# Resource Guarding their Owners



## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

I've been reading about dogs who resource guard their owners and can't seem to find too much info about it. *The book Mine! A Practical Guide for Resource Guarding in Dogs *seem to mainly talk about food and toys. Obviously removing the owner, the resource, isn't going to work. Nor is slowly introducing the resource in controled experiences.

I want to nip this in the bud with one of my dogs who are starting to get a bit insecure. 

I've read parts of the book *Feeling Outnumbered *which talks a lot about training dogs together. I'm wondering if this is enough. 

S-i-g-h... 3 of mine are getting along great while 1 of them is getting insecure. He's just seems to have a low threshold and I think he may feel intimidated by my new guy. George is doing many calming signals that seem to encourage a good relationship, so I'm pretty sure he's not intimidating on purpose.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

I'd be curious to hear from some of the voices of wisdom on this issue, too. Pip does this a bit, the weird thing is as far as I can tell he resource guards me from the cats but not from Maisy. It's just me, not my husband (doesn't do it at all, ever, when I'm not home according to my husband), but even with me it's fairly inconsistent. I've been trying a few things that I think are working ok but I'll be interested to see what people have to say.


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

Sass, 

You might find this video interesting:






KCDogGuy in the video describes it in his narration but, I didn't realize how subtle it could look. 

Ilya doesn't do this as obvious in the video though he is starting. Sometimes, when he does it, I noticed if I look at him (more out of curiosity) he lowers his head and skittles away quickly as if I caught him doing something he shouldn't have.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

JustTess said:


> KCDogGuy in the video describes it in his narration but, I didn't realize how subtle it could look.


That was interesting, thanks for posting. Without the narration, I'm not sure I would have realized what was going on.



> Ilya doesn't do this as obvious in the video though he is starting. Sometimes, when he does it, I noticed if I look at him (more out of curiosity) he lowers his head and skittles away quickly as if I caught him doing something he shouldn't have.


Pip is... weird. There are very specific circumstances under which this happens. Namely, when I am on the couch doing whatever I'm doing, if Pip is laying under the coffee table (right in front of the couch) and one of the cats enters the room he sometimes growls at them. But he never moves from his spot - even if they continue into the room and get up on the couch with me. He doesn't even usually raise his head if he's resting. 

According to my husband, he doesn't do this when I'm not there - that is, hubby on the couch and Pip under the coffee table. Also, he doesn't react at all to Maisy. And although he is definitely more attached to me than my husband, Pip isn't what I would call a super clingy dog -- under the coffee table is one of 4-5 spots that he might choose to sleep at any given time regardless of where I am. Some of the spots are nearby, some are in a different room altogether (like his "Fortress of Solitude" under the dining room table). In fact, there are two dog beds right next to the couch, one on either side - and oddly, if he's lying _there_ he doesn't seem to have the same reaction at all to the cats. As I was typing this, one of the cats walked right by him on one of those beds and no reaction whatsoever.

My husband's natural reaction is to verbally correct him for the growling -- which I don't want to do. What I've been trying to do is just be hyper-aware of when the cats enter the room and before the growling starts do a "yay! kitty!" routine where he gets treats or attention. If I don't notice (sneaky cats!) before he growls, I just calmly get up and walk away, do something else for a few minutes. When I come back in the room I have him move to a different spot and resume what I was doing. It seems to be working ok. I'm not super worried about the behavior as it stands now, but I want to nip it in the bud and not let it escalate. I'm considering just blocking off the space under the coffee table altogether, but I'm concerned that he'll just transfer the behavior to a different spot, so I'm not sure.


ETA: Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. It's just coincidentally been on my mind lately. Sounds like Ilya is starting to "run off" your new guy like the dog in the video? Does he do other things like staring or growling?


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

> That was interesting, thanks for posting. Without the narration, I'm not sure I would have realized what was going on.


Well, my vet told me he thought Ilya was starting to guard me when I told him Ilya was correcting George but I couldn't tell what for. I had a conversation with another person about resource guarding owners and he told me the signs were very unnoticable unless I knew what to look for and he gave me the link. 

I don't think your hijacking my thread at all. If anyone has input, please share your experience.



> Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. It's just coincidentally been on my mind lately. Sounds like Ilya is starting to "run off" your new guy like the dog in the video? Does he do other things like staring or growling?


Out of the 3 other dogs, George is the only one Ilya seems to have an issue with. I don't see obvious aggression like a hard stare, growling, hackles raised. I'm keeping the leash attached to both of them anyway and training them both infront of each other taking turns.

Ilya has growled like a cat in heat the first night I got George. I told him 'away' and he immediately left the room. I don't see signs from Ilya, but I do notice George lip smacking and that's when I remove both dogs from the same room Ilya isn't upset by this because he enjoys hiding in my closet most of the day. I also see George use many calming signals directed at Ilya - muzzle licking, rolling over, play bowing, turning back.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Arise, foul dead thread!

I just was curious how things were going with you. Pip's guarding of me improved a bit but plateaued, which was concerning. He's also been showing some signs of general anxiety as well, so after some bloodwork and talking with a behaviorist we made the decision to start him on fluoxetine last week. *fingers crossed*


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

Things are going really great! Ilya has accepted George but they do have their moments. I ignored both of them when they appeared to want my attention and only gave it to them if they didn't ask. I was a little worried about resource guarding toys so whenever they started to intimidate the other... the resource got put up. There was nothing to fight about and they didn't seem to blame the other dog like my children would have. LOL. Recently, they wait until the other dog drops it and it's fair game for the next dog that takes possesion of it. Sophie is the only one that tries to get it back but the male dogs ignore her and she gives up.

Sometimes, I don't see it coming and one will snap at the other. George likes to hang out under my desk and he'll snap at Ilya if he approaches me. Then, Ilya will lay at my feet (near my desk) and he'll snap at George if he approaches. I'm guessing this is resource guarding but I haven't figured out how to allow both of them near my desk together without causing a problem.


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