I try to give Kodi some sort of positive interrupter, like tug or something fun to show him it isn't that important and basically distract him, but that doesn't seem to stick either.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

I only have 1 dog but I wouldn't think that would be a good idea. Have you tried feeding them in separate rooms so Kodi doesn't even have to be stressed about Vader eating?

Also.... Has there been any changes in your relationship, house routine, anything? H for real food guard-y after a fight we had over food (I was cooking and dropped a bunch of raw seasoned meat with stuff that would have been bad for him and he ignored the leave it command). I focused on rebuilding his confidence that his food was his and the leave it command and it resolved. Maybe something happened between him and Vader or another dog? What if you feed him small amounts in Vader's presence, starting out with Vader in a down facing the other way so he's not even looking at Kodi?

If straight up strong "no"s and corrections aren't working and he seems genuinely stressed by Vader's presence, I would see what areas in his life he's okay with Vader. Maybe the contrast will give some clues?

[HeatherH]

I've had 2 dog and 1 cat. Everyone has there own bowls and in different areas in the house. Even outside they have their own set. Anything else your going to start a fight and guard thing. Think of it this way if one of them get sick your going to spread it.
Dutch and Pearl own nothing. Everyone needs to know the rules and get along.

[TimL_168]

I'm new here, and I'm still looking forward to getting a dutch in the near future, but I do have some experience in the area. We've almost always had multiple dogs in each household in my family. I've started each and every one of our dogs probably since our second one (a rescued husky) with a hand feeding program that I pretty quickly switch to a give & take program. What I mean is I always start the pup off by getting food right from my hand for just a few days. Then I'll put the food in the bowl, and let the dog see it but not have the whole bowl for a meal or two; I keep giving palm-fulls of food. Then I'll set the bowl down and let the dog take just a bite or two then take the bowl back out of reach and feed the rest by hand. I gradually let the dog take a few more bites intermittently over the next few meals, repeatedly sliding the bowl back out of reach and offering food from my hand. After just a little while I'm able to take a bowl from the dog at any point I want. I remember a long time ago one of our huskies started getting possessive of food and toys, and I started the bowl removal again and kept the other dog laying next to me as I hand fed the snippy one. It worked. The dog calmed down about the other one being around. I'm not an expert, and have no formal training, but this worked for me a long time ago, and I've raised all my dogs like that since any never had a possessiveness issue with any of them, even my hybrid. Maybe you could use the same technique with toys, too? Good luck!