Monday, January 4, 2010

Resource Guarders Unite!





I Got Myself in Trouble--Again!

This morning I worked my way into Eric's room (my human brother), and found his recycle basket, filled to the brim with lots of used paper. What a find! What a treasure!

I immediately seized on the empty box of Dots sitting temptingly on top of the pile and ran out of the room with doggie glee. You see, I'm what's known in the animal behavior community as a "resource guarder" --a dog who will guard at all costs what they most treasure. It's a fairly common behavior problem in dogs. I have a fetish for paper, plastic, anything I can pick up on a walk around the block. I usually return from a walk with something in my mouth. This morning my treasure just happened to be paper from Eric's room and I went at it with enthusiastic vigor, ripping the box to smithereens. You can see the result of my work in the photo above (at left). What fun!

When I was a wee pup I got a hold of a wad of tissue and would not let it go. My human dad, thinking I would certainly perish if I ingested this tissue, made a concerted effort to get it away from me. I gave him fair warning, as many resource guarders do, that I didn't want to let it go. I growled and growled, quite deliberately. He didn't get it. Dad kept up his attempts to release the tissue from my firm grasp and I had no choice; I had to bite him. It wasn't your average run-of-the-mill innocent puppy snap; it was a full-blown bite. My mom shrieked in horror. My dad yelled at me as he had never done before or since.

That did it. My mom and dad hadn't figured me out by then and this episode only added to their frustration with me. Puppyhood had been a challenge thus far and this reinforced for my mom that I was one unacceptable and aggressive dog. But, after she calmed down and got over her initial fear, my mom did what she always does when she's confused, when she doesn't understand--she did some research. She looked on the internet for when dogs bite in such situations and found out the name for such behavior--resource guarding. Then she bought a good little book called Mine: A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs by respected dog trainer Jean Donaldson. It's filled with lots of good information about dogs like me and how to best treat our behavior, which can be a challenge for humans. The book is available from Amazon.com.

As described in Donaldson's book, there are different types of resource guarders: food guarders, object guarders, location guarders, owner guarders and dogs who guard miscellaneous things. I happen to guard objects. My parents are glad I don't guard my food. That would be a tough one to deal with, they think--especially if there were young kids around. I don't guard my food, maybe because I'm not that crazy about it! Give me biscuits, smelly jerky treats or dried sweet potatoes.

Teach Commands

In my obedience class, the trainer gave my parents some wise advice. The trainer said, "With a resource guarder you need to exchange the item they are guarding for something they consider better." That did the trick. Now when I hold onto something that might be a danger to me or something I might damage, my parents offer me a piece of dehydrated chicken (like the chicken tender treats you find in the store--only my mom makes them in the oven) and then they tell me to "drop it." I usually comply.

It helps with a resource guarder like me to teach us the commands "drop it" and "leave it." Some dogs are good enough to drop what they have for any treat with the "drop it" command. Really good dogs will eventually do it for no treat at all! Some resource guarders can be pickier than that though, like I am. With the "leave it" command, sometimes we'll leave an item alone before we even pick it up. So, look up those obedience commands online and teach them to your resource guarder.

Once my parents got information about resource guarding, they began to understand me better and how to deal with my problem. Things resource guarding-wise have gone better since that first biting incident. I haven't bitten my parents for trying to take something away (or anyone else). We do our exchanges and that works well. My parents also found that with some items I pick up, I will eventually drop them on my own. But, I may have made a mess of things in the meantime if I've ripped the item apart, like I did this morning with the empty Dot box. So I make a little mess now and then. Don't we all?

After all this talk about me growling and biting, Mom wanted me to say that I am really a very sweet dog. I love to be around people, especially kids. I get a kick out of chasing them and I've never been aggressive with them. My mom has been sure to tell the neighbor kids not to try to take something from my mouth--that it is something for my parents to do. I like most dogs too, except for the big ones who rush me. Big dogs, approach with a little hesitation please, and I'll do a lot better. I'm really a chicken at heart!

So, resource guarders unite. Dog owners, educate yourselves. Read some good material on the resource guarding behavior and things will get a lot better. As with people, we dogs just need a little understanding.
















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