"Protective" vs "Resource Guarding"

[ladyjubilee]

I've been trying to understand Bramble's behavior and have been reading online articles. Now I'm even more baffled.

Bramble appears to be very protective of my son. For instance, we had two men working on our backyard. She greeted the men,loved the attention, was totally relaxed. When my son came out, her posture changed, her ears went up and she took up position on the porch where she could keep an eye on my son and both men. When either of the men "got too close", she left the porch and put herself right in front of the entrance to the trampoline. When they moved off, she went back to her perch on the porch....then back down when they entered the "zone".

And she really does not like for dogs to get "too" close to him, especially if it scares my son.

But several articles indicate that dogs aren't really protective, that it is the pack leader's role to protect, not the packmate's. Instead, the articles suggest that what people see as protective is resource guarding.

I'm perplexed because Bramble doesn't do this with me or other adults, and he isn't her food source. She does obey him, though, when he "asks" her to do something (no where near a command and not a trained behavior.)

So what is the source of the behavior?

[Dutchringgirl]

she wont do it with you because she knows you wont hurt him. I wouldn't worry too much about analysing it as to work with it and culture it so she does not hurt anyone. Its guarding. See if Leerburg has anything on that but I think I would put her in a down/stay when others are around and stay with her and train the behavior you want from her. Do you want her to put herself in the middle of a stranger and your son? What do you want her to do?

[ladyjubilee]

Do you want her to put herself in the middle of a stranger and your son? What do you want her to do?

I initially thought I should actively discourage it since she is going to do service work. I don't want her biting anyone, which she hasn't done or been in anyway aggressive with a human. I don't mind her being alert; but definitely am not looking for protection training or anything. The trainer seems to think it is a positive behaviour.

She behaved much like Idna described. Alert, but not aggressive. As soon as they stepped out of the zone, she was all happy and relaxed and wanted their attention. Back in the zone and she was back on duty.

[Dutchringgirl]

but she is being protective and that is protection training. The terminology is getting in the way. Focus on what you want her to do and pay attention to unwanted behavior. If she is doing what you want, thats good.

[Susannah]

I say its recourse.

We had trainer and she sat between us, after that, dog went Wild. Growling, air nipping.

It was obious

So we did plenty of contact exescise.

And for a tip, u just go with treats and give treats whenewer human pasing by. Make sure dog is hungry so no food before

[ladyjubilee]

She's never snapped or growled at a human. She just watches very intently and places herself as a barrier. With people out and about our biggest issue is she is too eager for loving and thinks everyone is there to per her. Which distracts her from service work.

On the dog front she is going great. She has learned to walk on a completely loose leash even in a crowd of dogs. She only gave a grumble on our last walk with Peanuts when another dog really was being too forward. Both of them gave the dog a step back rumble (not growl) which I corrected. Up until that dog, my son had also done much better with strange dogs. He isn't as fearful, which I think helps her stay calm too

[Susannah]

U just answer urself

[ladyjubilee]

Actually SEL provided the answer that helped me describe what I was seeing. The trainer then helped me mold the behavior .....and then finally almost 8 months of training started paying off.