11/27/2024
This is Guinness, a happy go lucky super sweet golden except for when it came to his food. Like many dogs he struggled with resource guarding on his food and with bones.
Resource guarding is an all too common behavior problem that I see people sweep under the rug or "manage," saying it's not a problem, until one day someone gets bit or worse multiple bites. Then all of a sudden it's finally a problem! Sadly, in most of these cases when the owners finally reach out they are in a panic and say to me, "we either fix it or re-home the dog." This isn't always the case, but I see it happen that way a lot. (Guinness' case was different the owners were dedicated to fixing the problem and had been trying multiple methods and things at home to fix the problem, but it continued to get worse so they reached out for help)
I'm using Guinness' case as a platform to say that resource guarding (or possessive aggression) is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is actually an instinctual dog behavior and would be a valuable behavior for a feral dog's survival. But with that being said, it can also be worked on and corrected with some time and dedication. So why not fix the problem before it gets worse and you have a "real problem," because the problem is not going to fix itself.
This is a before and after video, it does not show all of the steps and build up we did over the course of his board and train to get to this point. Please consult a trainer before working on this at home.
