training
From Guarding to Sharing Diane Garrod discusses the ins and outs of addressing resource guarding in dogs, presenting a basic definition for the behavior as well as suggested protocols for working through this common canine behavior
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esource guarding is a common and, indeed, normal behavior in dogs and many other species, including humans (see also Re‐ source Guarding or Rule Setting on pp.28‐30). In scientific litera ture, other terms, such as possessive aggression and foodrelated aggression, are sometimes used in tandem with, or even interchange ably, with canine resource guarding “to refer to a sequence of behavior patterns that dogs exhibit to gain or maintain primary access to a per ceived valuable item when another animal or person approaches.” (Ja cobs et al., 2018). However, as determined via a survey conducted amongst experts by Jacobs et al. (2018), the term resource guarding was “less likely to be negatively misinterpreted” by dog guardians and is “easier to communicate to them,” as well as “better representing the potential for behaviors other than aggression to be exhibited during the behavioral sequence (e.g., avoidancerelated behaviors).” As such, they settled on the following basic definition for resource guarding: “The use of avoidance, threatening, or aggressive behaviors by a dog to retain control of food or nonfood items in the presence of a person or other animal.” (Jacobs et al., 2018).
Antecedents, Behavior, Consequences
© Diane Garrod
When first adopted, Skye (right) would guard locations, food, and his new female guardian (author Diane Garrod); in his previous home, his extreme resource guarding behavior had caused him to bite his guardian four times and the pet sitter once, hence his relinquishment
In my experience, resource guarding often starts out quite mildly, but risks getting worse if a dog is continually confronted for the resource (by a human or another dog). Understanding why a dog resource guards can help us set out a protocol to change their emotional responses to the items they consider worthy of defending. Let’s first consider the circumstances which cause a dog to resource guard: He wants or already has a resource. He is confronted to relin quish the item (or thinks he is), which makes him get worried or stressed. In a nutshell: p p p
He’s going to lose the resource, an item he has in his posses sion and sees as important. If he is confronted, or thinks he is being confronted, the guard ing behavior starts. The dog guards the item because he is worried it will be taken from him. When confronted often, the dog becomes even more stressed and worried and the resource guarding tendency increases, possibly, eventually, to the point where a bite could occur.
Now let’s consider what the dog is getting out of the behavior. In other words, what are the consequences? p
p p © Diane Garrod
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BARKS from the Guild/March 2021
With resource guarding, the dog is keeping an item, or keep ing another dog or human away from something he considers is his (another person, a dog, a location, air molecules, etc.). The perception is the dog’s reality. The dog has discovered he can challenge the confrontation and get to keep the item. As professionals, we know that if we change the antecedent (what precedes the behavior) and the consequence (what the
