How to handle resource guarding
In my classes I did a lot of education around resource guarding.
I would ask my students how they would feel if I came into their house and took away their plate while they were eating? Try to imagine exactly what you were losing, a perfectly cooked steak or some yummy chicken mole, and that this was your favorite food on the planet! Add to this: I did this three nights in a row. I came by- no knock- just barged in and took your plate as you were about to start eating your wonderful yummy dinner. At first you may be patient or just incredulous! But by the third night you may run from me (hiding your plate) or you may threaten me verbally (growl) or you might even try to hit me with that baseball bat you now keep at the front door! After all it is your house and your food!
A display or even outright aggression on your part would be reasonable, yes? Now put yourself in your dogs place. Could it be that your dog feels exactly like you might feel when they are about to lose a bone, a toy or a favorite resting place? Could they think or feel they are about to lose something that they really covet? And if you are a new owner(and getting all sorts of advice from friends and family) not allowing a growl or snap seems reasonable? Stopping that growl becomes how you manage any guarding behavior because that is what folks have told you to do. When you punish (or stop) a behavior you don’t change the emotions at all but you can suppress that warning-you can indeed stop that growl or display. And it really can look like you have stopped the aggression. But is that the right thing to do? Does your dog have any other choice then to growl louder when punished for trying to protect a really great meal, toy or resting spot that they think they are going to lose? Perhaps your dog thinks you are really slow, they growl – you punish, they growl louder- almost as if maybe you did not hear them the first time? Most dogs do their very best to warn us that they are uncomfortable with what we are doing. And the guarding cycle begins. If a growl doesn’t stop you some dogs will go right to bite. Why wouldn’t they? Because they should not bite us, they don’t know that and They have TEETH! If they feel they have to protect what belongs to them then it is our job as owners to teach them that they do not have to do that. It is really normal for dogs to protect what they think belongs to them, as normal as it would be for you to do so if I barged into your home!
Now imagine this scenario…What if I came into your home and dropped a shrimp on your plate each night instead of taking your plate away from you? Now, how would you feel about my presence? You may change your mind about me walking toward your plate especially if you liked shrimp! Or if you really liked steak and shrimp!!! Maybe I drop prawns the third night? That is exactly what I want you to think about when you are approaching your dog’s dinner bowl. That is how to stop resource guarding especially in a young dog. I want you to think about exactly how you can make Fido drool when you walk toward his bowl. Drooling is associated with a positive emotion. With dogs that are a bit iffy around food bowls or any object, place or even person we have to change the emotions of the dog and make them comfortable before expecting them to back off or leave it especially if they are already warning us. With the use of classical conditioning you can change negative emotions into positive ones. And for resource guarding (don’t take on the issue if they are already biting-get help) classical conditioning (when x happens /something good appears) helps change the dogs emotions for the better. The dog does not have to do anything- it just happens due to the presence of good things when you approach. If you walk up then drop a treat in an empty bowl pretty soon (after 25 reps each day for 15 days say….or whatever schedule of reinforcement you have designed) just your approach will signify good things to that dog.
I do this as prevention for all dogs and you should to. We want your approach to mean wonderful things to the dog. Don’t bribe- don’t say “here girl, here is the food” and then drop it in- that is bribing. Walk up first THEN present the food- this is critical, your approach signals the arrival of the food not the other way around. If you do it the other way around the food is a bribe not a conditioned response and you may or may not get an association. Your body predicts the delivery of the reinforcement i.e. food. If you want to read more about this concept and resource guarding in particular do read Jean Donaldson’s book Mine and another great book also written by Jean is The Culture Clash.
Moral to the story- Don’t punish resource guarders- it always makes it worse. Punishment or showing the dog who is “boss” or putting them in their place, even showing them who is the “leader” (which implies punishing if they growl) is an old outdated way to deal with dogs. Learn the science of behavior, it is so much faster, more humane and just plain fun.