Resource Guarding

I was just doing some training with Joey. I would make him stay throw his toy then make him stay until I told him to get his toy. For the first couple of times he would bring back I would tell him to let go and he would. Then the last time he didnt bring it back he just sat with his Tweetie bird. When I approached him he appeared just like the dog in the website and was like don't even think of taking this toy from me.

Anyways Joey will resource guard with just about anything especially if he is in his bed. Pretty much anything he finds he will resource guard. Wrappers, kids gloves, kleenex etc etc. I was also reading in the Jean Donaldson book culture clash that dogs have a tolerance threshhold and I guess for Joey his triggers are when someone is taking something away from him and occasionally kids but most of the time he likes them.

I was reading over this website and I am going to start implementing some of these methods. Hopeing it will help with this possessive behavior.

Also why does Joey have all these behaviors does it have something to do with coming from a home with lots of dogs and now he is a lone dog, perhaps he had to guard his possessions from the other dogs and is still afraid someone is going to take something from him.

Of course we still love him and we know hes just being a dog and we will keep working on it.



http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/ccp51/cc/dog-behaviour/resource-guarding.shtml

Also why does Joey have all these behaviors

I think it's just his temperament. He's a somewhat dominant adult male and those dogs do guard things they feel are theirs. When you back off, he's won and will continue to do it. I know it's not easy to stand your ground with a snarling dog, but there are ways to do it!

Instead of taking things from him, try trading for something better. Say he's guarding a wrapper or kleenex. Approach him with a ball in your hand (or something else he loves) and offer a trade. He'll probably drop what he's holding to take what you are offering. As he does, say "Out!" to teach him that this command means "let go/give up whatever you have."

Do the trading thing often, and make sure what you are offering is always better than what he has! Eventually, he will obey the word "Out" and you won't need to trade and you can just randomly reward him once in awhile.