Luke W Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Over the last few (six?) months, I've noticed Barkly has started resource guarding. And it's escalating. I suspect it's been triggered by time at boarding kennels. He's started growling whenever I approach him and he's got something of high value. He gets rawhide bones to chew on his mat at night. If I approach him, he'll put his head over the bone and start growling. I can take the bone off him but it's obvious he's not happy about it. Last night he took his bone into his crate. I could here him lightly growling. I was 10 feet away sitting on the couch. I've started rewarding him for letting me approach and been giving him higher value treats every time I take something away from him. I guess the theory is that approaching him and taking something away from him doesn't mean bad news. I've also been doing the "stand next to him, take his bone, reward, give his bone back, take it away, reward" cycle. I'm not sure it's helping though and I worry I'm inadvertently rewarding him for guarding behaviour. I've also started feeding him inside so eating in company worries him less. I'm really not sure what the best approach is. My next plan would be to stop giving him anything that's high value and conditioning him to tolerate approaches with low value items. Then gradually increase the value of the items. Sadly, that means no fresh bones, no hide bones, no dog biscuits. Any other advice? A comprehensive plan to deal with resource guarding anywhere on the net? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsarsMum Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 time for a professional help. my boy started this but i did not let it get far and got help now he no longer does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) You could also try rewarding without taking anything away, so that you approaching is a 100% positive experience. Start by getting close enough that he won't growl and throw a treat from there. Then move gradually closer with a visible treat, walk off with it if there's any growling and stay a bit further out next time. I've been doing this with my girl and at the moment we are at the stage where I will just touch her bone with one finger, if no growls, then some roast chicken or another small bone. If she does growl, all the chicken goes to our other dog. It's also nice that if I walk past her now while she has a bone she looks up to see if there is something nice coming to her rather than worrying about her bone. She still growls at our other dog tho ETA: personally I don't like taking bones away from resource guarding dogs until the growling is under control, as I feel it's kind of justifying their their attitude. Others may disagree though (including my husband). Edited July 28, 2011 by Weasels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemesideways Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) In my opinion, I would personally not be touching his bone if he was growling. A growl is good, hes warning you. At the moment its just a warning, but by continuously taking his bone and proving that yes he does need to guard it... could end with a bite I think that this is one of those behaviours that is really best witnessed and advised upon by a professional, rather than just something you read over the internet. Simply because there could be a whole heap of other factors to it that we cannot see, and that you may not even see. Edited July 28, 2011 by lovemesideways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 There are some good ideas here: http://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11123 Thinking about the problem in terms of functional rewards is something that I find really helpful in figuring out a strategy for changing behaviour. If I can figure out what the dog wants, I can make its delivery contingent on behaviour I like. IME even if what the animal wants is for you to leave them alone, if they come to feel like they can tell you to leave them alone and you will always honour it, they don't feel like they need to ask you to leave them alone so much. If that makes sense. So you teach them to ask nicely, like by looking away. When they look away you leave. You can add markers if you like and build a safety signal. A sense of control is a powerful thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) If I can figure out what the dog wants, I can make its delivery contingent on behaviour I like. IME even if what the animal wants is for you to leave them alone, if they come to feel like they can tell you to leave them alone and you will always honour it, they don't feel like they need to ask you to leave them alone so much. If that makes sense. So you teach them to ask nicely, like by looking away. When they look away you leave. You can add markers if you like and build a safety signal. A sense of control is a powerful thing. And when you want to take the bone from them, and they don't want to give it to you, then what do you do? There are situations when what the dog wants and what it wants to control are NOT what you can allow them to do. Edited July 28, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) It's psychology, PF. :p In all seriousness, you do the same thing you do in any other method you might choose to deal with resource guarding. You manage the situation until such time as they will voluntarily give the bone up. The use of functional rewards wouldn't be successful in any scenario if you were never able to progress beyond the initial stage. But it's not a rule set in stone that you never change. It's used like any other reward: to shape desirable behaviour. Edited July 29, 2011 by corvus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke W Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 Thanks guys. Keep 'em coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 professional, personal help - we don't want the gorgeous barkly to become evil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 About functional rewards and BAT: http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffunctionalrewards.com%2FBAT-basics.pdf&rct=j&q=functional%20rewards&ei=_v4xTuyhMcmOmQXxqbTUDw&usg=AFQjCNHDhRC45i9sS2EFXg0BMPD17yFsog&cad=rja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I'm genuinely curious as to why people want to take their dog's bones away? We've been working on our girl for a year and have never needed to take away a bone, although we can now call her off them. But our objective is to not be growled at as we walk past, not to be able to take away stuff. Maybe in a house with lots of dogs it might be handy, although I would've though they'd be given bones separatly if there are likely to be issues? I'm not fully caffeinated yet and I can't think of too many reasons other than 'asserting dominance', happy to be corrected though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I'm genuinely curious as to why people want to take their dog's bones away? One example .. is if the dog grabs something it's not supposed to have - perhaps a cooked chook, or tonight's rack of lamb? It is a wonderful thing then for a dog to willingly give up the prize !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) Ah cool ok I think the point my sleepy brain was trying to make is that taking away the resource should be the last step in the addressing the guarding rather than the first, as emergencies where you need to remove something are not overly likely to occur during the time you are doing the training, and would probably set the training back a bit anyway. Edited July 29, 2011 by Weasels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke W Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 I think I'm going to make an appointment with Robert Holmes. He's had a couple of recommendations here. http://www.animalbehaviour.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I think I'm going to make an appointment with Robert Holmes. He's had a couple of recommendations here.http://www.animalbehaviour.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) I'm genuinely curious as to why people want to take their dog's bones away? One example .. is if the dog grabs something it's not supposed to have - perhaps a cooked chook, or tonight's rack of lamb? It is a wonderful thing then for a dog to willingly give up the prize !! Cooked chop bone would be a classic example. A friend of mine went to grab her little resource guarder to get one off him after he stole it off a plate at a BBQ. End result - 20 stitches to her arm. She took the issue a wee bit more seriously than "isn't that cute he thinks he's a tough dog" after that. I'm a big fan of leaving dogs undisturbed while they eat. But its good to know if you HAVE to take something off them, you can. Edited July 29, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I'm a big fan of leaving dogs undisturbed while they eat. But its good to know if you HAVE to take something off them, you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 A friend of mine went to grab her little resource guarder to get one off him after he stole it off a plate at a BBQ. End result - 20 stitches to her arm. She took the issue a wee bit more seriously than "isn't that cute he thinks he's a tough dog" after that. Eep! I guess I didn't think of that because I have short dogs and almost never cook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I have short dogs and almost never cook That'd help ! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) A friend of mine went to grab her little resource guarder to get one off him after he stole it off a plate at a BBQ. End result - 20 stitches to her arm. She took the issue a wee bit more seriously than "isn't that cute he thinks he's a tough dog" after that. Eep! I guess I didn't think of that because I have short dogs and almost never cook Dogs can grab all kinds of things we'd rather they not have. Dead, rotting things seem to be a speciality with my dogs. Edited July 29, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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