Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should
Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should
How NOT to solve resource guarding
I’m motivated to write this following a phone conversation I had last night with a potential client. This woman called and said she adopted a 2 year old dog on Saturday. The rescue warned her the dog has certain aggressive and resource guarding tendencies. She went on to tell me that the dog is wonderful (she's had it for what, three days?) and she is able to put her hand in the dog's mouth while it is eating without any problem. Yikes!!! This is NOT the way to address or prevent resource guarding. She doesn't believe what the rescue told her. I told her the dog hasn't settled in and decompressed yet, and said the behaviors the rescue was seeing may emerge in her home with time. She wasn't buying that. She will probably get bitten, and perhaps will call me back at that time...
I can take food from my dogs, pet them, etc while they are eating. But I don't. And won't. And I didn't accomplish this by sticking my hand in their bowl while they're eating. That isn't training your dog, it is harassing your dog.
It is a Recipe For Disaster
I’m sure many of you can identify with this. Don’t you get super irritated when someone reaches into your plate when you’re eating? You might tolerate it a couple of times, but when someone keeps it up, you get annoyed and you might snap at them. So does your dog, literally.
By pestering your hungry dog and refusing to let him eat in peace, you are teaching your dog that he must defend his food with the only tools he has – his teeth. Keep it up and your dog will start becoming defensive if you even walk by while he’s eating.
𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐥. You should be able to add items to it while he’s eating, or, if for some reason it is necessary, be able to take it away from him without conflict. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. You establish trust, respect, and cooperation outside of mealtime so that it can be transferred (generalized) to mealtime. Let your dog eat in peace.
Keep mealtime calm and peaceful. Require the same good manners from your dog that you ask for in every other aspect of life. If you are starting with a puppy, ask him to sit before you put the bowl down. But don’t make him sit and stare at his food for an eternity before you release him. If he remains sitting while you place the bowl, calmly release him and allow him to eat. You can also use some of his food for a brief training session before he gets to eat the rest of it, but keep it fun. Follow the same procedure if you have just brought an older dog into your home.
If you did end up with a resource guarding dog you’ll need to do some behavior modification to help him feel secure while eating and not be defensive. The dog will need to learn to trust you and cooperate with you. This is a gradual process that begins with exercises you might think have nothing to do with resource guarding, but will gradually turn your snarly eater into a happy diner who knows you aren’t there to take his food.
