# What should I have done?



## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

My newest addition, Boone is an approximately 5 month old Golden Retriever mix. He came to us with some Food guarding issues that have almost completely disappeared over time. They creep up every once in awhile with a very high value item, like I will describe here. 

Boone managed to find a shopping bag with a few treats inside (a bag we had prepared for a trip). He was chewing on the bag, got it open before I realized what he was doing, and was having alittle fest for himself with the treats. My husband got the bag awy from him with no problem, but there were some bits on the floor left. Lucy, my other dog, went to sniff by him before I could reach down to pick up the rest and he barked loudly at her, in my opinion a warning bark to let her know to stay away. I grabbed the bits quickly from him and even took the one out of his mouth with no incident at all and did not let him have any more and scolded him by saying NO very sternly. 

Was this the correct response, and is it something normal to have happened being he thought he found such a wonderful treasure, or does this mean I need to do something in particular to rid this reaction from ever happening again?


----------



## The Trio (Apr 24, 2010)

I think you did the right thing. It was not supposed to be his in the first place. It also showed him if he is going to be food aggresssive/guarded he loses his food. He has to learn to share. Keep up the good momming.


----------



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

In that situation, I woudl call the approaching dog away, put her away, and then approach the guarder with something to trade.

The reason? Getting others away will prevent them from getting hurt. And I want to trade to maintain all the hard work we've done up until that point.

Have you started the protocols in Mine yet? How is that going?


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I think you did the right thing--as long as your dog got the message. If my dog acted aggressively like that and it was not called for I would look in her eyes and verbally chastise her until she submits (i.e. looks away, puts ears down, lowers body) I do not hurt her, but I let her know that behavior is not acceptable.


----------



## GoldenOwner12 (Jun 18, 2008)

I think you did the right thing by taking all the food away. He has to learn to share. With my dogs if they have did something wrong i give them that look at point at them, They then lower the ears,tail inbetween legs so they knew they did wrong.


----------



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

The only thing I would have done differently is avoid the scolding...and avoid grabbing the goodies...I would have calmly and quietly take the bits....and/or called him to me and asked for a sit so i could reward the sit...

Unless the object they are eating is going to kill them or require a trip the emergency vet. I dont grab...I distract (toss a treat so they leave the forbidden object to get the goodie) and/or trade (have them bring the object to me and release it so I can reward the retrieve.

IMHO scolding and grabbing only reinforces the dogs belief that what they had was worth stealing and worth protecting...

IMO...resource guarding is the more natural thing for any animal to do. Sharing is a human concept....and one we don't always do well either.


----------



## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

LibertyME....terrific points that you made! Certainly makes sense to me to reward for a sit than to grab and scold. I defintely dont want to reinforce that his object was good enough to guard for. My reaction was definitely a knee jerk one. I need to be more careful. 

Red Dogs...thanks for asking. I actually got the book, but havent gone through the steps with Boone. I did did begin to read it, but we have had such a crazy few weeks with the hubby in and out of the hospital. He is home recouping now, (thankfully) but of course that means my time has been pretty tight. My daughter has been helping me work with Boone in small steps and he is soooo much better than when he came. As far as we can tell. he has only shown this high value guarding 2X in the past 3 weeks, this being one of the times. Food bowl is a non-issue now, although we continue to keep dogs a safe distance apart and pull up dishes immediately upon finishing. Toys are fine, even new toys that we brought home the other day were fine. I was worried about that and made sure to bring 3 home, and was watching them like a hawk for the first hour they had them. It made for quite a nice show during coffee time with a girlfriend LOL I am so glad things have improved so dramatically and have finally started enjoying his puppyhood!


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm with LibertyME on this one. I worry that scolding or intimidating just reinforces insecure behavior. I would much rather reward a dog for trading if possible (though safety concerns don't always make that possible).


----------



## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

I'm glad this post came up from last week. I re-read it. I have to say Boone's guardy side is showing up less and less and less. In fact, I haven't really seen it at all since this post which is 2 weeks old. In reading it again however, and of course with time passing and me learning more about Boone. I wonder if the growling in this incident was really insecure growling, or plain rude behavior. I;m coming from a place of inexperience when it comes to training, exccept for the basics, and I never had to deal with guarding issues before. THAT being said, I wonder if, with Boone, its insecurity, or just plain ol..."It's mine and you cant have it". I dont mean to humanize dogs, but as with children, we need to teach our dogs that sharing is a good thing and we shouldnt hoard our stuff. Is it not the same with pups? Dont we need to show them that its NOT OK to growl when a "sibling" comes near their things? In my gut, I feel like Boone has a very strong personality and he is pushing already, at his young age, to be king of the castle here. I realize dogs choose their own pecking order, or at least i think that is what happens, correct me if i am wrong, but to a certain point, arent we supposed to show them correct and incorrect behavior? And if this is true, then isnt it my job to show him growling at his sibling is NOT acceptable? Its one thing to be dominant, but it is another to be plain bossy. I love Boone to bits, but he is BOSSY, and I think its important for me to get a handle on it before he gets to be 70 lbs. 

I'm not suggesting, by the way, that this my way of thinking is correct, but rather asking if i am wrong to think in this direction from those with more experience....


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Well,everyone has their own opinion. And I can see doing the trading as suggested if you really do have an insecure dog, but--

I do not have an insecure dog myself and I have a zero tolerance policy for aggression. Period. Mine is very bossy/pushy/assertive/dominant and I always have to stay on top of her because she will try to manipulate (not necessarily in a bad way) to get what she wants. 

If mine were to do what you said yours did I know it would not be an insecurity issue, but rather, wanting to be boss over the other dog. Well, that is unacceptable and I would correct and would not worry once that it would make things worse. Now, if you have an insecure dog with resource guarding issues I admit I don't know that I would take the same approach...


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Like reddogs said, my first step would be to get the other dog safely away before the first dog had a chance to react dangerously.

Pesonally I feel it's pretty natural for one dog to want to protect their food from another dog and I don't do too much work with that unless it's really a problem. Now a dog acting that way towards a human is unacceptable for me, that issue would be worked on.


----------



## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

Thanks Goldensail for your perspective. When Boone first came home and was food guarding, I felt he might be insecure, yes. That being said, he has been here a month and I can see how much he has blossomed. I can also see his personality alot clearer and even at 5 1/2 months olf, I can tell he is bossy and tries to rule the roost, so to speak. So in this particular situation, I dont feel it was insecurity, but just plain rude. I think he needs to learn his boundaries, and growling at a sibling, isnt acceptable here.


----------



## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

LibertyME said:


> The only thing I would have done differently is avoid the scolding...and avoid grabbing the goodies...I would have calmly and quietly take the bits....and/or called him to me and asked for a sit so i could reward the sit...
> 
> Unless the object they are eating is going to kill them or require a trip the emergency vet. I dont grab...I distract (toss a treat so they leave the forbidden object to get the goodie) and/or trade (have them bring the object to me and release it so I can reward the retrieve.
> 
> ...


Ditto what she said.


----------



## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

Oddly....I can see both sides to this. I guess that is wy I'm confused with which way is best.....


----------



## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Jax's Mom said:


> Oddly....I can see both sides to this. I guess that is wy I'm confused with which way is best.....


One other thing to consider: I don't know what the guarding looked like before, but if historically he'd do more than just a warning bark -- and a warning bark is all you got in today's incident -- that's a huge improvement --- and yet another reason why scolding the dog isn't the best plan.

The problem with positive punishment (defined as anything we add to the situation to decrease an unwanted behavior) is that it's VERY difficult for humans to get the timing right in the way that makes sense to the dog. Likely, by the time you A. picked up the rest of the pieces on the floor B. snatched the one from his mouth and THEN C. verbally scolded him... he was less likely to associate the scolding with the fact that X-seconds ago, he snark-barked at the other dog.


----------

