Resource guarding is completely normal and natural behaviour for dogs – and for people too. Think about how you would react if somebody came over to you, picked up your mobile phone and walked off with it. You’d be unhappy. You might chase them and try to take your phone back. You might shout. You might report them to the police. After all of that, I’d bet that you would take some steps to make sure that same thing couldn’t happen again.
It is completely normal for you to feel possessive of things that matter to you – and to take steps to prevent them from being taken from you.
It is exactly the same for your dog – although your dog probably wouldn’t worry too much about losing a mobile phone.
Anyway, resource guarding is when any dog gets defensive to keep you, strangers or other dogs away from something they consider to be a precious resource. It is often diagnosed when dogs have started to growl, snarl or snap when approached if they have something valuable. Some dogs may charge while barking loudly to try and chase people or dogs away.
Common things for dogs to resource guard are their food, chews, toys, favourite resting spots or their favourite person. Anything at all that they see as valuable. Some dogs will even guard interesting smells from other dogs.
There is a genetic element to resource guarding. Some dogs are far more at risk of developing it than others. However, that risk is not a genetic character flaw for the dogs. As I’m going to talk about later in this blog, a tendency to be possessive, which can lead to resource guarding has been carefully bred into some of the most popular dog breeds around.
And - if you do have a dog who is resource guarding, the same prevention work will help as will getting some support from a professional to help you out. Look for a professional who uses training methods that are in line with your ethics, has solid qualifications and experience.
Possessive dogs and resource guarding
Why on earth would anybody want a dog to be possessive?
If you are thinking that, then I completely agree. If you live in a home with multiple people coming and going. If you routinely walk your dog in places with lots of strangers and other dogs. If you love your dog but didn’t get them intending to become a dog behaviour expert. If any of these are true, then it is almost certainly easier to live with a dog who isn’t bothered about people walking over to them when they are eating, who hands over their ball during games of fetch and who doesn’t steal socks and glasses.
The thing is that many pet dogs have their genetic roots in breeds where it is or was useful for the dog to be possessive. The breeds who pick up and retrieve things do their job a whole lot better if they love to keep things in their mouth. They need to love it a whole lot if they are going to run off, pick up something heavy and awkward – and then carry it back to a person. If you share your life with a spaniel or a dog who has spaniel in their breed mix, that’s your dog. Any breed or mix with dogs who have retriever in their name are similar.
Breeding practices for those dogs aim to produce dogs who love to pick objects up and carry them around. For sure, ideally, the dogs happily hand over their treasures, but breeding isn’t an exact science and while some dogs do, others like the having and holding part of it way more than the handing over part. That’s why the predatory motor sequence for dogs describes a retrieve type bite as possess. It is more common in retrieving dogs to spend way more time training that handing over part of a retrieve than it is to train the picking up and carrying part.
It isn’t just the gundog breeds either. Many of the guarding and bull breeds have their roots in the dogs being willing to protect important resources for people or grab with their mouths and hold on. Many of those dogs were meant to grip with their mouths and hold something. The dogs were expected to continue protecting the resources even if they were hurt in the course of doing their job. That sort of breeding will create some individual dogs who are more possessive.
When you look at possessive dogs in the context of their breeding, it is clear that while there is a genetic component to resource guarding, it isn’t because those dogs have a character flaw. For many of them, the roots of it are in the jobs that the dogs were bred to do.
That’s important to understand because whenever dogs are bred to be more possessive, the people who were involved in creating or who now maintain breeding for those sorts of dogs were not working to create dogs with unstable temperaments who would be out of control around things they want to have. That’s good news for you.
While you may well have a dog who has a natural tendency to be possessive, you can influence what your dog actually does in a huge way through training and management of your dog. You do not have to go through your dog’s life being worried about them resource guarding.
Early signs of a possessive dog
There are a few signs you can look out for if you have a new dog or a puppy that would indicate that your dog is possessive.
Running away with toys.
Avoiding people if they have a toy.
Eating faster if you approach them while they are eating.
Going still and hovering over their food if you approach them while they are eating.
If you see any of these signs, work at preventing problems so that your possessive dog does not develop resource guarding.
What is resource guarding
Resource guarding is an escalation of those early signs, and it often happens because the dog feels that their precious thing is at risk of being taken from them.
It is important to understand that resource guarding is not just about aggression. Really it is what happens when a dog develops a way of keeping their precious thing that works for them. These are common resource guarding strategies:
The dog has specific places where they run to with things they have. Usually these will be places you will find it hard to access. Other than causing concern if the dog has taken something valuable or dangerous to them, this is a pretty harmless strategy.
The dog swallows items. They might gulp down large chews or swallow stolen socks. This strategy is particularly upsetting because those incidents often result in trips to out of hours vets or even surgery. In some dogs, it only takes a glance in their direction to trigger swallowing.
The dog uses aggression. Aggression can range from a charge and a bark to a snarl to a serious bite. Some dogs are so concerned about losing their precious thing that they will aggress from long distances away.
Preventing Problems
There are some easy things you can do that will help even the most possessive dog learn that they don’t have to guard their precious things.
Put things away. If you know you would chase your dog around to retrieve a sock or something else around your house, put those things somewhere your dog can’t get them.
Let your dog eat in peace. No putting your hand in their bowl. No taking their food away from them. Remember that resource guarding happens because dogs fear things being taken from them so don’t make that fear a reality for your dog.
Make sure that other dogs and children cannot bother your dog while they eat. Put them in a cage or a different room while they eat and make sure they are left alone.
If you are like me and you like to do something, you can toss extra pieces of tasty food into your dog’s bowl from a distance to help them learn that when you are around, you not only won’t steal their food, you’ll actually add to it.
Give longer lasting chews somewhere your dog won’t be disturbed and again make sure that children and other dogs will leave your dog alone while they chew.
If you have failure in putting things away and your dog does have something you’d rather they didn’t, control yourself and give them distance. Chasing your dog will only confirm that you want to take things from them – and that risks turning them into a resource guarder. Chasing also raises their levels of excitement, making it harder for them to let go of whatever they have.
Teach your dog to drop when you ask them to and then practice that training often. A good drop will solve almost all of your problems with possession.
If you want my help with it, I have a super easy and fast method for teaching drop.
You get the training with video tutorials in a convenient pdf file that can live on your phone and be there for you whenever you need it.
You’ll also get invited to live Q&A sessions so that if you do have questions or need extra support, you can have it. Click here to check it out.
Resource guarding is a common behaviour problem in dogs in large part because many dogs are innately possessive. The great news is that there is a lot you can do to ensure that your dog’s possessive nature does not escalate to resource guarding.
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Hi - I'm Tracey.
I am the founder of Best Dog Learning and Stuff and a massive prey drive enthusiast. I've lived with high prey drive dogs for over 20 years and I love them. I run the awesome High Prey Drive Club where I help my members learn to have fabulous walks and happy lives with their high prey drive dogs.
