Just because a behavior seems bad doesn't mean you can't turn in into something that's less bad or even something that's actually good! This was how I started a recent appointment with a new client whose dog is a resource guarder. If he gets a sock, a kid's toy, etc., he's not giving it up and he's escalating to aggression in his efforts not to give up what he's found in their house. The owners are terrified that they'll get bitten or that he'll swallow something he finds and get really sick. So, here's an outline of what we're going to try with this dog.
We set up laundry baskets and boxes all over their house, one in each room to begin with. Using toys, I taught the dog to pick up a toy and hand it to me, and then I gave him a small bite of mozzarella cheese. He'd never had cheese before, so he was definitely interested in what I was up to! Once he was able to pick up any toy I dropped and hand it to me, I walked over to one of the baskets/boxes and put my hand over it as I asked the dog to give me the item. Instead of taking it, I let it drop into the container and immediately rewarded the dog with cheese. I repeated this until he'd readily just drop the toy into the container and look at me expectantly for his treat. This was phase one. The owners will keep working on these basic behaviors (pick it up, give it to me, and drop it in the bin with dog toys) until we meet next week for phase two.
For this next phase, I'll be using innocuous items that are too big for the dog to swallow, but also something he's likely to want to hang onto and not give up. I'll start with a hard glasses case and a hair brush, dropping these items on the floor and asking the dog to pick them up. I'll start with having him hand them to me, rewarding with larger pieces of cheese when he does so. Once he's handing them to me readily, I'll quickly move over to the container in the room and see if I can get him to drop it in the basket and step away for the treat. Stepping away after he's relinquished the item is the key with this phase. If he does, big rewards! If all of this goes well, I'll have the owners start doing these same exercises for another week with innocuous items and we'll see how it goes from there.
What's the end goal? My end goal for this dog is to let him pick up anything he wants IF he'll go and put it in one of the containers in the house. If he does, big rewards in the form of mozzarella cheese will be coming his way. Why do I want him dropping the items in the containers versus just handing them over? Mostly because this dog has a history of dropping things in his owner's hands and then grabbing it back quickly before she can even get a hold of it, and he'll growl with a hard stare if she grabs for it again. I want a completely different behavior to be trained so that we bypass that grabby business and get the dog into a working mindset. Plus, as the client said, if she can get this dog picking up stuff around her house and putting it away in the baskets and boxes, he'll be better trained than her kids!
Yes, it's important to control defensible resources in a home with a resource guarding dog, but it's also possible that you can turn that behavior into something different IF the dog is willing to trade and IF you are willing to take the time to shape a different behavior. And, yes, you can shape this same behavior in a dog who doesn't engage in resource guarding. When Ozzie was a puppy, I taught him to pick up laundry and help me stick it into my front loading washing machine! He loved this task and it kept him from racing around with socks and underwear. I no longer have that front loading washing machine, but he still stands at the ready when I'm doing laundry. I appreciate that about Ozzie.
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
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