Expert: Jody Epstein, APDT - 1/30/2012

Question
i have a female 8 month old yellow lab we adopted 6 mos. ago she is great except recently if she has a toy or raw hide and you come near her she starts to growl and her fur goes up like she is going to come after you. if we tell her nono she get more aggresive. im starting to be afraid of her. she has done this now with my husband and adult son. i dont know what to do. i dont want to have to give her up out of fear for my family. other wise she is a good dog and behaves well and has gone to training class and is smart. i really could use your advise. thank you  sharon mueller

Answer
What you're describing is Resource Guarding behavior. The first thing I want you to understand is that this is a completely normal behavior for most animals (humans included). When an individual - human or dog - has something that they feel is valuable, they are inclined to protect it if they fear that it will be taken away from them. If you were walking down the street and someone tried to snatch your purse off your shoulder, you would likely scream, hit, shove and maybe even bite if necessary to protect and keep your treasured item. This is true also of dogs. What the dog feels is valuable enough to guard is entirely up to him. Some dogs will guard their food bowl, toys, sleeping space, a favorite person, doorways, entire rooms, etc.

It's a normal behavior, but clearly it's not acceptable to allow it to continue in the home, so how do we address it? Well, the most important thing is that we AVOID following our instinctive response - and this is a difficult thing for us to do. When a dog growls or shows aggression toward us, our instinct is to show aggression back in an effort to maintain control of the situation. We growl and bark back when we firmly or loudly say "No". We challenge when we give direct eye contact, move closer to them and wag our finger at them as we scold them. This is totally normal human behavior. The problem with it in this case is that it completely confirms for the dog that they have good reason to fear that their prize will be taken away. And so they become more intense in their display to protect their treasured item and we become more intense in our scold, and you can see how this can quickly escalate to a bite - and NOBODY wants that. I guarantee you that is the last thing the dog wants. He's giving you every warning to keep clear specifically so he can avoid having to actually confront you.

So, now we're putting aside our instinctive response, but we don't want to walk on egg shells forever around our dog. The next step is to help reassure the dog that he has no reason to fear the loss of his possessions. We need to help him learn that our proximity to his toys is not a bad thing, but rather a really, really good thing.

Start with a toy that he will readily give to you - not a toy that he's currently guarding. Have some spectacular treat ready to go. When doing this work, we need to use the ultimate food items so don't dig in to the Pupperoni or crunchy dog biscuits. This is the time for human food, and you want to use the food that makes your guy drool more than anything. Favorites include (all meats are cooked through): chicken breast, beef, lamb, hot dog, string cheese, baby carrots, mostly thawed frozen peas (though these are a bit on the small side for a Lab). If you're cooking meat, you don't have to go out of your way to season, and you need to avoid onions altogether, and use little or no garlic.

*Please see my Tasty But Toxic - Foods blog for a list of foods you need to avoid. Included on that list is onions and grapes/raisins as they can be fatally toxic...
http://thegooddogblog.gooddog-dogtraining.com/2010/03/20/tasty-but-toxic.aspx

Exercise #1
Do this with several different toys of medium-value (that he currently does NOT guard). While he is enjoying his toy (that he will readily give to you), I want you to just walk past him (keeping 4 or 5 feet away from him) and drop a bite of the awesome treat near him and keep walking. He'll stop playing with his toy, eat the treat and go back to his toy. Do this "pass-by" 6-10 times in a single session, then leave him be with his toy. Remember, you're starting this with toys that he will already let you take - but you're NOT taking it right now.

Each person in the household should do this once per day (at different times per day, so schedule with the family). This gives him 3 sessions per day. The point of this exercise is to become comfortable with your proximity while he's enjoying a toy. He learns that when you pass by him, not only are you not threatening, but something wonderful falls from the sky whenever you're near him while he's enjoying a toy.

After a week at the original distance (say 5 feet from him), move about 1 foot closer. Continue this daily practice for a few more days. If he's completely comfortable with this exercise, and if he's disengaging from his toy in anticipation of the yummy thing with all 3 of you, then move another foot closer. Continue until you can be right next to him, sitting in a chair or squatting*.

*Be aware of your body language with him. If you are bending over him from any angle, this is a challenge and will make him nervous. If you are directly in front of his face and staring right at him, this is a challenge as well. I encourage you to be next to him, parallel with him, you can look at him (turning your head to face him), but don't maintain lingering eye contact. If you watch two dogs that get along, they will may look right at each other, but they glance away frequently. If you're watching him, move your eyes around his face and along his body so you're not just staring him in the eye. Drop the treat next to him, let him take it and return to his toy. By the time you reach this stage withe the medium-value toy, you may find that he loses interest in the toy when you're that close because the treat is so much better. That's a good thing.

Then, begin this exercise again with a higher value toy - but begin at least one foot further away than where you began with the medium-value toy. In other words, if you were able to start just 5 feet away with the medium-value toy, you will need to start this exercise at least 6 feet away with a toy that he currently guards. Let HIM tell you how far you need to be from him. He should be enjoying his toy in a relaxed manner. His hackles should be down and he should not be watching you. He should just be enjoying the toy. That is the distance to start from. From that distance, you will walk past him and just toss that awesome food bite to him and keep going. When he readily stops playing with his toy in anticipation to your treat, you can move a foot closer. Pay attention to his body language here. He should remain relaxed. He might get a little bit nervous, but he should NOT feel a need to growl or bark or bristle at you. If he does, then you moved too close too soon. BACK UP and continue at the further distance for at least 10 more sessions, then move closer by half as much as you initially tried.

Depending on your dog, and how comfortable he feels, this may take a few weeks or it may take several months. Be patient. Take your time. Let your dog tell you when he's ready for you to move closer.

In the end, he should welcome your proximity to him no matter what toy he's involved with because he knows that manna from heaven will rain upon him if you are near him and his toy...

Exercise #2:
Drop Command. Begin this training with low- and medium-value toys. This requires you to be near him, so do NOT practice this yet with items he's protective of. While he's enjoying his toy, hold that awesome treat in front of him. Don't say a word. When he lets go of his toy to take the food, toss it 8 or 10 inches away so he has to turn his attention away from his toy to get the food. While his head is turned, take the toy away from him. When he looks back at you, offer the toy back and let him have it. Don't tease him with it, just let him have it. Give him a good minute or 2 or 5 to enjoy his toy and then repeat the exercise. Again, this should be repeated 5-10 times per session and each person should do this once per day (at least an hour apart from the first exercise. )

NOTE that you did not say anything when you presented the food item. This is because he does not know what the word Drop means, and if you use it too soon, and he doesn't give up the toy, then the word loses all meaning. Once he will readily let go of his toy and turn his head away to get the food, now we're ready to add the cue.

At this stage, you'll say his name and tell him to drop in a firm, but normal volume tone: "Fido, Drop." Immediately after saying the command, present the treat so he sees/smells it and then toss it away as you have been. Take the toy while his head is turned. When he looks back to you, offer him the toy back and let him enjoy it again for a couple minutes before you repeat the exercise.

The point of this exercise is crucial to helping him get over the resource guarding. He MUST learn that not only is your proximity a good thing, but that when you take something away, it's not forever. He gets it back, and this means he doesn't need to worry about losing his treasured items because he always gets it back...

Do this exercise with as many of his medium value toys as you can so that he begins to generalize the experience. Do NOT do this exercise with high-value items until you can be right next to him based on exercise #1. Once you can do this exercise with the high-value items, you will continue to practice Drop with the high-value items, but toss the food 16-18 inches away so that he has to move a bit further away while you take the item. Then, ask him for an easy command such as Sit and then reward the Sit by giving back his precious toy.

One last option is simple management. My oldest dog guarded raw hides and pig ears. This was a dozen years ago - long before I knew anything about canine behavior; I was just a dog owner. I dealt with it by removing all raw hides and pig ears. It was easy enough for me to just do that. She didn't guard any other toys from me and I didn't know at the time how to help her feel safe and secure about her raw hides and pig ears, so I just decided that they couldn't be in this house if she couldn't be friendly regarding them. That is a totally reasonable option. If it really is just one or two items - especially consumable items like a raw hide - there are other things you can offer her to make her happy that may not trigger her need to guard.

I was comfortable enough with my dog that I was able to introduce beef marrow bones in a way that dramatically limited the potential for guarding. I got her a new basted beef marrow bone from the pet store. I sat down on the floor with her and I HELD THE BONE by one end and allowed her to enjoy the other end. I helped her hold it still while she licked and chewed at it. Her paw was frequently on top of mine, she'd lick my hand along with the bone and she was right next to me. I'd let her enjoy the bone for 5-20 minutes and then I'd put it away out of sight/reach until the next day when we repeated this exercise. By the time she got all the basting off the outside (maybe 6 or 7 sessions), she had associated her pleasure of that bone with her proximity to me. I tested this by leaving the bone in her toy basket. In the evening, she went and got it out, came over and laid down right next to me to enjoy it. From then on, I was able to pick up the bone whenever I wanted because 8 out of 10 times, when I put my hand on it, it was only to lift it onto one end so she could better chew it. I continued to help her associate my touching it with better enjoyment of it, rather than taking the toy away.

I MUST BE CLEAR - THIS LAST EXERCISE I DID WITH A BRAND NEW ITEM SHE'D NEVER HAD BEFORE SO THAT FROM MOMENT ONE, SHE ASSOCIATED MY TOUCHING IT AND MY CLOSENESS TO HER WITH THAT TOY (SHE ONLY GOT TO ENJOY THIS TOY WHEN I WAS INVOLVED WITH IT). I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU FEEL CONFIDENT THAT YOUR DOG WILL BE COMFORTABLE. IF YOU THINK YOUR DOG MAY BE NERVOUS ABOUT THIS OR THAT SHE MAY BITE YOU, THEN DO NOT TRY THE LAST OPTION DESCRIBED.

I just realized your dog is a 'her' and I referred to 'him' throughout. I apologize for that...

I hope this proves helpful. Please feel free to followup if you need any further assistance.

Jody, APDT
Los Angeles Behaviorist
http://gooddog-dogtraining.com