# resource guarding and food aggression



## cherishedchessie (Jan 8, 2009)

I am a foster home for Chesapeake Bay Ret. I normally take ones that have aggression issues. I have a coming 2 year old spayed female with serious resource guarding issues, and food aggression. After a month of working with her she will now exchange the toy for a treat, so I think she is trustworthy at this point No! 
I made a make shift hand out of a glove with beans and attached it to a 5 foot wodden dowel inch diameter, I let her begin to eat and then tell her to wait put the hand in the bowl and we have teeth marks all over the pole, we spend the next 5 minutes snarling snapping barring teeth biting the pole, throughout the entire thing I am sayin wait, as soon as she ceases all aggression I then move the hand tell her ok and good wait, let her eat and then start the whole thing all over again. Is this doing more harm then good? When she first came here even the slightest verbal correction would throw her into cujo zone she has gotten better with that.Other than those issues she is fun loving and very high energy, which we run everyday for an hour in the wetlands with her step brothers and have a ball. I can feed her out of my hand, offer her treats with the boys eating treats out of my hand at the same time. I can take treats away from her for instance when I give her a treat I tell her take it nice if she attempts to gobble the treat I take it back as I have not fully released it yet and tell her NO take it nice No problem with any of that. She will hand you her bone in exchange for a treat but in her crate she will immediately assume a guarding stance when any human gets close when she has a bone, toy or food.Anyone have any ideas?


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

I am not sure if flooding her with the make-shift hand is doing more harm than good? Other members with more experience can answer that question better than I can.
But I will say that telling her to "wait" over and over again while she is actively biting the hand may not be a good idea. I would think that telling her to "wait" once and then immediately rewarding even the slightest hesitation to bite the hand that she gives would be a more effective way to reinforce the behavior you want. 
I have always been told that working with these types of behaviors is an incremental process and you start with the tiniest success and build from there. My first thought would be to dial back where you are at with her while she is in her crate and eating. Start where she has no aggressive response and build from there.
Good luck. Chessies are awesome dogs and not for the faint of heart. In a lot of ways they are like a GSD in a water proof coat.
Sheilah


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

You have to teach her that a hand coming near her bowl is a Good thing ... a GREAT thing.

Here is what I would do. I'd put her in her crate with her bone and close the door. Let her be for a few minutes then I would walk PAST her crate - far enough away that she doesn't feel the need to growl and NOT looking at her - and toss a REALLy good treat in the crate as I'm passing.

By REALLY good I mean a chunk of meat - not dry cookies or such.

I would continue to do this, slowly decreasing the distance I am from the crate.

This is showing her that people walking by + her in crate with bone = GREAT treats.

So the same thing when she has her bowl of food. Walk past her - not directly towards her but parallel to her - and toss a chunk of meat into the bowl as you go by. Do not look directly at the dog.

Continue this, getting closer to her and her bowl as you go.

If she growls at you at any time YOU ARE TOO CLOSE and probably went too fast in the training. Back up and stay further away from her.

Using this method you should be able to work your way up to being able to take the bowl from her while she's eating or even put your hand in the bowl WHILE she's eating.

Correcting or pushing a dog like this just BUILDS the aggression. Why not show them that there is nothing to be aggressive about.


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

I watched an episode of this on the Dog Whisper and what he did with resource guarding is that he owned the food by putting the food down and then blocking the dog with his body by standing in front of the food until the dog sat down and was in a calm submissive state. 

He would use his body but if that was too dangerous, he would use a stick like you have and move the food and then put it behind him and then again own the food. When I say blocking I don't mean push the dog with your body you are simply using your body as a blocker so the dog can't get past you, you will be amazed how fast they realize if they can't get past you that they sit down and just wait. 

I actually did this with my husky who was a mild resource guarder and it works. In fact, blocking dogs with your body with anything is excellent. Like, Sonny likes chase the 2 cats, I block him before he starts getting too excited and keep blocking until he leaves it, it works better then any voice command and he is learning the cats are mine.

This is my suggestion.


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

With Renji, I can take away his bowl from him anytime. I do NOT do this regularly at all. I've only done it once, in fact, due to an issue with what I put in the bowl. My rule is, once the bowl is down, it's "all yours" and I leave him alone unless there is something urgent. 

Key point: I NEVER stand around and stare and move with any unsure movements. As soon as anyone starts acting funny like that, moving with the, "Will he bite me," body language, THAT's when a bite will happen. I talk to my dog like it's a bright, sunny day out, reach in, grab the bowl or toss in a treat, then I'm on my way and he's back to eating. That's all. If I have to mess with his food, I give him a TON of extra special goodies to make it worth his while. However, DF (Dear Fiance) cannot do all this and in fact has been growled at if DF hangs around too close when Renji is eating and a couple times over toys. When DF wants to do something like take a toy or get by Renji's food bowl, he moves in that iffy, wary way that even puts me on edge. Also, Renji does not see the two of us on the same level as far as hierarchy goes; I am the trainer and the stronger leader when it comes to the dog. 

Our dog-related hierarchy: Me first, then Renji, and DF is either on the same level as Renji or lower. The really important battle here is not the battle over the food but the way your dog sees you in the "family pack." If you're not a respected, trustworthy leader in all areas of life with your dog, you will NEVER win the food battle. Please don't go "Cesar Millan" on your dog; you need to be a respected leader, not a dictator. Body blocks DO work well, but be warned that some dogs will go after you even in a body block. When my in-laws' beagle gets riled up over cooking and I want to kick him out of the kitchen, I'll body block him out slowly. I make sure to wear shoes and pants though because he DOES attack my feet right before giving in. Choose your battles carefully. Lauri's suggestions are great. I'm having DF walk by the crate with a piece of good food to do a "walk-by food-tossing" for Renji. I specifically told him to drop the food in and keep moving. Don't stop and stare or move funny or anything. Renji needs to learn that his presence equals more side dishes. I've also handfed Renji at the beginning so he learns that I always control the food and dole it out. 

I have to be honest, if someone would stick a plastic hand in my food constantly after I warned them to stop, I'd punch the jerk's lights out. Forget the dog, I *am* food aggressive.







The poor guy just wants to be left in peace! Let her come in and settle down for a bit and make a rule- once the dog has food in her crate, she is LEFT ALONE until she is finished. No one walks by her or anything during that time while she's settling in. Once she gets comfy and begins to realize that she'll be left alone for her meals, you can slowly start to walk nearby and toss in a meaty treat. Make it awesome, like fried bacon or a hardboiled egg or some big, favorite goodie. Even if she stiffens, just drop the food in and keep moving, don't make an issue about it, don't look at her, just drop and go. Act like you're mailing a letter. Vary the food as well so she'll never know what magical thing that she never gets any other time will drop through the sky. Pretty soon she'll be thrilled to see you walk by her crate. Repeat for other people. You might never work this out completely so I do recommend feeding her in her crate always, but work slowly and give space and have patience and you'll come a long way with her.

The same idea can be done to bones, toys, and other chewies. When you MUST take something, act completely natural and calm and confident, and have something freaking wonderful to swap with. Even if you have to pull out that leftover burger from Chili's last night to seal the deal, do it. You want to make all these experiences positive and also AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!


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## cherishedchessie (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks for the hints and tips I am always looking for new ideas as every dog is an individual and what works for one not always works on another one. 
New foster with Dog aggression issues large male chessie 6 years no history came to shelter as a stray intact, neutered in Sept. Is an awesome hunter has a very high prey drive hence we are learning that cats are not like rabbits they are not stew meat, but are members of my family. He is less aggressive with the larger females but will eat a small male and attack a large male. 
He will submit on a walk and will tolerate another male in close proximity of him if muzzled. He is a great boy and his ideal home would be one with no other animals and hunting home, but like most hunters they have friends who have dogs and so he needs to learn to get along with not necessarily like other dogs but that he has to tolerate them. He has been known to play with few large breed females. Anyone have any tricks ideas that have worked for them. I am open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks


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## Papanapa (Mar 1, 2008)

We have an older Chessie that is my DH's hunting dog. He is a GREAT goose retriever. BUT, he has always been food aggressive. We tried everything from the time we brought him home at 8 weeks but nothing worked. We finally gave up and now his food is his food. Marley (11 mo old GSD) learned very quickly to stay away from Sam and his food. He growled and lunged and she has never gone near him again when eating. They play wonderfully when he has no food. 

Sam wasn't always so fond of the other hunting dogs. My DH is the only one that can have a dog in the field for retrieves. 

I know this is no help, but we have always enjoyed Sam and learned to live with his little idiosyncrosies. (sp?)


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## cherishedchessie (Jan 8, 2009)

Great suggestions thanks to everyone, If she was going to remain in my house I would just let her alone when she is eating, but I have to in no uncertain terms be positive that she is not going to bite over anything odd as my goal is to get her stable and in a loving forever home. Even in the best home for her there is always going to be that chance that she will resort back to her mad moments as I call them. I watch Cesar occasionally but do not worship all that he says and does, since I truly believe that his shows are aired by whichever tends to draw the most viewers and how well known the owners are. I love what I do and its times like this that humbles me cause about the time I think I have all the answers one shows up and then I am clueless again. I wouldn't trade rescue work for anything. Cept for maybe a night off when I can wear something in a color other then chessie brown and have someone dump food in my bowl for me. LOL thanks guys for all the help keep the ideas and suggestions coming I can never get enough help when it comes to my special furbabies


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

But won't you take extra precautions when you place this dog? I mean, you will never be positive that she isn't going to revert back to a previous behavior, not matter how much you work with her. Like you said, there is always going to be that chance.
I think you have done a great job if she is now at the point where you can give her a toy, or take a toy form her. I think your first post said that you were able to trade for toys/food? 
We had a Rottweiler that was a resource guarder. We worked with him to the point where we could give him anything, and take anything form him. But the rule was that we didn't touch him while we did it. That was where it stopped for him and we accepted that it was from then on out a management issue that we were responsible for maintaining.
Maybe the comfort and privacy of her crate is where it stops for your foster?
Sheilah


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## cherishedchessie (Jan 8, 2009)

Yes she finally will give up her toys for a treat and last night she actually brought it to me and when I told her to give she released it and without a treat. Yes if we can place her it will have to be in a very chessy savy home and all her issues will be laid out for them, I expect that she will be here with me for atleast 6 months if not longer I am not giving up on her no matter how long it takes as she really is a cool dog. Never thought about the touching thing maybe that could be a trigger also have to check that out tonight at dinner time. Animals are awesome but some humans can sure create some major issues for them.Thanks for the input


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: cherishedchessieI watch Cesar occasionally but do not worship all that he says and does, since I truly believe that his shows are aired by whichever tends to draw the most viewers and how well known the owners are.


I have never thought about it in that light because most shows I don't know the owners, I have see a few with well knowns but not much. 

Either way, I feel that you have take what works and if what you are doing is not working why not try something different especially if it is not harmful to the dog in anyway.


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## cherishedchessie (Jan 8, 2009)

I like his early shows, I think he is great with what he does, but I have to admit I kind of loss some enthusiams when I saw him doing a couple of guest shots on tv shows. He is talented


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