When your dog exhibits resource guarding, it can quickly feel like living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Most of the time, your pup is the very best version of themselves and you enjoy amazing moments together. However, when they want or have something that is a treasure, in their eyes, it may seem like suddenly something is possessing them. If you’re lucky, they might simply run away from you with their loot. In other cases, they might show teeth, growl or even bite! It can become very stressful and even dangerous.
The good news? There are positive approaches to manage and modify resource guarding behaviors in companion dogs.
Understanding Resource Guarding
Resource guarding is a broad expression used to describe the behaviors an animal presents to gain access or keep a resource from a perceived threat. Resource guarding is not specific to dogs. In fact, humans present resource guarding too! Do you lock your car when you park it somewhere? Do you have a safe space in your home to protect your jewelry from theft? Would you defend your wallet if someone tried to take it? The answer to these questions is probably yes, because you want to protect these precious items from threats. The kind of treasures you protect might be different than the tennis ball or the bone your dog guards, but it’s nevertheless resource guarding.
When it comes to dogs, resource guarding is deeply rooted in their survival instincts. These behaviors played an important role in the natural selection of dogs over centuries. The ones protecting their mates, food, water and territory from rivals and other threats had more chances of reproducing and surviving. Moreover, humans have selected to make these guarding behaviors stronger over time in some lines/breeds for protection, guarding territory and livestock. Therefore, it’s perfectly normal to see strong resource guarding behaviors in certain dogs today.
As humans, we need to fully accept that we have to adapt when we decide to live with another species that has evolved. and, in some cases, even been selected to present resource guarding behaviors. It does not mean that we should accept being harmed. Embracing the fact that resource guarding is normal in dogs can help us make better decisions when it comes to selecting a dog to share our lives. It will be useful to understand how to manage their environment.
It also puts us in a mindset to recognize early signs of resource guarding and take the need for management seriously instead of brushing it off or making fun of it as some people do. Most people can tell that a dog who growls is very uncomfortable. However, there are more subtle signs that indicate discomfort long before a growl occurs, such as: sudden stiffness, shifting body weight, increase or decrease speed while eating or whale eyes (showing the white part of the eye), just to name a few. Learning to recognize these signs and respecting them by giving your dog some space is one way to prevent escalation and ensure everyone’s safety.
Management Strategies
Recognizing triggers of resource guarding is crucial for effective management. A dog that only guards high value food items will be easier to manage than a dog that presents generalized guarding of food, objects and resting spots. While some management strategies work great with most resource guarding cases, some strategies might be more useful than others depending on the type of resources your dog guards.
General Tip
Building a strong bond and a sense of security for your dog goes a long way when it comes to resource guarding. Therefore, it’s crucial to refrain from using aversive and confrontational methods that can lead to fear and mistrust. While trust-building takes time, remember that it can be destroyed quickly.
Having “exchange items” close by is also a must when it comes to guarding – items you can ask your dog to trade for the item they are guarding. If your dog finds something they should not have, the worst thing is to chase them and steal it from them. They will only learn to guard more from this experience. Having treats in safe containers out of your dog’s reach in all the rooms can be very useful to exchange for the guarded item. It’s not always possible to run to the fridge when your puppy grabs a treasure and sometimes, a few seconds can make a big difference.
Food Guarders
In many cases, resource guarding involves food or consumable items. If your dog shows signs of discomfort when eating his food or chewing his favorite snack; hovering over the item, pacing with it in their mouth, moving under furniture to eat it, next time provide them with a quiet place where they can eat in peace. The feeding area should be away from what they consider a threat or disturbance, whether it’s you, the kids or even the cat! Indeed, it is important that dogs feel safe during mealtimes.
More importantly, it’s crucial to create an environment where your dog will not practice resource guarding. Allowing them to rehearse guarding behaviors multiple times a day will only make your training more difficult. For example, a room away from activity can be protected with a pet gate or an enclosure can be ideal, if you acclimate your dog to it, during mealtimes. This is especially important in multi-dog households where dogs might eat at a different pace and competition for food can happen quickly.
Object Guarders
Dogs guarding objects is trickier because many things can become treasures in their eyes. One day, it’s a tissue they grabbed on your bedside, and the next, it’s a mitten. For these dogs, it is easier to create one or two safe spaces than trying to maintain the whole house as object-safe all the time.
This tip might look like it decreases animal welfare by reducing the dog’s living space. However, it’s important to consider other aspects. Your dog would much rather spend quality time with you in a smaller environment than fight every day over treasures he found but that you don’t want him to have. It reduces the likelihood that they ingest and that you both end up at the emergency room! In fact, your dog can live a very happy life without having access to places where they might, for instance, grab socks and never want to give them back or the bathroom where they steal and guard the precious toilet paper.
The trick is to put in place two layers of safety between the dog’s safe area and the objects that they could guard. For example, if your dog’s main area is the living room (a clean space without problematic objects), then you could install pet gates around this room and close the door to the bedrooms and bathroom. Therefore, if one day the gate is left open, there is at least one other layer of safety in place to prevent the rehearsal of the resource guarding behavior.
Don’t forget that the goal is to put these management strategies in place while you work on modifying your dog’s behavior, so they can have more freedom eventually.
People Guarders
Muzzle training is not ideal in many resource guarding cases. While it might seem like a great way of preventing dogs from grabbing and eating stuff, the muzzle can create stress or quickly become something the dog guards. However, if your dog presents guarding behavior around a person, muzzle training can be useful. Always get help from a professional trainer before using a muzzle to make sure the trigger has been properly identified and that the muzzle is desensitized and your dog has been trained properly to wear it.
Counterconditioning Resource Guarding
When it comes to resource guarding, a lot of emotions are involved, whether it’s fear, stress, frustration or anger. For example, your dog indicates clear discomfort if they freeze and show teeth when you approach while they are eating. Counter-conditioning can change their emotional response by pairing this situation with positive experiences.
Indeed, if you address how your dog feels when you approach, you can change how they react. While it’s important to apply the management strategies, you can also set up training practices. The most important aspect is making sure to respect your dog’s stress threshold when you train.
You can walk back and forth at a certain distance at which your dog is comfortable with your presence and throw him high-value treats each time you pass. After a few training sessions, it is very possible that he will drop his snack! The goal is that the presence of the human is no longer associated with disturbance or the fear of losing the resource, but rather with something hyper-positive for them. This technique can also work well in some cases of toy guarding or even space guarding.
When You Should See a Dog Pro
In severe cases of resource guarding, you should seek help from a certified dog trainer. These professionals can conduct a thorough assessment of the resource guarding and develop a comprehensive behavior modification plan that considers your environment.. They can provide guidance along the way because some exercises are harder to apply than they seem and the modification plan may shift over time.
Amélie Martel, LLB, CPDT-KA
Amélie boasts over a decade of experience in animal behavior. Her passion started as a volunteer back in 2011, at the Montreal SPCA. Committed to rehabilitating a special dog, she decided to deepen her knowledge and became a dog trainer alongside her legal studies.
Amélie started her career in animal protection for the same organization and quickly became the Animal Welfare Director. Later, she led companion animal campaigns and the Animal Rehabilitation Centre at Humane Society International/Canada. Over the years, she has helped dogs rescued from the cruelest practices, including puppy mills, dog fighting rings, and the dog meat trade. While working for a non-profit, Amélie is still passionate about canine behavior and offers private consultations and workshops to the public and other canine behavior practitioners. Utilizing science-based training methods, she strives to enable guardians to build harmonious relationships with their companions.
