Resource guarding can feel overwhelming to deal with, whether your dog is growling over food, snapping at another dog near their favorite toy, or even guarding you. It’s a behavior rooted in instinct, but with the right approach, you can address it and help your dog feel more secure.
In this post, I’ll share how we tackled Ginger’s resource guarding behavior and provide practical steps, expert advice, and training resources to help you do the same.
What Is Resource Guarding?
Dogs guard resources out of insecurity, fear of losing them, or even past experiences. It’s a natural instinct, but in a home setting, it can cause stress for both the dog and the people around them.
Resource guarding happens when a dog feels the need to protect a valuable item or person. This might be food, toys, beds, or even you. For Ginger, it started with her food bowl. She would stiffen and growl whenever our other dog, JJ, got too close during mealtime.
Signs of Resource Guarding
Recognizing the signs of resource guarding early can prevent the behavior from escalating. Here’s what to watch for:
- Subtle Signs: Stiffening, freezing, or hovering over an item.
- Vocalizations: Growling, snarling, or barking when approached.
- Aggressive Actions: Snapping, lunging, or biting.
When Ginger started showing these behaviors, we realized we needed to intervene quickly. The earlier you address resource guarding, the easier it is to manage.
Reading Your Dog’s Body Language
Understanding your dog’s body language is crucial when addressing resource guarding. Subtle signs like stiffening, a tense posture, or avoiding eye contact can often indicate discomfort before more obvious behaviors like growling or snapping occur. By learning to recognize these early signals, you can intervene calmly and prevent the situation from escalating.
📖 Want to learn more? Check out my guide to Reading Your Dog’s Body Language to better understand what your dog is trying to tell you.
First Step: Rule Out Medical Issues
Before jumping into training, it’s crucial to rule out any medical causes for the behavior. Pain, illness, or even digestive issues can make dogs more defensive.
Examples of Medical Triggers
- Arthritis or joint pain can make a dog guard their resting areas.
- Digestive discomfort may increase sensitivity around food.
- Vision or hearing loss can make dogs more defensive about their space.
When Ginger’s resource guarding first emerged, our vet ruled out any medical concerns. Knowing she was healthy gave us the confidence to focus solely on behavior modification.
Strategies to Address Resource Guarding
Resource guarding requires a thoughtful approach. Here are strategies that worked for us:
1. Food Aggression
Ginger’s food guarding was our first challenge. At mealtime, we:
- Fed her separately: This reduced her anxiety about other dogs approaching her food.
- Used hand-feeding: By offering food directly, we built trust and showed her that our presence near her bowl was positive.
- Practiced trading up: We introduced high-value treats when she showed calm behavior near her food bowl.
2. Guarding Toys and Objects
If your dog guards toys like Ginger sometimes did, try:
- Teaching “Drop It” and “Leave It” commands using positive reinforcement.
- Practicing trading up with treats for the toy, making surrendering the item rewarding.
3. Guarding Spaces or People
Some dogs might guard their favorite resting spots or even their owner. To address this:
- Teach your dog the “Place” command, redirecting them to a specific mat or bed.
- Encourage calm interactions with other family members near the guarded area.
- If your dog guards while on your bed or furniture, the dog should not be allowed on these spaces.
Insights from SpiritDog’s Resource Guarding Course
The SpiritDog Training Stop Resource Guarding Course provided us with a clear framework for tackling Ginger’s behavior. Here’s what the course covers:
- Foundations: Learn how resource guarding develops and how to stop reinforcing it unintentionally.
- Training ‘Drop It’ and Trading: Step-by-step guidance on teaching these essential commands.
- Managing Multiple Dogs: Strategies for handling resources like food, toys, and resting areas when you have more than one dog.
We applied the “Trade Up” technique from this course with Ginger, which was a game-changer for her food guarding.
Alternative Option: Dunbar Academy’s Training Program
Another fantastic resource is Dunbar Academy’s Top Dog Academy. Their comprehensive training modules cover resource guarding along with other behaviors. Dr. Ian Dunbar emphasizes trust and respect in training, which aligns perfectly with positive reinforcement methods.
If you don’t want to join the Academy, purchase the Behavior Problems Compendium course here.
As Dr. Dunbar says: “Training a dog is not about dominance or control, but about building a relationship based on trust and respect.”
Special Situations: Aggression or Severe Guarding
While online courses like SpiritDog and Dunbar Academy are excellent for many cases, in-person training is necessary for dogs with severe aggression or a bite history. Safety is the top priority in these situations.
If your dog’s resource guarding escalates to snapping, lunging, or biting, professional help is essential. Severe cases often require hands-on guidance from a certified behaviorist or trainer with experience with aggressive behaviors.
Final Thoughts
Resource guarding can feel overwhelming, but with patience, consistency, and the right tools, it’s a manageable behavior. Whether you choose an online course like SpiritDog Training or Dunbar Academy, or seek help from a local professional, the key is understanding your dog’s needs and addressing the root of their behavior.
Ginger is now almost 10 years old, and we have been successfully managing her resource guarding for several years now. It has not been an easy road for her or our family, but we have learned a lot from her!
I rescued my beagle Nov 6, 2021. He's sweet and lovable. He is a bit fearful of himself and me. Protective of himself and me! He fears my friend at times. I think a bad man hurt and scared him in his past. I also think my friend is the same size as the bad man! Mostly, "Teddy" wants attention from my friend, but occasionally Teddy will growl and want to go after my friend. This behavior makes my friend shut down towards Teddy. He will then ignore Teddy, never petting or talking to him. I need help, and don't know how to correct this.
This type of behavior is best helped by a professional dog trainer that specializes in resource agression. There are a couple factors that are important to understand though. Your beagle is still in transition phase, read the 3-3-3 rule. Also, it’s a misconception that dogs that fear men have been abused by one in the past. Men are larger and louder than women, making them more scarier, which is why many dogs have fear of men. It’s also important to leave the dogs past in the past. Focus on the future, feeling sorry for the dog won’t help him get better. Consider boosting the dogs confidence with actives or a training class. SpiritDog Training has an online confidence booster class that is great.
Hello,
I just adopted a 2 year old male german shepherd today. I've grown up with shepherds and have a lot of breed experience, but I've never had one that resources guards. (He is the only dog in the house and I am the only person in the house.) After getting him home today, I discovered he resource guards toys after he growled at me after I got too close. Since he's been here, he also seems to be showing a lot of dominant type behaviors as opposed to more scared behaviors like I had anticipated. I've been trying to trade toys with him, to entice him to drop what he has to take the "better" option, but he collects the toys and keeps them at his paws. Due to his stance over them, I don't want to approach because his stance looks to be telling me to keep my distance. How do I deal with the resource guarding and the aggression signs while he's still adjusting to a new home? I don't want to ignore them and allow them to get worse, but I also understand he's going to need a lot of time to get acclimated.
I highly recommend reaching out to a professional behaviorist. You are right, you don’t want to allow it to continue, it’s a sensitive situation for sure. I would try to avoid all situations that put him in this position. Keep all toys away for now. He needs to learn how to trust you first, read How to Bond with your dog and the 3-3-3 rule.
We adopted our 2 year old Cooper (Pyrenees mix) at 8 weeks after finding him and his mom and dad walking down the highway. He recently started aggressively resource guarding us from his older brother Toby (a 8 year old Sheltie – adopted 5 years ago after his owners left him out wondering around a camp ground in a storm). It seems now that it was always happening non-aggressively, as he was always getting in our faces when we were showing the other dogs (we also have 8 year old Gracie, adopted from a rescue at 8 weeks) attention. I suppose it also happened previously when we were dog sitting our daughters dog – a 1 year old intact male Husky – we thought maybe it was that he was intact and a dominance issue. Recently he attacked Toby grabbing his neck angrily and had to be physically separated- there was also a toy involved initially but happened again a short time later with no apparent fatalist (other than we had been showing Toby a little more attention earlier. Less than 2 days later Toby was following me around and I was chatting to him, Cooper approached to get my attention and I gave it to him, but Toby was still close by, he stiffened and his posture began to change, I petted him and tried to calmly reassure him with praise, but Toby still nearby soon became his focus and again he attacked him. We have been keeping them separated but alternating them in/out of kennel. As I have been writing this Cooper is laying on the couch and Toby is in the kennel in the other room – in Cooper’s eyesight – he raised his head, staring in Toby’s direction and started growling – I think Toby might have just adjusted his position in the kennel. We have an appointment with a behaviorist in 12 days, but we are afraid to let them in close proximity; we try to be reassuring but the mood in our house is tense and heavy. By the way, he seems to be fine with Gracie. We some work being done in our yard and it has been stressful for all of us, this just makes it worse. We also have grand children, 3 of which live out of state that he has never met. We are genuinely concerned as we love all 3 of our fur babies and just really don’t know if even behavioral training will make our home any less stressful. We are feeling like rehiring might be the best option for all, but don’t really want to.. and it is a decision between Cooper and Toby and if it comes to this, how can we ensure it is to a good loving home?
I know exactly how you are feeling, it’s so hard. If you do decide to rehome him, Read Is it Ever Okay to Rehome a Dog? I hope the new trainer can help you all. Best of luck.
We’ve had our 2.5 year old rescue dog for three days. He had been sweet and gentle up until yesterday when he growled and lunged at my adult son when my son was reaching for a dog toy to play with the dog. Today, the dog growled at the cat when the cat walked past the dog’s open crate. Also, my husband was petting the dog, and my son walked past them. The dog turned with a growl towards my son. And also tonight, my son was walking between me and the dog and my husband. The dog, who had been pacing around really with his tail held down low, longed menacingly at our son again. This is upsetting, sad, and makes me angry. I find this behavior unacceptable. What should we do? He is our third rescue dog.
What you should do is up to you. But here are a few things to consider. The dog is most likely stressed out from the move from shelter to your home. Read the 3-3-3 rule article to understand the transition phase. With that said, aggression is not something to ignore. You could seek help from the shelter you adopted him from to see have they have any insight and/or trainers to help you. You could find your own behaviorist trainer to help you. Or you can consider returning him to the shelter. Also read Is it Ever Okay to Rehome a Dog?
I adopted a two year old (ish) female dog back in September! She gets jealous of other dogs and is super aggressive towards them when they get close to her food, toys, or even her sticks she finds outside. It's awful. My roommate for this upcoming year has a puppy and they play well together but I'm scared Nala (my dog) my go after my roommates dog. How do I help prevent it / make Nala stop being so aggressive?
Prevention is key. Keep food and toys away when they are together. Watch BOTH dogs body language. Learn Nala’s triggers. Watch her every move, look for the slightest sign of her guarding. Use the tips in this article and also ready our article about dog body language: https://www.rescuedogs101.com/how-to-speak-dog-language/
Our 7 month old doodle has shown guarding tendencies for a while. He mostly guards when he steals something (kids toy, banana peel, shoe). We’ve learned to get him to “drop it” by offering a treat and he will do that right away. But he is very food motivated…counter surfs, steals food from our kids hands, etc. he recently bit me when I tried to take away duct tape he was chewing on without waiting for him to “drop it” – I faked like I had a treat because I didn’t think he’d guard it. We are looking to do a board and train with ecollar but just worried that he will always have that “possession aggression” in him no matter what. And we have 3 kids under 5. Any thoughts or feedback?
If you find the right trainer I think there is hope. I will be honest, with our dog Ginger we have not been able to 100% “cure” her. But we manage it with knowing her triggers, her body language, and avoiding anything that we know will set her off.
My 10-lb chi mix had had 2 failed adoptions, so I guess I was at least his 4th owner. He would resource guard my lap. A simple technique I learned was, as soon as I noticed warning signs, I would matter-of-factly put him on the ground. That worked in our situation. I thank you Debi for all your helpful info. You are non-judgmental & real. The need for patience & to have faith & to work on the relationship & mutual communication – all advice that is golden. It seems like, even with dogs, things worth having don’t come easy.
Hi my puppy is 5 months now I’ve been working on him with the guarding issue I got him at 3 mths and he was abandoned and living in the streets. He has really bad food aggression he will bite me when I take his empty bowl and even my others dogs bowl up cause they get Fed at meal times he is getting better he will eat his food and even walk by her but once she’s done that’s it he lunges for it
Wow, that is very unusual for such a young puppy. I really would recommend finding a behaviorist to help you. Right now, I’d feed him separate, maybe even in his crate.
Yes Kilo will resource guard. He is a rescue we started fostering at 2. We know we were his 5th home but not too much else. We worked with amazing behaviourists as well and tried the same training. Unfortunately he can get madder if you try to distract him but he loves treats so he will trade. He now drops for a trade and will go to a certain spot and do a few tricks for treats when needed. He also seems to understand “yucky” and usually drops or even lets me take something from his mouth like a chicken bone on a walk for a treat.
That’s awesome you are able to control Kilo’s resource guarding! We still struggle occasionally, it’s a continual learning experience.
These are excellent tips. At least you have discovered that Ginger’s biggest trigger is other dogs coming into the home. You can be hyper aware if you bring fosters into the home, or maybe choose not to foster again until her issue it well under control. She is clearly very threatened by other dogs. Your timeline is so interesting, you can see how these changes in her family environment must have created extreme insecurity. I’m glad you incorporated training, that usually helps build confidence in dogs. Thanks for sharing your story, I think it can help a lot of other people with dogs with resource guard. Sharing.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Thank you Cathy. We have taken a break from fostering just for that reason. When I created that timeline, it was a big ah ha moment for me. Thank you for sharing!