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My Pet World: To halt a dog's resource guarding you may need a pro

Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on

Dear Cathy,

I am looking for some advice for my rescue pup, Charlie. I got him last January and every day is new and exciting, but also incredibly challenging. He is a rescue pup from Puerto Rico. Someone abandoned him, and he was found injured and scraped up at three months old. I adopted him soon after this. As he gets older though, some behavioral issues are emerging. Within the last couple of months, his reactivity on walks and resource guarding has increased. I have concluded that Charlie is just leash reactive, which I can understand (who wants to be a leash all the time?). My main concern is the resource guarding. I allow him in my bed, which has always been his safe space. At night, I leave the door to his crate open, and he mostly sleeps there. Recently, he started resource guarding my bed. He has done it to me once, and my dad twice whom he did try to bite. The first time it occurred, I had given him a bully stick. With my dad, we couldn’t identify the trigger. Do you have any recommendations for this? Should I stop allowing him in my bed? — Krista, via email

Dear Krista,

It’s common for dogs to protect things they find valuable, but things can escalate when they get overprotective of those items or people. While I would keep him off the bed for now, as that seems to be a trigger, there will likely be other triggers in the future. I will share some things you can do, but I highly recommend finding a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT), so he or she can observe you and Charlie and create a personalized training plan that addresses his specific behavior.

In the meantime, begin counter-conditioning Charlie to no longer react when people approach him. This can only happen if your dog learns the person approaching is the bringer of good things, and if you identify and remove obvious triggers, like the bed — at least until you have successfully conditioned him to accept people approaching him.

Here’s how to do it. If Charlie freezes, turns his head, growls, or snarls when you are six feet from him, start tossing high-value treats (chicken, hot dogs, cheese, etc.) from eight feet away. In other words, toss treats before you enter his trigger zone. You and your dad should both do this for one to two minutes several times throughout the day. Then, walk away and leave; do not engage him. Start counter-conditioning Charlie when has no obvious resources, like a bone or toy. (He will consider a bed or couch as a resource.) As he progresses, you can progress to tossing treats when he does have an obvious resource. Once you have made progress in that area, work on closing the distance between you until you are just a few feet away from Charlie without him reacting in any way — no side-eye, no freezing, no growling, etc. If he reacts, at any point, step outside of his trigger zone again, and continue the counter-conditioning work from there. This process can take many weeks, so be patient.

At the same time, train Charlie to “leave it” and/or “drop it,” so you are never taking anything directly from him (or his mouth) but instructing him to leave/drop the item in exchange for a temporary higher value treat (a treat he can eat; not one that he can get protective of again.) If you’re not able to halt his resource guarding within six weeks, please hire a professional dog trainer as they can observe and fine-tune your training techniques.

Dear Cathy,

 

I read your column about a dog’s bizarre behavior to my sister-in-law who breeds, raises, and boards dogs. She suggested that the owner needs to take a stool sample to the vet to check for worms as the behavior mentioned is typical for a young pup with worms. — Monica, Henderson, Nevada

Dear Monica,

Your sister-in-law is right. That’s why I always recommend a trip to the vet whenever there is any change in behavior because new behaviors are the only way dogs and cats can let us know something is wrong. Many people assume going to the vet will result in a huge outlay of money for tests for a diagnosis, and therefore, don’t go. But a good vet will start with something simple, like checking for worms or a urinary infection, which are common and require inexpensive treatments before moving on to more expensive testing (unless they suspect something profoundly serious is wrong). Thanks for sharing.

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)

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