Kennel Garuding

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Hello everyone!
We have always had an issue with Yeti guarding. First it started with a bully stick, which was easy to just take away and never give him again. For a long time that was the only thing he ever guarded, until he got ahold of a sock he wasnt supposed to have. Around this time he started guarding things he got that he wasnt supposed to have (socks, towels, paper, literally anything). We try to keep things out of his reach so again, this wasnt a HUGE issue unless he got ahold of something randomly. When we got Phin things remained basically the same. About 6 months ago, Yeti started guarding their food. Neither dog are overly eager eaters, so we free feed. I know it gets a bad wrap, but thats just what worked for our family at the time. When we brought Phin home, we started putting their bowls in the kennels because they didnt eat the same food. When we got Phin onto the same food as Yeti we just left the bowls out for them to graze throughout the day.  We kennel them when we are not home, so if we knew that we would be gone a long time without anyone to come over to let them out (hardly happens) we would throw a dish of food in their kennels just incase they got hungry. Randomly, Yeti started guarding his kennel. The only thing i could think of was he was guarding the food in his kennel, so we stopped giving them food in their kennel period. Yeti then started guarding his food outside of his kennel, which i have regulated by having 4 or 5 dishes of food out for him (reasoning being he cant guard all the dishes at once) This has helped, but if you get close to him while hes eating (sometimes) he will let out a deep growl. Lately, he has not been wanting to come out of his kennel. This is SO SO SO unlike him. He never used to go in on his own, seriously never has done it until recently. When we go up to his kennel and ask him if he wants to come out he gives us the same deep growl. Taking his kennel away is not an option, so I came on here to ask if anyone has dealt with similar behavior.  Any advice would be sooo greatly appreciated.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I wish this was the case with Yeti, but he also shows us teeth which to me means he's guarding or aggressive. 

[Stacy]

I totally agree that baring his teeth at you is a warning behavior. I do wonder if he's more insecure than aggressive though. Definitely a good in home trainer should be able to help you sort through some of his issues. I think that management (taking away bully sticks forever etc) can only get you so far. I think... and I apologize if I'm out of line, but I think that *if* you're afraid of him that's the first thing you're going to have to work on. You should be the leader, he should be the follower. And right now I think he thinks he needs to be in charge for some reason.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's not about taking away bully sticks (or anything else) forever. It's about getting the dog to understand that the bully sticks, and everything else, are yours, not his. He owns NOTHING. When you don't own something, it's not yours to guard. And the key to that IS management...always and forever, with this type of dog. 

And yes, this is about insecurity, because when a dog thinks that he has to be in charge, he is going to be worried, nervous, and insecure all the time. Once he feels like someone else is in charge, he can relax.
Agressive behavior is aggressive behavior, whether it stems from insecurity, fear, or whatever. I don;t think there is really such a thing as an "aggressive" dog who growls, attacks, bites, whatever out of meanness. It doesn't do the dog or the owner any good to spend time wondering whether a certain behavior means a dog is "dominant" or "aggressive"; it doesn;t matter what kind of label you want to put on it. You have to fix the behavior. 
I cannot tell you how many rehome applications I have seen in which an owner who is giving up a dog because the dog has bitten people will try to make excuses or downplay the behavior. "He's really a good dog, he's really not a mean dog, he was afraid" etc etc etc. And that's right...he really IS a good dog. But he is also a confused dog who has now lost his home because nobody knew how to show him that he didn't have to be "on guard" all the time. 

There's no such thing as a psychiatrist for dogs. He can't lie on a couch and work through his issues, lol. There will be no "lightbulb moment" in which the dog realizes that his anger issues stem from insecurity because his mother favored his sister, lol. So analyzing the reasons (insecure versus aggressive, etc) is pointless. He's behaving aggressively. And that's a problem that has to be fixed. Otherwise, someone is going to get bitten, and then his life is at risk. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know I've said this before (in that last discussion I linked) but I have to say it again. It's important for you to look at everything Yeti does as a whole, and not focus on fixing this or that one particular issue. In this case, you are saying "This is the behavior i am really trying to correct." In the past it was the food guarding, or the sock guarding before that. But it's all the same thing. It's that Yeti is giving you warnings that he is not entitled to give. Every time he is allowed to do that and you "obey" his warnings, (Okay, I won't take that sock away from you), or work around them (Well, I'll put down 5 food dishes so then at least he can't guard all of them), you are reinforcing his belief that he gets to tell you what to do and not the other way around. 

He's not "getting upset". He's telling you to get out of his space. His growls are working and you are obeying. But you are right to be afraid to leave him with people who don;t know him, because they might not obey his warning, and what comes after the getting very still and having a look in his eye followed by the growling (which escalated even in this short video...it got louder and longer with the second growl) is going to be biting.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It escalates to biting quickly too.  Within days of DD starting to crawl Luna air snapped at her..and this was a dog with no prior history of defensive behavior.  We immediately cut off all contact between them for a while and started training but it could have been so much worse.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know that from the many doodles given up to DRC because of resource guarding issues that escalated to snapping and even biting. And that includes dogs who bit their owners for just petting them when they weren't "in the mood". 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I watched your video of Yeti growling a few times, and it looked so familiar to me.  Our Murphy was a resource guarder (among other serious training issues).  He was most often guarding me, and when it got to the point where he was guarding me from my husband we knew we needed to do something.  We worked with an awesome trainer who taught us to understand what was going on with Murph, and how important it was to address the behavior before it resulted in true aggression.  I really think the most important thing that we did for Murphy was to implement the "Nothing In Life Is Free Program" (which is more like a way of life than a program).  We had to teach him that WE owned everything, so there was no reason for him to guard.  There is a lot of information here that I and others have posted on this program, and I think you are aware of how it works.  If you want to address the guarding, free feeding is your worst enemy.  You need to control the food.  Even though Murphy is nine he is still on the NILF program....it never goes away for a dog like this.  I put the food into the dishes (Murph and Guinness)....they sit and wait calmly until I put it down....and I stay with them for 20 minutes.  If they don't eat it I pick up the dish and they wait until the next meal.  As for the crate....it's not his crate, it's yours.  If the guarding continues, you may have to limit access to it and only allow him into the crate when YOU invite him.  Keep it closed, and teach him that he doesn't come and go as he pleases....you decide when he goes in or out of the crate.  I know that may seem extreme, but I firmly believe the only way to teach a guarder to stop the behavior is to give him nothing to guard....you own everything.  I can tell you that my Murph is a very content, calm guy now even with all these "restrictions".  So often people think that this program is penalizing to a dog.  I believe that dogs guard because of an insecurity....they want you to take that away from them.  The more you control the less they have to.  Good luck....I know hearing them growl like this can be concerning.

[Stacy]

I'm curious about your opinion on correcting this behavior. I absolutely would discipline a growl like that. But I've read pros and cons on disciplining growling. Some people say that training the growl out of them will eliminate the warning. My take is that the dog doesn't get to decide when I pet, clip nails, look in ears, look at teeth, take away inappropriate things in mouths. And if I let him "scare me off," he becomes the boss. 

I agree with you, dogs who act like this are fearful and insecure. And if we humans can step it up and show the dog that we have everything under control the dog can relax and just be part of the pack instead of jostling for position. I may be a permissive dog owner, but I think my dogs trust me to be in charge of their world,.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You don't train the growl out of them, or discipline it. You take away the situations and the attitudes that provoke the growl. 
Hopefully Jane will respond on how to "correct" the behavior in the moment. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Exactly, Karen.  I never discipline Murphy for this behavior, although I have always let him know that I disagree with it by giving a verbal cue and removing the need for the guarding.  Because I have eliminated or controlled the situations where Murphy would guard, there is no need for that behavior.  I have not heard a growl from him in several years, except when he hears someone at the door which is a whole different kind of situation.  It kind of becomes habitual...a way of interacting with the all the time.  Every time I am interacting with him over something that he would consider valuable, I am the one in control and he knows it.  A good example is that once a day he gets a dental chew.  Because of his IBD he is very limited in what treats he can have, but he LOVES these chews.  I always give it to him at the exact same time (when we get home from our morning walk) so that he knows when to expect it.  He knows that I will not give him the chew until he is sitting and CALM (which I determine by his body language).  I stay right there while he eats it to be sure that Guinness doesn't come over and try to get it because that just wouldn't be fair.  I could take it from him at any time without incident now, but I wouldn't because that too would be unfair.  I do let him up on the bed on occasion now (but only when my husband isn't home, because if we're both on the bed that's a trigger).  It is "by invitation only".  He knows not to ever try to get on the bed without me telling him it's okay.  Guinness is allowed on the bed all the time because he doesn't have a guarding problem....but also by invitation.  Murph has learned to accept this...it has become his "normal" and he's content.

[Laura and Angus]

So a lot has already been covered by, but I completely agree with what Karen and Jane have shared here. I'm not familiar with the "Nothing in Life is Free Program," but I get the gist from their descriptions here and it sounds very similar to the training we received when working with our trainer 1-1 to help teach our dominant, pushy, and stubborn doodle the rules of our house. It's basically "leadership" training. Our job is to help our doodle understand that we are the leaders of the house and therefore the keepers of the resources. We give all toys, treats, food, and access to the outside. This basically means that before Angus gets food, he must sit until we say "Ok" .. every single time. If he tries to head for the food before we've said "Ok" we have him sit again and wait until he's done it correctly. This is the same with passing through doorways - we always go first, this means he has to sit and wait for our "ok" or at least be behind us. Going down hallways or up/down stairs, we were taught to physically block him from passing us (by stepping in front of him), so that he has to go behind us. All these things add up over time and teach your dog that you and your SO are the leaders and he is second only after you. Based on what you've mentioned about Phin, it sounds like he already knows he's lower on the pecking order by eating after Yeti. I can tell you that we have never had an issue with guarding behaviors, but you have to train behavior expectations - you can't train with the absence of things (e.g. taking something away) or by just making him have too many things to guard - while clever, that doesn't teach Yeti your expectations, he's still in charge of his behavior in that scenario.

So basically, every way you interact with Yeti needs to be a reminder of the manners/expectations you have set for your home. He waits for his food, he waits to go outside, he goes behind you, etc. Along the same lines, you would probably do well to reinforce moments that he has responded appropriately. So when he's waited for your "ok" to come inside, you can give praise and a treat. 

You cannot be lax with leadership training either. It has to be every. single. time. We have a smart, stubborn doodle who tests us regularly and although we've never had a guarding issue, pushiness can progress to that kind of behavior depending on personality. So best to get started immediately with very strict rules around resources and movement in and out of the house. Collect all toys and dole them out by having him wait for your "ok", make him wait to go in or out of the house until you've said "ok", and make him wait for food. Doodles are smart and pick things up quickly, so consistency is key. No wiggle room. And make sure that when you catch him following any expected behavior, verbal praise and treats - that increases those expected behaviors. He may test you when you first start a new full-on training program just to see if you mean business, but continuing exactly as expected every time will teach him that the rules are the rules and you are the leaders.

[Laura and Angus]

I should also add that over time we have become more relaxed with some of our leadership tasks, but generally we still do these activities daily - he always sits and waits for food and to enter/exit doors behind us. And when Angus starts to get a little "big for his britches" my husband and I return to a full-time leadership training schedule until he's back to good manners. 

Also, don't be afraid to contact a trainer to do a few in-home private lessons. Guarding can become really dangerous and you want to stop it before it gets worse.