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Everything you need to know about resource guarding in dogs
Posted on 25th November 2024
- Your dog stops eating and gives a low growl when you approach them.
- You notice they have stolen another sock and when they see you, they run off and hide with it.
- You try and move your dog off the sofa, and they freeze, roll over and expose their belly.
All of these behaviours fall under the resource guarding in dogs umbrella.
In simple terms, resource guarding is described as using defensive behaviours to keep hold of something you see as valuable. This doesn’t need to be aggressive in nature but is always designed to keep another being away. Think of shielding your test answers from a friend who wants to copy them. Or moving your fries out of reach of your partner who just “wants one of them”.
Is resource guarding normal?
In a nutshell, yes is it. It is perfectly normal to keep hold of something you see valuable. Losing things creates a feeling of loss and grief as well as anger and frustration.
When there is internal conflict over whether to stay with the thing or move away from it for a brief moment, the feelings intensify, and it becomes more difficult to walk away. We do this because our brains are wired for survival. Our subconscious (non-thinking brain) tells us that if we let go, we may not survive. Extreme but it’s how the brain works.
Dogs are no different to any other animal.
Watch any David Attenborough programme and you will see animals constantly defending what is theirs. Would you approach a lion when eating? Of course not, you would expect a problem! (and probably die).
The issue we have with our dogs who share our homes and lives is that sometimes, the level of defensiveness used by the dog becomes unsafe and harmful to us humans or to other co-habiting animals. Then we have a resource guarding problem.
What are some of the signs of resource guarding?
We tend to think of resource guarding as using aggressive behaviours such as growling, snapping and biting but, there are many more subtle signals that our dogs give off before they get to this stage. Think about the things we would do as a human if we wanted to keep hold of something.
You may do the following:
- Body block – turn your body away so they can’t see
- Lay over the item – again so they can’t get it
- Give them a side glance – hope they don’t see you
- Eat faster – this ensures they can’t get any
- Freeze – go still in the hope they don’t see you
- Move away – literally create more distance between you
Dogs will do exactly the same.
The problem is that we don’t always see.
What causes resource gaurding in the first place?
Resource guarding can be complex but there are some common denominators in cases where origin causes can be identified.
1. Breeding and genetics
Puppies can show resource guarding behaviours from as early as ¾ weeks when they start weaning.
What we do know is that behaviour is passed down through generations as part of the messaging inside DNA. So, if there is any resource guarding in generational lines, it is likely to be seen in the puppies.
We also know that the genetic messaging is more prevalent in certain breeds.
Breeders are highly responsible for minimising resource guarding in puppies by:
- not breeding from dogs known to have an issue
- carrying out a normal weaning process
- feeding from separate bowls
- making additions when approaching puppies
- teach orientation
- provide environmental enrichment
2. Early learning
Once puppies become mobile, they explore with their mouths. They pick up things lying in their path.
Puppies are often drawn to smelly things like our socks, shoes and TV remotes.
Even when we give them toys, often these toys are the same texture and feel as the forbidden items.
We see our puppy with something we don’t want them to have, and we change our body language, voice and movements. We become big, loud and intimidating. This startles and worries our puppies. So, they move away.
We try and get them to come to us or move forwards and try and grab the item. Now our puppy is in conflict. They may want to come but they don’t want to move away from the item, especially if it tastes good or is fun to play with.
In other cases, we force their mouth open and tell them off, causing a loss of trust and a horrible feeling in the puppy which represents the chance of social isolation. Can you remember being told off as a child? You don’t feel bad because you did something wrong. You feel scared because the feeling of your parent dismissing you is scary and anxiety producing.
In the early days of bringing a puppy home, the need to build a bond of trust is essential for their development. We don’t want to wreck this.
3. Breed tendencies
Certain breeds of dog are bred to hold things in their mouths. Think any gundog and gundog mix. We actually bred them to pick things up and hold them. It’s a natural behaviour.
What we didn’t breed in is the ability to let go of the thing they have picked up (drop). This needs to be taught.
And we can teach this kindly without fear, force and intimidation.
So can we help our puppies when we first bring them home?
1. Control and Management
- put things away
- place things up high
- have things lying around which the puppy can have
- create a safe place for your puppy so they don’t have access to everywhere
- practice swaps and exchanges
- praise, don’t punish picking things up
- provide chews, licky toys and new things to explore
2. Leave them alone
Leave your puppy alone when they are
- sleeping – sleepy puppies show more aggression than those who sleep well. Calming brain chemicals are produced with sleep. For more info on sleep read here
- eating – stop taking food away from your puppy to show them who is boss. Approach and add some nice stuff instead. Feed them in an undisturbed area. Let them eat in peace
- chewing – if they settle down with a nice chew, leave them alone. They will come away from it when they have had enough.
3. Play fun games
- use play to teach the rules about hands and teeth
- encourage swaps, drops and let your puppy win
- for games to play with your puppy, click here
4. Feed a good quality diet
- puppies who eat well, rest better and are more content
- see the health and guarding section for more information
Health and Behaviour
Studies of dogs with aggressive behaviours have concluded that up to 80% of the dogs involved had some underlying physical pain.
Pain lowers our tolerance levels. It affects everything. Appetite, sleep, the ability to play, social relationships and the ability to learn.
We tend to think about pain as being something only older dogs suffer from, but it can be present from very early on. Poor breeding and poor nutrition plus modern slippery floors, walking equipment and the wrong types of exercise can cause problems in a puppy which is just months old.
Dental pain is a major cause of dogs getting fussy with food and not wanting items going over their heads. It is an epidemic in our pet dogs.
It’s not something we want to face in our dogs, and it is easy to be an ostrich and hope things get better but treating pain is the first and foremost welfare issue to look at with dogs who resource guard.
Tummy troubles
Studies have shown that dogs with poor gut health are more prone to resource guard, and it totally makes sense.
When the digestive system is not working effectively, the body cannot take the nutrients from food it needs to balance itself physically, mentally and emotionally.
Not only does food provide a source of energy and the building blocks the body needs to physically function, but it also provides the source for the chemical building blocks which the brain uses to regulate emotional responses (known as neurochemicals).
A lack of these chemicals can result in aggressive responses – think people with anger problems. This is because the aggression centres in the brain are affected by poor nutrition.
Imagine that you have chronic loose stools, or you are not digesting your food properly. You are going to be hungry. Plus, you will also have some abdominal pain and discomfort which will make you grumpier.
Loose stools for a dog, don’t come alone. They will come with tummy ache making your dog more touch sensitive and perhaps more sensitive to items such as harnesses or coats.
Resource guarding is common in puppies with digestive or gut issues. The most common undiagnosed problem is a parasite called giardia which takes all the nutrients from food and causes puppies to be hungry, hangry and unable to settle.
If your puppy has loose poos, can’t settle and appears either fussy or ravenous about food, please see your vet asap. Don’t leave it to see if it gets better.
Human behaviour
We can’t talk about resource guarding without looking at the human side of the equation.
We are in a consistent exchange of communication with our dogs and because dogs read very subtle changes in body language, how we react can have a huge impact on how our dogs respond.
We spot the dog with something we don’t want them to have, and we take a sharp, audible breath. This alerts your dog to the fact that something is wrong. We approach them head on and then see this as a threat.
We are often using a harsh voice as well and leaning in or moving quickly. Think about how you felt as a child when your mother used your full name. You knew trouble was coming. You weren’t worried because you knew you were wrong; you were worried because you knew a punishment was coming.
This punishment could be as mild as being grounded or more physical if you grew up in the stone ages like I did.
Removal of a wanted thing (TV, games etc) and/or social isolation are punishing. That’s why they are effective.
For our dogs, removing the guarded object/food/toy and then isolation is punishing, and dogs will learn to avoid you when they see or hear the early warning signs. Physical punishments such as grabbing, pinning, scruffing or forcing their mouth open is even more punishing and they will likely get as far away as possible from you if they can.
If they can’t get away, this is when biting is more likely as a last resort to keep you away and avoid what you are going to do next.
Humans are also messy creatures. We leave things lying around and then react when our dogs pick them up.
Dogs will be attracted to items with strong scents such as socks, shoes, remotes and wallets.
A simple tidy up goes a long way to preventing stealing and guarding behaviours.
If we are to help our dogs, we must be prepared to change our own behaviour. Whether that be in what we actually do or how we respond emotionally, it starts with us.
A practiced and successful behaviour
In training terms, we call this a learned behaviour.
All beings are constantly in a state of evaluating what works and what doesn’t work. We do this consciously (for humans, by talking and reasoning) and subconsciously – think about pulling a door which is a push door – you pull, it doesn’t work so you push- often without thinking.
Once your dog keeps hold of something which it sees as valuable through the use of behaviours, it will default to these behaviours again.
So, if your dog runs away and eats something in hiding, next time, it will run away quicker.
If it growls and you stop coming towards them, it will growl again next time.
It is simply how memories work.
What is successful is repeated. In behavioural terms, we call this success, reinforcement.
Bites and growls never come out of the blue. There will be warning signs. But, if these are ignored, the next step up that Ladder of Aggression will be seen.
The origins of resource guarding cannot be treated separately from the behavioural learned side of resource guarding. Treatment programmes must address the 2 as well as the human response side to the whole situation.
Are certain breeds more prone to Resource Guarding?
As a practicing behaviourist for over 15 years, I certainly see resource guarding in more specific breeds than others.
Breeds who I am likely to see are those who are bred to hold things in their mouths, namely our gundog breeds.
Therefore, resource guarding can be more often seen in Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels, Labradors, Cockapoos and other gundog breeds.
However, all breeds can develop guarding behaviours at any age due the the factors discussed previously.
What kind of things is a dog likely to guard?
We tend to think of guarding as being about food, but dogs can guard at other times.
Some common things that may be guarded are:
- high value chews
- toys
- space – such as the sofa, a crate, a certain area of a room, beds
- people
- stolen items
- food/treats
- locations where items are kept
- their own bodies
Resource Guarding can be prevented – what you can ask your breeder to do
Puppies can learn to resource guard from as early as 4 weeks old when they are weaning and fully mobile.
We know that puppies raised in poor conditions such as puppy farms or dirty and barren environments are more likely to develop resource guarding behaviours.
Poor conditions make infections more likely.
So apart from walking away from such breeders, what can you ask your breeder to do?
- Feed the puppies from separate bowls
- Ensure weaning is a natural process
- Train additions
- Teach orientation
- Provide lots of environmental stimulation
How can I prevent resource guarding with my new puppy?
Puppies will explore with their mouths which means they will pick a lot of things up.
We want to avoid grabbing things from them, prising mouths open or forcing them to let go of something as this will decrease trust and make them stay away from you.
To help your puppy there are some things we need to have in place from Day 1 of having them home.
- A safe space like a pen or large crate where your puppy can have everything they need including lots of toys and chews which they are allowed to have in their mouths
- Tidy up all other areas so they can’t grab things that are lying around
- Start to teach them to swap things for food through play
- Start to teach orientation – when they pick something up, praise them and encourage them to you to swap
- You can start to add the word drop when offering a treat
- Treats will need to be high value – their food will not do
- Make additions – when they are eating or chewing, approach slowly, add something like a treat and move away again – this teaches your puppy that you coming towards them when they have something valuable is not a threat and adds more than it takes away
A little bit about sleep
There is a reason why we feel so awful when we don’t get enough sleep. As well as being restful for our bodies, it also aids digestion, growth and the processing of memories.
Lack of sleep increases hunger, increases stress and the hormones that go with it.
Lack of sleep also has an impact on the aggression centres in the brain, making them more sensitive.
Aggression will increase where there is insufficient sleep.
Creating a solid sleep routine for our dogs is vital for treating resource guarding. Often our dogs don’t feel that they switch off completely as they need to keep an eye on everything. You might lose it if you sleep.
Make sure your dog has at least 2 opportunities for undisturbed long sleeps during the day. Dogs sleep in 20 minute cycles so allow time for 3-4 cycles. If you need to be out or still, make sure this happens.
We can see a big reduction in aggression when we get this basic need met.
What NOT to do if your dog is guarding
We can often make a significant difference to guarding behaviours when we remove the conflict.
Look for signs that your dog is in conflict with you. This may include you
- Approaching them
- Reaching with your hands
- Grabbing them
- Raising your voice
- Taking things away
- Any other physical punishments
- Forcing them into a crate
Try and stay calm and get them to come to you if you can.
What about an emergency?
Sometimes your dog may pick something up which is dangerous.
In an emergency, avoid approaching your dog and go and create a big distraction which your dog will notice.
I tend to use ringing the doorbell which will get my dog running and barking.
Then close a door and remove the item when they are not watching you.
Need further help?
I can help with resource guarding online on a one to one basis.
My specialist Cockapoo Magic next opens In Jan 2025 (opens 3 times a year).
Prefer local help – please seek out a vet referred behaviourist in your area. Start with asking your vet for a recommendation.
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