Resource gaurding

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

We gave Yeti a beef trachea today which he loved! He was chewing on it on our bedroom floor and as I walked by he growled a bit. I went to take it away from him to see if he would growl again and sure enough he did! I put him in a submissive position. I just learned about putting a dog in a submissive position when they aren't behaving. Im curious how YOU would handle the situation. He is a crazy chewer right now so I would love to be ablefor him to have the trachea but I don't want to give it to him at the expensive of aggressive behavior.
I would love love love to hear any suggestions or stories!!

[Beth & Cheddar]

Cheddar loves his bully sticks and beef tracheas and initially would do a quick growl if approached. I worked on it by running him through his commands before giving the chew. So he had to work for the reward. I also practiced trading him for a high value treat, give him the treat and pick up the chew while he eats the treat and praise. I repeated a few times until he eagerly dropped the chew each time. I repeated that each time he was given a chew until it was no longer an issue.

Now I use his chews as a tool to keep his mouth busy while I brush him, clean his ears, trim nails, etc and there is no growling. He knows he can have the chew as long as he is calm while I handle him.

[VScott & Lloyd]

I would also trade for a treat to take away the tracheas. However, after a while he still didn't catch on and continued to growl and sometimes go in his crate and growl, unless I had a treat (that he wanted) to trade.  Sometimes nothing was better than his trachea. So eventually I stopped giving him tracheas and similarly smelly treats. So far so good. Sometimes we would catch him stealing something that I think would be high value (i.e. pancakes/bacon/eggs the kids leave after breakfast) that is not for him and he will immediately drop it if we tell him to, so I think he knows what is his and what is ours. 

Sorry, I don't know if this helps.... not sure if I'm handling the problem or just avoiding the situation :)

[Beth & Cheddar]

Here is a blog post I found helpful https://grishastewart.com/resource-guarding/

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think he is showing you that he's feeling that the beef trachea belongs to him....you need to teach him that NOTHING actually belongs to him.  You control all the resources.  For now I would avoid giving him something that is that high value while you work on leadership and teaching him the "drop it" command.  Resource guarding is something that more puppies this age try.  Once they learn that it "backfires" and they loose the high valued item because of their behavior they figure out what you are expecting.  Google "teaching the drop it  command"...there are lots of videos on YouTube. Have you ever looked at the Doggy Dan online program for puppy training....he has some great techniques that may help.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would take them away and not give them back if and until you feel the guarding is over and Yeti, respects you enough not to growl at you.

[Missy]

I second all that has been mentioned!  You are correct in nipping this behavior.  We did the 'trade for a better treat', and the 'nothing is for free' tactics.  

even now, when he gets a reward, he has to sit or go to his bed, and I place the treat on the floor, and he has to wait for me to say 'ok' before he can retrieve the treat. 

If you start right away, they learn quickly that you are in charge. And this helps so much as they go thru the teenage years of testing boundaries!! 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really like that you put the treat down and make him wait for you to give him the "okay".  That's such an excellent way to reinforce your position as his leader.  I used to do that often but lately I've been forgetting....need to get back to that.

[Missy]

yes, I am so glad I learned to do this early in the puppyhood.  I would work on this using his kibble, putting him in a sit/stay, then laying out a path of kibble.  He had to go to each one and wait on my command before he could eat the next one in line.  Rainy day activities! lol 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH <3 

Yeti is a pretty good fella besides his crazy jumping and chewing, but he is only 7 1/2 months so we're hoping with hard work and time that will all settle down. The first time we gave him a bully stick (months ago) he growled once and only once. I told him firmly NO and grabbed it from his mouth. He never did this again with a bully stick.  He does not guard any of his toys, food, or basically anything else. We will wait a few more days to give him another trachea, and try out all of your methods.  We do make him sit and wait until we give him the okay for his food, treats, toys etc so this won't be a hard transition (I hope). He loved the trachea (obviously haha) so I'm hoping we can continue to give them to him if his behavior settles down.

I'm not so sure we have been the greatest at showing we are the dominant ones not him. I don't know if this is a direct result of that or if he just really really really loves that chew. Our groomer taught me to get him on his side and hold 2 fingers on his neck until he "submits." This isn't easy as he is very strong and squirmy. Im wondering if there are other ways to show WE (my boyfriend and I) are the dominant ones?

[VScott & Lloyd]

I have no more advice but just wanted to say it sounds like you're doing a great job!

Lloyd definitely calmed down when he turned 1 and I'm hoping for a little more calmness when he turns 2. To put it this way, he still is always looking for someone to play with (be it us or anyone that walks through the door) and could play fetch all. day. long. We still have lots to work on but I give myself a break too that we're all doing the best we can. We used to have another dog that was the sweetest, never ever growled, never ever snapped, let my little toddlers pull on his ears and love him all over, let me take away and food/treats no problem, and I never put in as much training with him as I do with Lloyd. Best of luck to you!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Oh man our yeti never tires either! We always joke that he is the energizer bunny! While we do enjoy this part of his life, I'm also excited for a time in the future where he just wants to lay with me on the couch and snuggle :).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It really is not about using physical force to make him submit or show that you dominant. 

The Nothing In Life is Free program is the best way to help a dog understand that you are in charge. Here's the link: http://sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm

And here's the Training Group discussion about the NILIF program: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/trainingmindsets/forum/topics/not...