How do I stop my 11-month-old dog from food guarding behavior?

In general, this is done by teaching the dogs that great things happen when you come near his bowl. You start at a distance where he’s comfortable and toss his extra-tasty treats while he’s eating, then gradually work your way closer as long as he’s happy and comfortable. It can be very challenging to do this on your own, especially if the problem is severe, so I would recommend working with a veterinary behaviorist or s good reward-based trainer if you can. NEVER take away his food bowl or use any kind of punishment for this behavior, as this will only make him more upset and defensive and make the problem worse over time. For more details on resource guarding and how to address it, I highly recommend the book “Mine!” by Jean Donaldson.

Resource guarding can be a difficult problem to manage in some dogs. It sounds like you are doing lot of things right (trying to "trade" for higher value treats, avoiding punishment, etc.), so good for you! Since you are doing most of the things we usually recommend and are still having problems, I would really encourage you to make an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Sadie in person and help you put together a detailed treatment plan to work on this issue. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org In the meantime, I would also highly recommend the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson. It gives a great, very detailed overview of resource guarding in dogs including some examples of treatment plans to help guide you.

Good for you for wanting to work on this behavior now, while Jax is young. Resource guarding is a common behavior in dogs. He acts this way because he's afraid you are going to take away his food or bone, and feels that he has to protect his stuff from you. Treatment for this problem is focused on changing the dog's emotional reaction to having you approach. Essentially, you want to teach him that great things happen when you come near - so there's no need to get upset and growl or snarl. You can start by standing at a distance and tossing treats to him while he's eating or chewing on a bone. From there, as long as he's comfortable, you can progress to walking by and dropping treats on the floor or into his bowl. Eventually, it's possible to work up to touching his bone or food bowl, praising and giving a handful of tasty treats, and walking away again. NEVER try to deal with this problem by punishing Jax or taking away his things, as this will only make him more tense and defensive around you in the future. If you have difficulty with this training plan or if you are not seeing improvement within a few weeks, I would recommend consulting with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can help you in person. I also highly recommend the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson - it's an excellent guide to dealing successfully with resource guarding in dogs. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here (www.dacvb.org) or a qualified trainer here (www.ccpdt.org)

It sounds like you're definitely on the right track with Maggie! :) It's always recommended to trade for a higher value treat when your dog has a stolen item that you need to get back - never chase her or try to forcibly remove it from her mouth, as this often makes resource guarding issues worse. If she occasionally gets growly even though you're doing the right things, it would be best to consult a veterinary behaviorist who can help you determine why this is happening, and what you might be able to change about your current training plan to avoid this. In some cases, you may need to go through a systematic counter-conditioning/desensitization protocol to work on the problem, rather than just "crisis management" when she actually has something you need to get from her. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org. You might also want to check out the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson - it gives an excellent, very detailed overview of resource guarding in dogs, including specific instructions on how to work through this problem.

It's good you are trying to get control of this issue while Bruno is still young. Food guarding or resource guarding can be a serious issue. 1st make sure no children or other pets are around as you try to control this. You can't leave the food or food bowl out for Bruno. This gives him something to guard. Only put it down at meal times and put it down while empty then walk away. Then come back and give him 1-3 pieces In the bowl. Continue to do this so he associates you approaching the food bowl as putting food in not taking it away. Here are some articles with good info. This is a serious behavior issue so if these exercises don't help please seek out a behaviorist who can help with Bruno. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1740 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1462&S=1&SourceID=47 http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/resource-guarding-treatment-and-prevention

I would be happy to help you - feel free to request a consultation if you want to discuss Koda's issues in more detail. For now, I can certainly give you some general information about food aggression and how to treat it :) Food aggression, like other types of resource guarding, occurs because the dog is afraid that you are going to take their food away from them. This doesn't have to be based on any negative experiences in the past - it's a hard-wired, instinctive behavior that is stronger in some dogs than others. Treatment is based on teaching the dog that good things happen when you approach his food bowl, so that over time, this doesn't make her feel threatened anymore. You can start by walking by her and dropping a treat into her food bowl while she is eating. Once she's comfortable with this, you can gradually work up to approaching her, picking up the bowl, adding a special treat of some kind, and giving it back. It's never recommended to punish this behavior, or to bother her or take away her bowl while she is eating, since this only reinforces the idea that bad things happen when you approach her and will make the problem worse over time. The book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson gives an excellent overview of this issue, along with detailed step-by-step training instructions to address it.

Yes - in general, it sounds like you're doing all the right things! Some dogs are genetically hard-wired to have a stronger resource guarding response than others, which means this issue can be harder to treat in these individuals. If you want to continue working on the problem and hopefully make things better over time, I would strongly recommend the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson - it gives very detailed instructions on how to set up a training plan to work on resource guarding issues, so that you can work on the problem in a more systematic way. You could also consider working with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate her in person, and may be able to help you tweak your current plan a bit to get better results. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org