Guarding food, objects and pack members is common canine behavior:
Dogs that successfully guard food and valuable resources in the wild will survive and breed.
Dogs that are anxious and fearful are particularly likely to guard.
Dogs that guard show specific warning signals to indicate their discomfort.
How to prevent guarding:
Start when your dog is a puppy or as soon as it joins your family.
Do some basic training and put your dog on a “Nothing in Life is Free” (NILIF) program. Have the dog do some simple obedience to earn all privileges, including meals, toys, petting and walks.
Do not free-feed.Have specific meal times that you control.
Do food-bowl exercises to reduce the potential for food guarding.Feed your dog in increments, picking the bowl up after each portion is consumed.Walk by and drop tasty items into the food.If safe, put something yummy on your fingers and let the dog lick it with your hand in the bowl.Move the food bowl around to minimize location guarding.
Teach your dog a “leave it” command and practice often.
Do “toy trades” to help your dog learn to give things up.
How to treat guarding
If your dog already guards food, objects or people, recognize that this is a serious behavior issue and that it will take time to diminish.
Identify all of the resources that the dog guards.
Strictly manage access to guarded objects until training is complete.
If you make a mistake and the dog shows guarding behavior, do not punish.Acknowledge the error and think about how best to prevent it.
Systematically desensitize your dog to other creatures approaching each valued item, and then counter-condition an alternative reaction.This must be done for each resource in a step-by-step fashion, and is best accomplished with the assistance of a qualified behavior consultant.
Complementary steps such as increased exercise, a change in diet, medication prescribed by your veterinarian, aroma therapy and massage can also help.
Above all, be patient and remember that guarding is an involuntary reaction that can only be mitigated with consistent, benign methods.
Positive Training for Lifelong Companionship info@ridogguy.com (401) 339-2398