Dog Resource Guarding and 5 steps to address it.

Hello, dog peeps. Jack here. Just a quick one before we get into this episode. You may or may not be aware that when I'm not talking dog stuff with Max, I in fact interview people who are incarcerated in prisons across the United States on a show called One Minute Remaining: Stories from the Inmates. And that show has been nominated for an award in America. And I would love your support if you've got 60 seconds to click the link in the show notes of this episode and just vote for my show. That would be amazing if you could. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, and don't forget to verify your email address. Otherwise, the vote does not count. Thank you.

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It's the Dog People Podcast with your host, Jack Lawrence. Secretly, I decided to start this podcast for Awesome free dog training advice. You know, Malinois seem to be like the dog at the moment. Like, I think people see them on Instagram doing these incredible things. Yeah. Go, oh my God, that's awesome. And then they get one like, oh my God, what the fuck? And Max O'Neill.

You would not believe how many people I meet and I go, what made you want to get, say, an Aussie Shepherd? They go, I don't know. I'd go, had you met one before? They go, no. If you want to ask me how often I walk my own dog a week, it's only twice a week.

It's the Dog People Podcast. The podcast, hopefully giving you a no-nonsense approach to dog training so you never have to shout, it's okay, he's friendly. My name is Jack Lawrence, not a dog trainer, but of course, Max O'Neill, the Down Under Dog Trainer. Max, today we want to talk about a very serious topic, but we want to start this by saying all advice and information that is given to you in this particular episode is, is not specific, obviously, to you or your situation. So please, if you are dealing with the topic we are talking about with your own dog, always seek professional advice. First. But today we want to talk about resource guarding. Yeah.

And it was actually a topic that came up on our list of episodes or, you know, things we want to talk about pretty early on. But I was actually the one who was a bit hesitant and was like, oh no, because the last thing I want is someone taking this, trying it with their dog.

Because every case is different. Obviously every dog's different.

Every case is different. Every dog's different. And you really got to know what you're doing and what you're looking at. And it's a really tricky one to treat. We've talked a lot about training and management. I'll be honest, a lot of dogs I've seen for resource guarding, we end up managing it and going, hey, it's best just to live with this and not antagonise it through management rather than work with it head on, because some dogs are just really stuck on the behaviour. But if you are going to train it out, we're giving more today of like a, here's how I approach it. And if you're someone who wants to work on with this dog, I would recommend seeking a professional who's experienced with this issue. And it means you can go to them and go, hey, Are we going to be working on this, this, this?

You've already got a slight understanding so that you can go in there knowing at least some of the ideas that may work and you can talk to a trainer about that and then they can say yes. Or, you know, potentially, you know, if they don't even know what you're talking about, maybe that's a red flag to maybe that's not the right trainer for you as well.

Yeah, spot on. Exactly. If they're not, if they're not kind of following this, then yeah, there's a good chance that they might not be ticking all the boxes. So we've just got like, I guess, 5 things today. That I focus on for resource guarding, and that if you were approaching a trainer or, you know, one way or another you're trying to work on this, these are 5 things that I would be focusing on. So no particular order. Number 1 is relationship dynamics. There is an absolute near 100% correlation I see, whereas the dogs that resource guard have a bit of a relationship imbalance with their owners. They almost always don't have respect for them. They don't have enough rules, enough boundaries, enough leadership. And the issue stems from there. The dog very much sees themselves as a dog that's in control in the home and they can decide on outcomes. I decide whether you have access to my resources or not. The keyword being my resources and whether they, they permit the owner to have access or not. And it's completely flipped on its head. We need to be in control of that. Even your dog's toys, your dog's bowls, your dog's bed, all these things need to be resources that we control and we permit them access. The moment we show our dog that, hey, no, these are your things and you can decide whether people have access or not, then they go, oh, great. Well, I'm not going to want to give anyone access. And I'm generally going to be pretty hostile about that.

And we're, you know, resource guarding can come in all different types and forms, as in, you know, it's not just about food. It's not just about treats or toys. Dogs can resource guard a bed in the house. They can resource the couch, you know, a person. Yeah. They can resource guard your children, you.

A bowl of water.

You see this a lot on these videos that you see come up on the Instagram and stuff where maybe a lady sitting on the couch, the dog sitting next to them, partner tries to sit down and the dog goes for the partner.

I see a lot.

Yeah. Resource guarding the owner. And, you know, and it's dangerous, number one. I mean, you just can't have that going on in your house and you're right. And it stems from most of the time the person who is being resource guarded has no boundaries with that dog whatsoever. Probably treats it too much like a child and a, you know, a baby.

Yeah, they just don't lead their dog. They let their dog control. And, you know, dogs can, you know, not all dogs are, but dogs can be hierarchical in nature and they can be very much concerned with, no, no, no, like, I'll push you around. I'll tell you what to do. Don't tell me what to do. And they can be very well aware of where they sit and where you sit and who's who in the zoo sort of thing. And the problem that leads is to resource guarding. There's almost a direct correlation. And if our dog sees us as above them, a bit more in control, maybe someone like, oh, this person's like, can be pretty firm with their boundaries. I better let them decide how this goes. They kind of see us as that. Or if their dog sees us as, hey, I'll tell you where to go. I've got full comfortability doing that. Uh, yeah. Does that make sense?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

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So that's, that's first one, relationship dynamics. Before you even bother addressing this, if your dog just sees you as this lowlife they can push around and do what they want with, you're not going to have any success with resource management.

So for anyone listening who's going, okay, so how do I know if my dog basically doesn't respect me? I mean, you know, is there telltale signs? I mean, can you just say, well, if you've got no rules, they're listening to you?

So here's a simple way. Split your life in 2, inside behaviour, outside behaviour. And then I want you to write down in each column, say inside, outside, write down what your list of rules for your dog are. Okay. So you might have outside, don't pull, come back when called, don't rush up to every dog, don't bark, whatever, whatever, whatever. Then you might have rules inside. Don't put your paws on the counter. Don't go on the couch. Don't bark at the door, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And then be honest with yourself and sit there. And go, how many rules have I got? Does this seem like a lot or does this not seem like a lot? And then the rules that I've got, does my dog actually follow these?

Yeah, you may have those rules, but is the dog actually listening to you?

Yeah, it's a big red flag. I'll go to some people's places and I'll go, and the question I ask is, imagine I was house sitting for you tomorrow. What rules did you write down for me to enforce with your dog to like keep up? And some people go, oh, we've genuinely got none. Yeah, they go, huge red flag.

Yeah.

Or some people go, oh, he's not allowed in the kitchen. And I go, He's in the kitchen now. He's literally standing there. Clearly, it's not a rule that our dogs respect. And when our dogs see a complete lack of boundaries and control from us, or boundaries that are very easily pushed through, they start to see us as, you know, someone they can push around. And if we're constantly throughout the day, we're doing things that are decided by them. You know, if you're getting up at 5 o'clock because your dog's barked at you to get out of bed, if your dog's then scratching at the door and then you go, okay, I'll clip a lead on, go for a walk. If your dog goes, I want to go to that tree and pulls you. If your dog's constantly deciding on outcomes far more often than you are, then you've got a relationship imbalance. So having a look at those sort of things and starting to address those one by one. And quite often, I'll be really honest, is with resource guarding, sometimes just addressing this can sort the issue. The moment your dog perceives you differently, they go, ah, okay, so that bone's yours. Yep. That bed's yours. Okay. And you're not a resource, you're a leader. Oh, okay. All right. Well, I guess this behaviour can go. Quite often it can subside. Through addressing this, because this is typically the most important thing, is just no structure, no leadership.

Yeah. I mean, we were at a house the other day and they had a dog and the dog was just barking at this woman because the dog wanted the ball thrown and would bark, bark, bark, bark, bark until she gave up and threw the ball.

Yeah.

And then, and then we went inside and then the dog's bark, bark, bark at the door until she opened the door and let the dog in. Then it's bark, bark, bark until she was giving it something else. And I just, I said, does this happen all the time? She's like, oh yeah, I just don't know how to stop it. I said, I'll give you one bit of advice.

Yeah.

Stop succumbing to it. You're giving it what it wants. So it's going, okay. And I'll just— and she goes, I've tried that, but it won't stop. I said, no, because you've given up in the first place. So it's like, well, I'll just keep doing it because eventually she does what I want her to do eventually.

Yeah.

She's like, well, I don't know how to stop it now. I'm like, you've got to put some rules and stuff into place. Like show it it's not allowed to do that.

You see some situations, you go, I don't know how guys put up with this for so many years. That's your first one. Relationship dynamics. Number 2 is, again, we're picking apart like, what are the things our dogs think and, or what are the things they need to work on? And we need to work on the thought our dogs have that this behaviour leads to success. So i.e., if I bare my teeth, growl, snarl, snap, bite, is I will get to keep this resource for longer and you will move away from me and not be near my resource. So if we're working with a trainer, we need to try and show our dog, and this is probably the trickiest one, that this behaviour doesn't lead to success. And this can be tricky because if our dog snaps at us and then we go, no, I'm taking your bowl now, we've kind of confirmed the belief that, yep, I knew you were going to steal my stuff.

Yeah.

Which we'll touch on soon. So, this is where it gets pretty nuanced. Do we remove the dog? Do we remove the resource? Do we just sit there and go, I'm not going anywhere, but then do we risk getting bit? So, it's really, really tricky. Really what you want to do is you want to show your dog they can trust you around their resource. Which brings us to point number 3, is your dog— the dog has a thought of, I don't trust you around this resource. They maybe assume that you're going to take it from them constantly. And typically one of the bigger things we see people do wrong with resource guarding is they do that typical thing where they'll go, oh, I'll put my hand in the bowl. I'll take the bowl away from him. I'll rub his ears and smoosh his face and everything while he's eating to get him used to it. And quite often that creates a bit of a ticking time bomb. And I always put the onus back on them. I go, imagine if I moved into your house today.

Yeah.

And before we sit down for our So if you're having our first meal, I smear my hands through your food and then I poke you around the ears and tickle you.

Or while you're eating, I take the food away from you.

Yeah.

What are you doing?

You'd knock me out. And that's how our dogs feel as well. So we need to address and show them that this behaviour doesn't lead to success. But ideally, we want to try and show them that, hey, this is pointless. You don't need to do that. Like, I'm here to be an asset to your resource. If it's a toy, I'm here to actually participate in the game and make the game more fun. I'm not here to take your ball. I'm here to throw it again or play tug. Or if my hand's near the bowl, I'm here to deliver more food into it, not take more food into it.

Well, I was going to say that. That's one of the things I used to do with puppies that came through here when we were fostering is when I would feed them is like, I'd give them, you know, a little bit of their dinner in the bowl and then I'd come back and drop more in the bowl. So every time I was coming near their bowl, they were like, oh, Yeah. Every time he comes near my bowl, he's giving me more food.

This is great.

Obviously I don't, that probably doesn't work for dogs who are already react or already resource guarding their food. Cause it probably could be a bit dangerous. You get near the bowl, they might snap at you. But yeah, I mean, if you're thinking about how do I try and ensure that my dog's not going to be aggressive around food, I found that was a really great technique.

If you're at the prevention stage, then this is a great, great technique. If you're going, I've got a puppy or a young dog, or my dog doesn't do it and I want to make sure they never do. Around the food bowl, that's a great thing. Show them that your hands being present adds value. It doesn't take away value. That's, that's a big one. And I always think of it this way. Imagine I'm in your house. You see me going through your wife's handbag and then you look in there. There's no money missing, but I've just left $50. You'd be like, that's a bit fucking weird, Max, but thank you. Yeah.

I wonder why you were hanging around my wife. I'll have to check my wife's handbag when we go back inside.

And that's how we want our dogs to feel like our hands around the rascetter is a good thing. Yeah. So number 4, is our dog has the thought of, I don't like to trade resources or give up resources to you. So think of it this way, we've probably all got one mate who's a bit unreliable, a bit flaky, and the moment they go, hey, can I borrow your car for a day? You go, oh, yuck. And me having a ute, I get this all the time. Can I borrow your ute? Can I borrow your ute? And there's some I'm like, yeah, 100%, here's the keys. There's other mates I'm like, mate, fuck, I wouldn't loan you a t-shirt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You would be dodgiest. You'll ruin my shit. And that's how dogs can feel about us too. So we've got to slowly build that rapport and show them that we can be trusted or we can be fun or, you know, an asset to low-value things. So if your dog's a bit of a toy resource guard, I'm like, all right, let's find something that they don't like that much and let's play with that. And let's show them that they spit it out to us, we'll make the game fun again. We'll resume the game and, or reward them, whatever. And they go, okay, cool. I trust you with this. And then we move up in value until we get closer to the real deal. So same with food. I'll go, go and buy the crappiest food that your dog barely got interest in. And, you know, they'll happily give up. And sometimes we do that. We teach our dog to trade off with resources that are lower value before we climb up in value. So that can sometimes be a thing that needs to be addressed too. And lucky last, one of the most important is your dog might have the thought or feeling that they go, I crave conflict and I need an outlet. So we see this a lot in dogs, uh, you know, like spaniels. We see a heap of resource guarding. Poodle and oodle breeds, we see heaps because they're gundogs. They love to possess. Quite often for them, resource guarding becomes an outlet. So we need to give them another outlet where they can blow off some steam and have some conflict and play tug and do all this stuff so they don't feel the need to die on this hill of, I will, you know, not let anyone go near my thing. And quite often a lot of dogs, if they're a bit understimulated in their life, They'll intentionally seek out that conflict with you just as a way of draining their batteries.

Yeah, right. Okay, that's an interesting one. I didn't even think about that.

Yeah, so there's 5 things that you should be addressing if you have got a dog that's resource guarding. Again, please don't try this yourself. Please go and see an experienced professional who has got a track record of working with this and having some success. And again, if you have got a resource guarding dog, it's a— it's one of those things where it's an instinct that's You know, pretty old. You know, our dogs were resource guarding long before we domesticated them and and fighting over things, and it's something that I consider pretty strongly ingrained in them. Don't get me wrong, we can definitely get dogs who don't come with it that we completely create it. But the point being is again, consider whether this is a training or a management issue. I have some dogs who people go, "Oh, if I go in the same room as him while he has his food bowl, he'll try and attack me." I go, "Why don't you?" feed him outside and then bring him back in in half an hour. You know, sometimes it is a management thing. You just go like, is this worth the squeeze? Because it is a, it is a lot of training, um, which can be quite expensive. It can be, and there's no guarantee of success. It can be quite risky, especially as you start, depending on how you're working with it. And ultimately—

Sometimes make it worse.

Yeah. Ultimately with resource guarding, we're just trying to go, I just don't want anyone getting hurt. That's what people tell me. I just don't want him biting the kids. Or biting another dog or biting me. And we go, cool, is that best route to get there through training or management? And that's something you should also consider.

All right. Well, it's obviously a big topic, this one. And just as a reminder, you know, this is— any of this advice, as we've already said multiple times, please speak to an actual trainer if you need help. Max is always here to talk. You can obviously, if you're not in our area, Max does online consultations. Consultations and bits and pieces as well, or happy to direct you to a trainer in an area near you. Just jump on the Facebook page, The Dog People Podcast, and we'll talk to you soon. The Dog People Podcast is a Mashed Pumpkin production hosted by Jack Lawrence and Max O'Neill, edited, produced, and audio production by Jack Lawrence.

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