How to prevent resource guarding in your dog

My boyfriend's sister's shorthaired dachshund Ebben with a bone.

We've all seen dogs that has issues either around food or toys. They will growl or even bite a person approaching when it has a resource it wants to have to itself. As with all other problematic behaviors in dogs, prevention of the behavior before it ever occurs, is the best alternative. So how do you prevent it?
Well it's fairly simple. Teach your dog to exchange one thing for another. When you want a toy that the dog has, give it another toy or a treat. If your dog has a tasty bone, give it another even tastier treat. If it learns that you approaching means it's going to get something as good, or even better than what it has now, it will stop guarding whatever it has and look at you with anticipation. This is the ideal situation. This is what you want; a dog that willingly lets you take whatever it is it has. This is when you start introducing the release cue. I use "thank you" (or "Tack", the Swedish/Norwegian equivalent) with my dog, and now we can be in the middle of a tug-of-war and immediately when I say "Tack", he releases the toy.

Siberian husky Noor with a dried pig's ear.

The release cue during play is somewhat different than the release cue when it comes to things your dog is chewing on and which it shouldn't be chewing on. You will most certainly at one point end up in situations where your dog has something that could potentially be dangerous for it to chew on or to swallow. In these situations it is important that you've done your training with the dog, because there might not be time to get something to exchange for the thing the dog now has. If your dog really has learned the cue, use it. If it doesn't work or if you haven't gotten that far in your training yet, you will then need to take the item directly from the dogs mouth. This is confrontational, and a way of managing the situation, it is not the way to train a dog! If you've trained the dog before this, it will likely look a bit surprised but still look at you anticipating something good. If you have not trained the dog prior to this, it very much depends on the dog how you approach the situation. If you are in danger of getting seriously bitten, don't grab the item from the dog's mouth! If your dog learns that biting people gets it out of uncomfortable situations, your dog's future is really uncertain. It might end up being put down for something you initially taught it. So be careful!

Here I am holding the bone while Link chews on it. This way he learned that me holding the bone does not mean I will take it away. Please note: I didn't walk up and grab the bone while he was chewing on it, I held on to it when I gave it to him.

I was i a situation with my dog when he was almost three months old. At home he had never guarded anything, not toys nor food. But we were at work (at the veterinary clinic) and he had gotten a bone. He also had a wart on one of his front paws and I had asked a vet to take a look at it. The vet sat down in front of him and he immediately started growling. She extended her hand and he snapped at her! As I just said, he had never shown any such behavior at home, so I was surprised to say the least. Fortunately he was wearing a harness, so I simply grabbed the harness and pulled him away from the bone. When we had removed the bone, he was fine and the vet could examine him. But I was really shook up and was a bit afraid that this would turn into a real problem. I hadn't realized that all dog's need training and good experiences to learn to trust humans that approach them. Even the ones that hasn't shown any signs of resource guarding.

Siberian husky Ashoka politely watching as her sister Vida is chewing on a dried pig's ear.

The release cue during play can be taught in several different ways. I've already mentioned exchanging it for another toy or a treat. I've used treats with my dog since he is so very food motivated. With the "in law's" dog I used another technique. He loves tug-of-war, so when I wanted him to release, I "played dead", that is I let my arm fall down and didn't pull the toy back towards me, but I still held on to the toy. This was really boring for the dog, so he let go of the toy (after quite some time the first time, so have patience). Immediately when he let the toy go I engaged in play again and after a few repetitions he let go of the toy as soon as I stopped pulling, in order to start the game again as quickly as possible. I then introduced the cue. Remember, when you start teaching the dog to release an item, it doesn't know what is expected of it. So you standing there repeatedly saying "thank you", "thaaank yooouu", "THANK YOU!", is only going to frustrate both of you. Always introduce the cue AFTER the dog has learned the behavior.

Scott in a game of tug-of-war with my boyfriend.

When it comes to dogs guarding their food bowl when they eat. Teach it from a young age that when you approach the bowl, it is only to put more food in the bowl. Never take the food away from the dog when it is eating!

Hope you found this post helpful! If your dog has serious issues with resource guarding, contact a dog trainer in your area to get help. The last thing we want is a  confrontation ending in a bite!

Good luck with your dog training!