Has your dog ever had a bone or something that didn’t belong to him and when you go to take it away, he tries to keep it, growls, or even snaps? This frustrating and even frightening behavior is known as resource guarding. It\u2019s natural for dogs to want to keep things. Some dogs will guard toys or food from their guardians, while others are inclined to guard high-value items like toys, food, beds or even their guardians from other dogs or pets in the home.<\/p>\n
What is resource guarding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Dr. Laurie Bergman, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist with NorthStar Vets<\/a>, advises that \u201cgiven the right set of circumstances, any dog can guard resources. Typically, this happens with a very high value \u2014 delicious, special \u2014 food item.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it is widely understood that old-school ideas about \u201cdominance\u201d and \u201calpha\u201d have no place in dog training, many people still have the misconception that a dog who is resource guarding is trying to assert dominance. In reality, as Dr. Bergman explains that dogs are \u201cmore inclined to guard things if they are nervous about their interactions with people or other pets (dogs and cats).\u201d<\/p>\n Essentially, dogs resource guard because they want to keep whatever desirable thing they have, which makes sense!<\/p>\n Related: <\/b>Dealing with Food Aggression in Dogs<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Photo: alexei_tm\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Resource guarding occurs on a scale of seriousness from warnings to bites of various levels of intensity. Here are a few signs of resource guarding:<\/p>\n Not all dogs will show every step of escalation, for example, in some extreme cases a dog could go directly from a look to a bite. Most importantly, although it may feel counterintuitive, \u201cyou never want to punish the growl or behavior your dog displays with the dog or person.\u00a0 It\u2019s your warning sign,\u201d advises Khara Schuetzner, MA, CPDT-KSA, CNWI,\u00a0 Chair of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers<\/a> (APDT).<\/p>\n For dogs that are serious resource guarders, there is no quick fix. Managing your dog\u2019s environment to prevent situations that will inspire guarding is important. \u201cTreatment for anxiety, especially if the anxiety results in aggression, ALWAYS starts with avoidance. If you prevent the dog from getting in the problem situations, you do three things: First, you keep everyone safe. Second, you set up the dog to be able to start learning new responses.Finally, if you keep your dog from getting anxious and aggressive you lower your own stress. This makes everything a bit easier,\u201d advises\u00a0 Dr. Bergman.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>What to Do If Your Dog Won\u2019t Share His Toys<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Although resource guarding comes naturally to some dogs, if your dog suddenly begins resource guarding it can be a sign of an underlying health condition. Anytime your adult dog shows a behavior change it\u2019s a good time to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian.<\/p>\n Similarly, If you have tried prevention strategies and your dog isn\u2019t showing improvement or is guarding things not in his possession (like food on a counter or an area of the house where food and treats are kept) or is guarding randomly and out of scale things like a paper towel or piece of paper, Dr. Bergman says seek support from a veterinary behaviorist. She notes that for dogs with significant anxieties that accompany the resource guarding medication that lowers anxiety can be a helpful component of a larger comprehensive behavioral treatment plan, which will involve management and behavior modification training.<\/p>\n Top photograph: Iuliia Zavalishina<\/a>\/ Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>Teach your dog to Make A Wish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post What is Resource Guarding and What Should You Do About It?<\/a> by Sassafras Lowrey<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post What is Resource Guarding and What Should You Do About It?<\/a> by Sassafras Lowrey<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n Has your dog ever had a bone or something that didn’t belong to him and when you go to take it away, he tries to keep it, growls, or even snaps? This frustrating and even frightening behavior is known as resource guarding. It\u2019s natural for dogs to want to keep things. Some dogs will guard toys or food from their guardians, while others are inclined to guard high-value items like toys, food, beds or even their guardians from other dogs or pets in the home.<\/p>\n Dr. Laurie Bergman, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist with NorthStar Vets<\/a>, advises that \u201cgiven the right set of circumstances, any dog can guard resources. Typically, this happens with a very high value \u2014 delicious, special \u2014 food item.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it is widely understood that old-school ideas about \u201cdominance\u201d and \u201calpha\u201d have no place in dog training, many people still have the misconception that a dog who is resource guarding is trying to assert dominance. In reality, as Dr. Bergman explains that dogs are \u201cmore inclined to guard things if they are nervous about their interactions with people or other pets (dogs and cats).\u201d<\/p>\n Essentially, dogs resource guard because they want to keep whatever desirable thing they have, which makes sense!<\/p>\n Related: <\/b>Dealing with Food Aggression in Dogs<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Photo: alexei_tm\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Resource guarding occurs on a scale of seriousness from warnings to bites of various levels of intensity. Here are a few signs of resource guarding:<\/p>\n Not all dogs will show every step of escalation, for example, in some extreme cases a dog could go directly from a look to a bite. Most importantly, although it may feel counterintuitive, \u201cyou never want to punish the growl or behavior your dog displays with the dog or person.\u00a0 It\u2019s your warning sign,\u201d advises Khara Schuetzner, MA, CPDT-KSA, CNWI,\u00a0 Chair of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers<\/a> (APDT).<\/p>\n For dogs that are serious resource guarders, there is no quick fix. Managing your dog\u2019s environment to prevent situations that will inspire guarding is important. \u201cTreatment for anxiety, especially if the anxiety results in aggression, ALWAYS starts with avoidance. If you prevent the dog from getting in the problem situations, you do three things: First, you keep everyone safe. Second, you set up the dog to be able to start learning new responses.Finally, if you keep your dog from getting anxious and aggressive you lower your own stress. This makes everything a bit easier,\u201d advises\u00a0 Dr. Bergman.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong>What to Do If Your Dog Won\u2019t Share His Toys<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Although resource guarding comes naturally to some dogs, if your dog suddenly begins resource guarding it can be a sign of an underlying health condition. Anytime your adult dog shows a behavior change it\u2019s a good time to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian.<\/p>\n Similarly, If you have tried prevention strategies and your dog isn\u2019t showing improvement or is guarding things not in his possession (like food on a counter or an area of the house where food and treats are kept) or is guarding randomly and out of scale things like a paper towel or piece of paper, Dr. Bergman says seek support from a veterinary behaviorist. She notes that for dogs with significant anxieties that accompany the resource guarding medication that lowers anxiety can be a helpful component of a larger comprehensive behavioral treatment plan, which will involve management and behavior modification training.<\/p>\n Top photograph: Iuliia Zavalishina<\/a>\/ Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>Teach your dog to Make A Wish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post What is Resource Guarding and What Should You Do About It?<\/a> by Sassafras Lowrey<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dogster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1026002254.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to recognizing resource guarding behavior\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
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How to manage resource guarding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Getting help\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
What is resource guarding<\/b><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nHow to recognizing resource guarding behavior\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
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How to manage resource guarding<\/b><\/h3>\n
Getting help\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n