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Resource guarding
Can board and train help with resource guarding?
Guarding is easy to miss until it turns into a growl. Knowing the quieter early signs, and having a plan for the kitchen this evening, matters more than which program comes later.
Consult first
The consult comes first, because what your dog guards, and from whom, decides the route
Guarding usually belongs to particular items in particular rooms: the bowl in the kitchen, a stolen sock under the table, the corner of the sofa. A stay moves the dog away from all of them, which is why a calm week at Dogtown says little about the evening after pick-up. The consult asks what is guarded, from whom, what the dog has done and whether it is getting worse, then weighs safety in a building where dogs share playgroups of 7 to 10.
The decision is Gabriella Pope's, made case by case: a stay with a written management plan, an owner-present program such as Polished Pup, whose brief names resource guarding, or a referral to your vet or a veterinary behaviorist for bites, guarding near children or a sudden start in an adult dog. Whichever she suggests, ask the questions below at the consult, so the plan for your dog's meals and chews is settled before anything is booked.
- Where and when would my dog eat and chew during a stay?
- Would it join a playgroup, and what decides that?
- Which adults should attend the go-home lesson?
- At what point would you refer us to a veterinary behaviorist?
Early signs
Guarding usually starts quietly, long before a growl
A 2018 study in Frontiers in Veterinary Science by Jacobs and colleagues asked a panel of behavior experts to define the problem. Their proposed definition of resource guarding is the use of avoidance, threatening or aggressive behaviors by a dog to keep control of food or other items when a person or another animal is near. The panel described avoidance as grabbing an item and running off or eating it fast, and threat as freezing, stiffening, hovering, body blocking, staring and lifting a lip.
The panel also noted that guarding is often normal behavior, which is useful to remember: your dog is not being spiteful, it is protecting something it values. The early, quieter signs are the easiest to work with, because the dog is still telling you rather than showing you. Punishing a growl removes the warning without removing the worry, and a dog that stops warning can go straight to a snap. Note the signs you see, and when, and bring them to the consult.
- Avoidance: carries the item off, or gulps it faster as you approach
- Threat: freezes, stiffens, hovers or blocks with its body
- Threat: a hard stare or a lifted lip
- Aggression: a growl, a snap or a bite
Management
Management at home starts today, whatever the consult decides
Management means the dog has nothing to defend while the training catches up. Feed it behind a closed door or in a crate and leave it alone until the bowl is empty. Give long-lasting chews only when nobody needs to walk past, pick toys up before visitors or other dogs arrive, and never grab back something it has stolen; offer a trade from a distance instead. Keep children away from the dog whenever food or chews are around, behind a gate if needed.
Outings need the same thinking. Shared balls at the fenced Gloucester Dog Park at Stage Fort Park are a poor idea for a toy guarder, so go at quiet times or skip it for now. A dog that guards found treasures, a dropped sandwich or something washed up on an off-season beach, needs a strong leave it and a short leash near the tide line. Polished Pup, 10 weeks and 20 sessions with you at every session, builds the household version of the plan. Sessions start from $94.
Trade games
Trade games teach your dog that letting go gets it something better
A trade game starts far from anything your dog guards. Rank five things it cares about, from a dull toy to a stolen sock, and begin at the bottom of the list. Offer a treat it values more than the toy, say your trade word as it lets go, and hand the toy straight back most of the time. The dog learns two things at once: giving up pays, and giving up rarely means losing. Only adults play, and items already guarded with a growl stay in management, not in the game.
If a stay is agreed, the daily updates should report the trades: which items, how close a handler could pass during a meal and how loose the dog stayed. The go-home lesson then teaches the trade to each adult in the house, one at a time, because a dog can be relaxed with one person and still guard from another. If the consult points toward a stay, our board and train page lays out what each one includes.
- 01
Rank five things your dog values, lowest first
- 02
Start with the lowest item and a treat worth more
- 03
Say your trade word as the dog lets go, then pay
- 04
Give the item back most of the time
- 05
Move up the list only after three easy sessions in a row
- 06
Leave the top items, and anything stolen, to management
At Dogtown
Programs for guarding
Most guarding work happens at home in an owner-present program, with a stay only where the consult agrees.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Will Dogtown take my guarding dog for board and train?
My dog only guards from our other dog. Does that change the plan?
Is gulping food a sign of guarding?
Can I start trade games before the consult?
What happens to my dog's meals during a stay?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- Jacobs et al. (2018): defining canine possessive aggression and resource guarding, Frontiers in Veterinary Science
- Gloucester Dog Park
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Book the consult first
Tell us on the training form what your dog guards and from whom. We reply within one hour on business days.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
