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Potential Resource Guarding in 12 week old puppy
Hi Everyone! Sorry it’s been a while since I have posted. Before I get into the current topic, just wanted to say to @catherine that I know this relates to a puppy, but I wasn’t sure where to post lol. Feel free to move it back to the puppy area.
Anyway, to the case at hand. A new puppy owner and I have a session this week and one of the issues they’d like to address is resource guarding. I am not 100% convinced its resource guarding, but it could be. Anything is possible. It’s a 12 week old golden retriever. The breeder is a friend of mine so I reached out to her. They had the dog until 8 weeks and they didn’t notice any issues. However, that does leave 4 weeks unaccounted for since they left the breeder.
I’ve been preparing for this lesson. I tried to look up something I remembered in the Catch course (I think it was basics pro) about some different training tools/aides but I only have master class access. I seem to remember something about a fake arm or something like that. I wanted to get other peoples’ ideas and thoughts. Tomorrow’s session is more about information gathering and seeing how the puppy is doing in their new home. Thanks in advance!
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8 Replies
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Zane, the tool you mentioned is an assess-a-hand. It’s a nice tool to have if you are not sure if there is a resource guarding issue. Most of the time you don’t need one because dogs will show body language indicating that there is aa problem. Ex: dog hovers over item, growling, dog becomes stiff, hard stare, etc. If you determine there is no issue with guarding, I teach a “drop” or “trade” to all my puppies. There is a video on YouTube from a really good trainer named chirag Patel on “drop”. It’s a slightly different way of teaching it but I have used it many times. I used it on a King Charles that would it everything and would resource guard. After teaching drop, I was Waling the dog and he ate something off ground. I wasn’t sure what it was and I said drop and he dropped the item. It was a razor blade. I was so glad I taught him this. Every puppy I train, I teach drop. Good luck
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@bmacwatt Thank you so much for the quick reply! That’s what it was called! Thank you! I appreciate it.
And yes, I agree. I always practice exchanges from day one with all my puppies. Exchanges, drop, and leave it. I also agree about the body language. I am not too worried because the family isn’t on edge or too worried, so I will just observe the dog’s body language, ask more specific circumstance related questions of the family, and then teach them some ways to address it. Thank you again!
I’m trying to look at various resources on the internet, but have come up short. Any idea where you can get Assess-a-hand?
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Hi Zane! I moved this discussion to the HMWTC channel since it’s a practical client-based training scenario. Thanks for bringing it.
I respect that you want to see the behavior – I used to feel the same way. However, I’ve changed my approach since discerning that resource guarding is most often a fear-based behavior. I don’t want to establish a fearful relationship with the dog from the get-go.
Instead, I ask the owners if they’ve captured video of the behavior or if they are able to safely do so. I am specific about not wanting to set up a dangerous situation and coach them not to get close enough to suffer a bite. Personally, I never bother with an assess-a-hand any more.
Usually, from a LONG way off, we can see the dog tense. And that’s our starting point for working together, not up close in the dog’s space/bowl.
In a 12wk old puppy, especially a golden, it’s not unusual to see this behavior and it often has its source in the fact that they constantly pick things up and constantly have things grabbed out of their mouth. So, be sure they practice “trade up” and teaching a positive retrieve. One tip I give is to always praise and pet the puppy all over their body before taking away the item they bring. That keeps the puppy from playing keep away (as much).
I once trained a golden retriever pup about the same age that was resource guarding WATER. … In that case, the family was restrictively limiting water because of a house training issue.
The moral of this story is – ask a LOT of questions, get video and ask more questions. There’s a ton to unpack here, before jumping to conclusions. Feel free to keep us updated on this case!
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Chirag Patel’s method of teaching Drop blew my mind; I had never imagined starting to teach a dog the cue to drop something without the dog having anything in their mouth at all! Thank you for the reminder about Patel’s completely out-of-the-box training @bmacwatt.
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@zaneb – In addition to all the great points above, also, check out this post which also shows a very simple and powerful way to teach Drop:
https://mycatchcampus.com/forums/discussion/can-classical-conditioning-change-behavior-take-a-look/#post-6312 -
Thanks everyone! I met with the family and it turns out they have it under control which is awesome! They reached out to their breeder (whose also a certified trainer and friend of mine) and she gave them some tips! We are now working on alone time comfort, alternative solutions to digging, and recall. Thank you for all the support and advice! Happy Sunday!
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Thank you for the update @zaneb – I’m always so thrilled when I hear about professionals from different parts of the dog world (such as trainers and breeders) working together cooperatively in support of pets and their people!
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Awesome, @zaneb – thanks for the update. And allllll those other things are so important too – especially time alone – something it’s hard to remember baby puppies need to learn to do.
Well done – and what an awesome breeder.
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