The other day I made the mistake of placing my iPhone ear buds too close to the edge of my dining room table, and when Dawson was looking for something fun to play with, they looked like a pretty good option from his perspective. I did not happen to agree with him.
In that split second, I could have tried to get them from him. That probably would have resulted in a game of keep-away – me chasing him until I finally got him, and then Dawson not willingly giving them up. Instead, I called Dawson to me and when he got to me, I had a yummy treat and another fun toy waiting for him. He dropped the ear buds and forgot about them, choosing his other high value options instead, and I later went back and picked up the ear buds when he wasn’t thinking about it.
If Dawson and I were to have a history of me taking things from him, it wouldn’t take long for him to come to distrust my being or coming near him when he has things he values – whether that be food or toys or something else.
Dogs resource guard in a variety of ways, with the overriding goal being to get others – whether a person or another dog or animal – to back away from something of value to them. Turning their back away, putting a paw over it, body blocking or leaning over it, frantic eating, tensing body muscles, moving away with it are some subtle ways. They may also give a direct stare at whoever they are guarding from. And, if that doesn’t work to get more space, then they may escalate to a low growl, snarl, or worse. Dogs commonly guard food, toys, bones, locations such as a space or a bed or piece of furniture, or even another dog or person.
If you have a dog that is displaying resource guarding behaviors, especially the escalated behaviors, please seek the help of a trainer who uses positive reinforcement strategies.
There has been advice out there of teaching a dog tolerance by putting a hand in a dog’s bowl or taking the bowl away and holding it until the dog sits or lays down. However, that strategy can lead to a heightened reason for your dog to feel unsafe when people are near his food or other item.
Grabbing what a dog has – whether it is your shoe, a bone, or something else – can also cause your dog to feel unsafe around you, when he has a valued object. To avoid this, one thing you can do is teach him to trade up. Teach him that dropping what he has gets him something of higher value – whether that is a piece of tasty food or another fun toy. Along this line, teach your dog that another reinforcer for dropping a valued item is getting it right back. Or call him away and engage him in something fun away from what he has, then you can go back and collect that object later.
Preventing Resource Guarding of Food (or an object)
If your dog has not practiced resource guarding behaviors, or only mild guarding behaviors, now is the time to take prevention steps. Teach your dog that your presence while he has something of value – whether that is food or an object – is actually a good thing.
Create a positive conditioned emotional response (CER) to your moving toward your dog by walking toward your dog while he is eating and tossing a yummy treat into his bowl (if eating from a bowl) or near it. Then walk away. And repeat this on a regular basis.
If your dog is already a little nervous (showing the less intense body language as I described above), only move close to a point where your dog still has relaxed body muscles and then toss a high value treat to him and move away. The goal is for your dog to come to predict good things when you approach so doing this while your dog is below his threshold is important. Only move closer as your dog’s body language tells you it is ok to do so (if your dog continues to show loose body muscles, eating at a normal pace).
For dog bite prevention, please actively supervise children, and intervene if your young child is too close to your dog when he has a valued resource, and teach your child that dogs need alone time to enjoy their favorite food or toy.
