Aggression/Growling with Treats

[Asha Vyas]

Hi doodle friends!  So I am worried about Murray's aggression when it comes to treats. He does live with another dog, a little maltese puppy who likes to challenge him for treats/bones. I understand the competitiveness there. Sometimes, he growls at ME though when I go to pet him or touch his bone when he is chewing.

Any suggestions on how to stop this behavior sooner than later??

Thanks!

Asha

[Seamus & Haidee]

How about taking his bone/treat away and replacing it with another tasty treat like a small piece of cheese. Then immediately give back the bone and repeat. I tried this on Seamus as per trainer and it helps a lot. Good luck!

[Asha Vyas]

Thank you! I definitely will try it! :)

[Rebecca Matthews]

In our puppy training class they called this Resource Guarding.  Here is the information we were given about it.  Hope it helps!

Does your dog growl at you when you approach his
food bowl? Is your puppy possessive about toys and
rawhides? Does he snap at you when you even step
near him when he’s got a bone? Does your dog bare
her teeth when you approach the couch?

If not, you’re lucky! Read through this information and start working with your
puppy or dog now, to keep him in the blissful state of loving your approach to his
food bowl or other prized possessions.

If you are seeing aggression, definitely read on to find ways to help your dog. The
technical term for this behavior is Resource Guarding, and it’s an
absolutely normal dog behavior. However, it’s not something we humans appreciate.
Fortunately, resource guarding is also a behavior that we can change.

A dog is an animal, a specialized wolf cousin living in the human den, and not a furry
little person – now matter how we view him or her. Simply because a dog lives in
our home and because we view him as part of our family makes most owners think
we should be able to take a bone or any other item from our dog at will. We become
easily affronted if our dog decides to become possessively aggressive about his toys
– even more so than if our kids become angry if we try to take their toys away!

But when our dogs become aggressive about keeping hold of their bones or toys or
bed, the first thing we must do is not to see the issue as one of our dog engaging in
‘point scoring’ with ulterior motives of longer term control of his humans, but rather
as one of safety for ourselves. If we become drawn into physical combat with our
dogs over possessions, as we will see later, we are more likely to cause ourselves a
great deal of problems with our dogs in our day-to-day lives together than we are to
teach them not to guard their toys or bones.

Dogs, being predators, come programmed to guard resources that are crucial to
their survival as part of their behavioral inheritance from their ancestor, the wolf.
Some of those resources may be in short supply at certain times of year or in certain
environments, and are therefore valuable. It is beneficial for wolves and dogs to
have the propensity to look after their food and bits and pieces against other
animals including, sometimes, members of your own group. For example, this is
usually not true for grazing animals in terms of food – after all, what’s the point of
working yourself up to look after your supply of grass when grass is everywhere?

It’s a huge mistake to label a dog with a resource guarding problem as ‘dominant’.
This is largely because it is just too simplistic to think that everything a dog might do

which his owners disapprove of is some kind of a bid for power, especially if it
involves threat behavior. This label can also encourage owners to look for
opportunities to score points back on their dog when their time would be much
better spent looking for opportunities to teach the dog not to guard his possessions
and to reward him for doing other things.

Here are a few of the myths about resource guarding, according to Jean Donaldson’s
book “Mine! A Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs.”

Myth #1: Resource guarding is abnormal behavior.
Myth #2: Because resource guarding is driven largely by genetics, it can’t be
changed.
Myth #3: Resource guarding can be cured by making a dog realize that
resources are abundant.
Myth #4: Resource guarding is a symptom of “dominance” or “pushiness.”
Myth #5: Resource guarding is the result of “spoiling” a dog.

So if the answer is not to “dominate” your dog or shower it with freely available
food, then what is it? Simple. Make your puppy or dog understand that the
approach of a human to his food, toys, space, etc. is a Good Thing. The process is
called classical conditioning. Just as the leash becomes associated with “let’s go for a
walk” in your dog’s mind, the approach of a human hand, face, or other body part to
his food dish should mean even better food is on its way.

The following process should be done with ALL dogs, for their entire lives. Definitely
do it with young puppies. The only part that changes is how often you do these
exercises, what sorts of things your dog has when you approach, and how close you
can get to the dog before presenting it with the treat. Every capable member of the
family should take part in these exercises, keeping safety firmly in mind.

Initiate a “Say Please” ritual with your dog. This means that the dog must
Sit or do some other basic behavior before being given anything—food, a toy,
a walk, access to play, etc. There are two reasons to do this. One is to inform
your dog that you and your family are the source of All Good Things, and only
by being polite does your dog get them from you. The second reason is for all
family members to practice training with your dog, so that he listens to
everyone in the family. This may or may not help with resource guarding, but
it’s not a bad perk! If certain members of your family are being guarded
against (growled or lunged at), then those people are the ones who should be
asking the dog to Say Please more often.

Teach your dog the cue DROP. Start with objects that he does not value as
much and treats that are highly valued. Then gradually work your way up to
objects that he cares very much about. Ask for him to drop the object, then
either wait for him to do so (if he knows the cue) or cause him to do so by
presenting food near his mouth. Reward and praise him for dropping the

object, then give it back to him as soon as he’s done chewing. Practicing this
cue, giving the resource back each time, helps the dog understand that giving
away his resources to a human is a good thing, so there’s no reason to guard
them. Children should only work on this step under adult supervision. Start
with the family member that the dog trusts most (growls at least).

Teach your dog the OFF cue. If he is guarding the furniture, teach him to
jump off of it on cue. Get him up on the couch by patting on it or luring him
with a treat. Don’t give the treat yet (we want to reward for “off”, not jumping
on the couch). Then say “off” and lure him back onto the floor. Don’t start to
teach off when your dog is all settled down on the couch. Work up to that
level.

Condition your dog to expect good things when you approach him,
especially if he has some sort of highly prized resource, like a bone or
rawhide. As with “Drop”, start with something your dog does not guard. Walk
over, present the treat while he’s enjoying his low value toy or food, and
leave. Do this with several low value toys throughout the day. Repeat this for
several days until he begins to look up at you, with a “Hey, she’s here to give
me a treat” expression on his face. With the low value objects, move up to
touching the dog in some way, grabbing the object (often saying “Drop” first),
then popping a high value treat in his mouth and returning the object. Over a
period of weeks or more, gradually move up to repeating the above with
higher and higher value toys or food. With high value toys/food/bones, start
by just walking by the puppy, out of the range that makes him growl, and
dropping a treat. Move closer as the days go by, if the dog is ready; never
progress faster than your dog is happily willing to go. If the dog is not relaxed
and happy at any stage, you have moved too fast. Retreat to the previous
level. Repeat this entire process with several high value objects. After that,
progress to doing this process with more people around, more stress in the
environment. Children should only work on the conditioning step under
adult supervision.

Keep your dog from exhibiting resource guarding behavior by not
moving past his acceptance level. If he growls when you get within three feet
of his toy, then don’t make him growl — stay more than three feet away from
his toy next time. Better yet, remove the toys that he guards from the living
area, so that he can’t accidentally be triggered. If your dog guards his dinner,
make sure no one approaches or give him his dinner in a separate room, for
now. If your puppy guards the couch, try to keep him off of it by not inviting
him up and/or by making it uncomfortable to lay on (an upside-down carpet
protector works well for that). Any approaches that you make to your dog at
this time while he has a resource should be on purpose and accompanied by
a treat. Do NOT punish him for growling by scruff shaking or any other show
of violence. All you will be doing is proving to your dog that he was right:
“Humans are crazy and you’ve got to protect yourself from them!”

Maintenance: After your dog or puppy is happily accepting any human approach to
his food or toys (a state that humans call ‘normal’ and dogs call ’strange’), you are at
the maintenance stage. Twice a week, at first, then once or twice per month,
approach him while he’s eating, pick up the bowl, and plop in a handful of treats
before setting it back down. Do the same with toys or bones as well. Occasionally
practice the “Drop” cue, replacing the surrendered object with something else if you
really must take it away. Finally, continue the Say Please Protocol for the rest of the
dog’s life, incorporating new tricks as your dog learns them.

Oh no, he’s doing it again! If your dog ever starts up again with resource guarding,
it’s not because he is trying to take over the world. It’s probably because you haven’t
kept up on his training and he has started to notice that it’s not such a good thing to
give up his resources, after all. Remind him that humans are the source of all good
things by going through the above process again.

This was provided by Bravo Pup- training in Northern California- East Bay.

[Asha Vyas]

This info is amazing!!! thank you so much!

[Rebecca Matthews]

Sure thing!  Good luck :-)