LIVING WITH DOG-DOG RESOURCE GUARDING PART 2

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Posted on May 2, 2011 by pawsitivedawgs

LIVING WITH DOG-DOG RESOURCE GUARDING PART 2



PREVENTION
Early socialisation is of course key, as it is with almost every other behavioural issue we discuss. Making sure that young dogs are happy, comfortable, calm and confident around other dogs is a big step toward preventing most dog-dog issues.

Puppies will often steal and guard food or other possessions from others in their litter or other dogs they are exposed to early on. This is an important part of puppy’s education – learning how to give and respond to distance increasing signaling.
But extra attention should be paid to puppies or young dogs who show an escalated response in guarding situations.

Removing food from dogs is also a nasty contributor to forming a resource guarder. If you teach a dog that every time a person or other animal approaches they risk losing access to something, then it makes sense that their guarding is likely to escalate.

Reinforce calm behaviour in all situations but especially those surrounding feeding, food preparation and other likely guarding situations. Take note of how calm your dog is before rewarding him with attention or access to the things he likes.

Resource guarding is a stress response and is usually seen with over-arousal due to the presence of food and other dogs. Teaching dogs to be calmer, to cope with stress and manage their own responses to exciting situations will also help. See our blog series on helping crazy canines.

Some dogs eat a little slower than others and as such helping these dogs out by supervising them, feeding them in such a way that it is easier for them (for example, softening kibble, feeding a wetter food, seeing the vet for an oral health check, feeding from a shallower bowl etc.) and keeping other dogs away from them until they are finished will reduce the chances of any dog-dog guarding. Dogs that are gulpers are often doing so because of stress and excitement and this is a contributor to guarding.

Resource guarding prevention exercises should form part of all puppies’ lives. Teach puppy that the approach of another means that something will be added to his possession rather than taken away.

Give puppy a stuffed Kong or a chew (something that will keep him in one place). As you, another person or other dog approaches toss puppy a few pieces of yummy treats, equal or better than what he has.
If it’s another dog approaching toss them a little piece too so as to cause him to turn and move away to retrieve it.
This way you teach two things at once: that nice things come to puppy when another dog approaches and you are rewarding the other dog for moving away when puppy has something.
The above is a prevention exercise and not designed to be used if puppy or the other already has a guarding issue.

If you own a dog-dog resource guarder, it’s probably not a good idea to bring another, new dog into the household, at least until you have your current dog’s guarding under more control.

Pain and separation are just too common scenarios that are likely to see an increase in aggression. Even among dogs who don’t normally guard from one another, if one is in pain or distress it is likely that they will have a shorter fuse and resource guarding is likely to be more relevant.

MANAGEMENT
Management means to prevent behaviour rehearsal – the more practice your dog gets, the better he gets.

If your dog guards and his aggressive behaviour escalates he is more likely to escalate to an aggressive response the next time in a similar situation.

Some signs that may indicate dog-dog resource guarding is an issue:

any of the signaling described here upon the approach or arrival of another dog
hoard their possessions, especially if there are other dogs around or there have been other dogs present
when given something of value, pacing and vocalising often holding the new item – they may bury it, move it around and seem ill at ease when they first have it
typically position their body between guarded item and other dogs
Identify triggers and avoid them

The trigger to resource guarding tends to be proximity – how close the other dog is to the guarder.

It is also important to establish exactly what sort of possessions will be guarded and in which situations. Dogs are highly discriminatory meaning they may appear to act completely differently in different situations, even if that difference is minimal.

When Rufus first came home he would guard any area that another dog attempted to sniff – just another dog lowering his head to the ground near Ruf would be a major trigger. We have got it to a point where he now only guards food in uncontrolled situations, for example he finds food. He may also guard food locations such as guard the area around a counter that holds food even though it may not be in sight.
His environment around other dogs is so well managed and I have a clear picture of his triggers that I can prevent and manage pretty much all of these situations successfully (touch wood ).

Tidy up

Clean away possessions that are likely to cause escalation in guarding responses if a number of dogs will have access to the area.

This means removing toys, beds, treats, chews, food and food delivery items (such as bowls, Kongs or food dispensing toys).

If this is not possible confine dogs from the area.

Supervision

Closely supervise guarding dogs around other dogs. This is particularly important if the guarding dog has exhibited escalated guarding behaviour before or at times when there is increased excitement.

Matwork & Crate Training

Teaching your guarding dog and other dogs in the household to lie on, settle and stay on a mat is really helpful as it separates dogs, increases their proximity from one another, gives them each a safe place to hang out and can help with self calming too.

For more on matwork: Settle & Matwork

Teaching a ‘go to mat’ behaviour does not put walls between guarders and other dogs however so crate training is also a must.

For more on crate training: Crate for Calm

In a multi-dog home where guarding or other dog-dog aggression is an issue its essential that crate and rotate protocols be put in place: although from a Pit Bull point of view this is a great article on managing dog aggression with Crate & Rotate.

Use crates and other barriers such as babygates to separate dogs when they are being fed, when supervision is not possible or when potentially guarded possessions are in the mix.

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