Author: wynona@doggiezen.com

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Is My Dog Resource Guarding?

Resource guarding is a common behavioral response to a perceived threat. This instinctual response becomes problematic when aggressive guarding behaviors are directed at humans or other animals.

Aggressive resource guarding is a jarring experience but we have tools to prevent and stop resource guarding. Positive reinforcement training can effectively resolve resource guarding by addressing the underlying root causes of the behavior rather than just suppress the warning signs which can lead to increased aggression.

What is resource guarding?

‘Resource guarding’ is broadly used by trainers, behavioral experts, researchers and other care-providers to name specific patterns of instinctual behaviors. 

In behavioral science, resource guarding is “the use of avoidance, threatening, or aggressive behaviors by a dog to retain control of food or non-food items in the presence of a person or other animal.” As behavioral professionals, we simplify  resource guarding as what dogs do to prevent someone from taking an item they value.

Resource guarding occurs when a dog determines an item is valuable and when another animal or person is a threat. Resource guarding functionally communicates that the dog does not want to share the item and moves the ‘threat’ away from the item or the item away from the ‘threat’. 

Why do dogs resource guard?

Behavior does not exist in a vacuum. Learning science shows that behaviors serve a purpose and persist if the behaviors lead to a favorable outcome. Resource guarding serves an important purpose– it helps the dog control access to a valuable resource. This type of behavior has deep biological roots tied to survival instincts for food, safety, and affection.

Many animals resource guard– including humans. It’s not hard to imagine how it would feel if you were happily enjoying a new toy or a favorite treat and someone walked over and took it away. You may yell at the person, hide the item, or move away from the person.  All of those reactions are more likely to prevent the person from taking your special treat compared to not doing anything. Your resource guarding would be an effective way to ensure you can enjoy your treat or toy without interruption.

Understanding these emotional and biological drivers is the first step toward managing the behavior. If you are interested in learning more about the science of dog behavior and training– sign up for our newsletter.

Is my dog resource guarding?

Resource guarding is a common behavior but the intensity of the behavior, the items that cause the guarding, and what the dog perceives as a threat can all vary. It is highly probable that your dog will resource guard at some point and they may tend towards a particular type of guarding behavior. Current research suggests three types of resource guarding:

  • rapid ingestion (i.e., rapid consumption of an edible item) 
  • avoidance (i.e., positioning of the head or body to maintain item control, or location change with the item) 
  • aggression (i.e., lip lifting, snarling, growling, or snapping)

Keep an eye out for the three types of guarding across contexts and with new items. Track the intensity of the behavior, the context for the behavior, and where the behavior was directed. Some dogs may start with or combine resource guarding types and non-aggressive guarding patterns can go unnoticed. (Even research and clinical treatment has been mainly focused on aggressive patterns of behavior.) 

Dogs usually start with more subtle or polite behavioral communication. 

Early communication of discomfort can include lip licking, a tightening of posture, a nervous tail wag, and side eye. They might begin turning away from the perceived threat with a subtle head movement or turning their back before leaving the room entirely. Watch for a change in movement speed– from slow and relaxed to more frantic movements. 

Communication patterns are sometimes subtle and easy to miss. If you want more support in reading your dog’s body language and translating their behavioral patterns– we can help. 

How do I stop resource guarding? 

You’re on the right track! 

In research studies, people that reported having an advanced knowledge of dog behavior or had participated in professional dog training classes were significantly better at correctly identifying resource guarding behavior patterns. If you can see the pattern you can address it. 

Avoid punishing guarding behaviors.

Critically, don’t punish the early behaviors of resource guarding patterns. Punishing communication does not address the underlying behavioral root and instead takes away the early warning signs. Punishing a dog for lip lifting may stop the lip lifting but it also takes away a key communication strategy. The dog could escalate to a more aggressive behavior such as snapping– without the warning. Punishment could also make the instinct to guard more pronounced. If you become a larger threat the dog is more likely to guard a larger variety of items or with greater intensity. 

In contrast, the most recent advances in behavior science show that resource guarding can be effectively managed and stopped with positive reinforcement training. Counter conditioning and desensitization protocols can reduce the physiological and emotional drivers of the behavior. These methods reduce the perception of threat which in turn eliminates the dog’s need for resource guarding. 

Use behavioral science to develop an effective training toolkit. 

Since resource guarding depends on many individual factors, every dog will start at a slightly different place or require adapting elements of the training.  Many of our classes will provide exercises and training tools that can help you work with your resource guarder. Our adult foundations classes or the puppy foundations classes are great places to start working on these skills with expert support from our certified dog training professionals. Generally, we use a few different exercises from our training toolkit to help with resource guarding:

  • Teach a classically-conditioned ‘drop it’ to prevent conflicted emotional responses to releasing an item. 
  • Use pattern games to build trust and predictability into resources.
  • Work on recall so that we have a tool to move a dog away from an item and get their attention back on us. 
  • Desensitize and counter-condition with many repetitions in a variety of contexts to change the learned associations with different items.

Get support from our behavioral experts in group classes or with individual training programs. 

If you are concerned about your dog’s resource guarding, our certified dog trainers are happy to provide individualized behavioral support. Our trainers will evaluate the unique context, the behavioral patterns, and intensity of the behaviors to expertly tailor a training protocol to address your concerns. The behavioral consult will provide you with a toolkit of the most effective science-based methods to humanely address the guarding behaviors.   Sign up for Private Training with one of our certified trainers.

If you want to get a head start on preventing resource guarding from developing– check out this post on preventing resource guarding in puppies.

 

The science behind the article:
Jacobs, J. (2016). Understanding Canine Resource Guarding Behaviour: An Epidemiological Approach (Doctoral dissertation, University of Guelph). 
Jacobs, J. A., Pearl, D. L., Coe, J. B., Widowski, T. M., & Niel, L. (2017). Ability of owners to identify resource guarding behaviour in the domestic dog. Applied animal behaviour science, 188, 77-83. 
Jacobs, J. A., Coe, J. B., Widowski, T. M., Pearl, D. L., & Niel, L. (2018). Defining and clarifying the terms canine possessive aggression and resource guarding: A study of expert opinion. Frontiers in veterinary science, 5, 115.
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Help Your Dog Ride in the Car

Everyone is happy when our doggie co-pilots are comfortable.

Is your pup anxious in the car? Is it becoming increasingly more difficult to get them into the car and when you do, they can’t settle or relax, continue to pant and/or salivate, tremble and shake and whine or bark? This is common for dogs of all ages, and especially prevalent for those under the age of one.

 

Why is my dog upset about being in the car?

A few factors can contribute to a dog’s anxiety in the car: motion sickness, negative associations, fear of small and confined spaces, or in some cases underlying medical causes. Dogs under a year old are more prone to motion sickness due to the fact that their inner ears are not fully developed. Part of the inner ear, the vestibular system, controls a dog’s sense of balance and spatial orientation. Nausea can occur when the inner ear detects motion but the visual senses do not align. This ‘misalignment’ can also occur if the dog has a middle or inner ear infection. Nausea can also occur with dogs who do not have prior experience in a car. Their systems have not had opportunities to adjust to the spatial disorientation which can then cause disequilibrium. These uncomfortable physical sensations lead a dog to form the association that the car is a place that makes them feel sick.

 

Dogs can be very good at remembering negative experiences– often when we prefer they wouldn’t.

A negative association can form even if there was only one instance where the consequence from the ride was negative. This is called single-event learning. For many dogs, their first car rides may be to the veterinarian or to a new home where it is disorienting and can cause feelings of fear, nervousness, or feeling unsafe. This feeling can stick with them for a long time, even if the future places they are taken to are fun or pleasant.

Some dogs – due to underlying genetic reasons or prior experience – are also more averse to being confined in small spaces and have a more difficult time being separated from their people. This is exacerbated by the steps we often need to take to ensure their safety during the ride. Keeping a dog safe if a collision or a fast stop occurs often involves crating a dog, placing a barrier to decrease the space available to the dog, or attaching a seat belt connector to them. If the dog has not undergone desensitization to these changes, they can panic and develop anxiety.

 

How do we help new pups adjust to riding in a car? If my dog is already anxious in the car, what can I do to help?

Build your pup’s confidence with being separated from you.

Start the crate and/or barrier training in your home. The most important aspect with crate and barrier training is to not rush it.

Begin by feeding, praising and treating your dog for being in the crate without closing the door or when they are behind a barrier. All positive things should happen for your dog when in the crate or behind the barrier. With the crate or barrier, start closing the door for one or two seconds. If you have a crate that has holes (like one that is made of wire) or a barrier like a baby gate, treat your dog while the door is closed, then open the door with a release word like ‘Free’. When they come out, don’t treat. You want your dog to have the association that the crate is the location where all yummy things happen.

Initially, start with staying next to the crate or barrier and only once your pup is not showing signs of distress with the door being closed, start to add small increments of duration. For some, this may be a few more seconds, for others, it could be a couple minutes. Depending on how they do, you incrementally increase the duration of them behind the barrier. If they are doing well, begin adding distance away from your pup. If at any point in the process, your dog begins to whine or bark, wait until they have stopped for just a few seconds, and then quietly open the door to the crate or barrier.

Make the car into a fun and rewarding place!

Without going anywhere, treat, feed and play with your pup in the car. Once your dog is comfortable being in a stationary car for a few minutes, you’re ready to practice car trips. To begin helping your dog become comfortable with the motion of the car, take short and frequent trips. This can even just be driving around the block.

You will want the dog facing forward and it often helps to have the windows cracked for air flow. Make sure that most of the trips you take are to happy places and if the dog is eating, praise and treat your dog while on the trip.

If you find that even with the short trips, your dog is experiencing motion sickness, you may want to talk with your vet about possible help with alleviating the nausea.

 

How long will it take to get my dog comfortable in the car?

There are a few different factors that can contribute to the speed you can progress with your dog:

  • Age. The younger a dog is, the more difficult it can be as they typically don’t develop self- soothing abilities until around 4-months of age.
  • Secure attachment. Many dogs may have experienced some kind of trauma or fear in the past and may have less ability to emotionally regulate. When there is a history of prior neglect or abuse, dogs are more prone to become distressed when separated from their people.
  • Individual personality. Even within the same litter, some puppies will be more innately confident and independent while others may be less so.

Every dog will be different in how quickly they can adjust to car rides. Taking the time to build good experiences and progressing at the individual’s pace will help for a lifetime of good adventures together.

We want your dog to be happy and safe in the car. If you need further help, reach out with questions or book a private session to get personalized recommendations.

 

About the Author:

Amber Hardin is a IAABC-ADT (International Association Animal Behavior Consultants- Accredited Dog Trainer) and a certified Canine Good Citizen evaluator.  She has a master’s degree in conflict resolution and a graduate certificate in Animal Behavior.  As a lead-trainer, Amber teaches many of our Ahimsa classes and has experience working with dogs of all ages and backgrounds. You can learn from Amber directly through our extensive Puppy Class Series, Canine Good Citizen, and through our Growly Dog Evaluations. Amber also offers private training and can work with you to develop a training protocol for car anxiety and many other topics.

 

The science behind the post:

Lodrini, G., Bellini, V., Bevilacqua, A., Bova, S., Castagnoli, A., Olmo, C., & Gazzano, V. (2025). A Comprehensive Review of Canine Anxiety: Pathogenesis, Behavioral Outcomes, and Treatment. Dog behavior, 11(2).

Mariti, C., Ricci, E., Mengoli, M., Zilocchi, M., Sighieri, C., & Gazzano, A. (2012). Survey of travel‐related problems in dogs. Veterinary Record, 170(21), 542-542.

Skånberg, L., Gauffin, O., Norling, Y., Lindsjö, J., & Keeling, L. J. (2018). Cage size affects comfort, safety and the experienced security of working dogs in cars. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 205, 132-140

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Sharing About Resource Guarding

Resource guarding is an instinctual response to a perceived threat to a valuable item. Resource guarding refers to a behavioral response or pattern of behaviors. While some of these behaviors can be unnoticed, other aggressive behaviors are  problematic when directed at humans or other animals in the home. While experiencing aggressive resource guarding is a jarring experience, we have tools to prevent and stop resource guarding.

Positive reinforcement training can effectively resolve resource guarding by addressing the underlying root causes of the behavior using the latest research in learning and behavioral science.

 

If you are new to positive reinforcement training, many of our classes will provide exercises and training tools that can help you work with your resource guarder. Our adult foundations classes or the puppy foundations classes are great places to start working on these skills with expert support from our certified dog training professionals. Group classes provide structured spaces to learn skills and see how they can be applied to different situations.  

In addition to a structured class to introduce or refine positive reinforcement training techniques; we recommend these resources:

 

Finally, If you are concerned about your dog and want individualized support from certified training professionals, we can do that.

A behavioral expert will provide an at-home evaluation to see the resource guarding in context and then develop a unique training program to address your concerns. Following a consult, our certified trainers will provide you with a toolkit of the most effective science-based methods to humanely address the guarding behaviors. 

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Stop Barking

It can be hard to be the person with the barky dog in training class. With most problem behaviors, a good tactic is to manage the situation so that the behavior doesn’t pop up and then train the dog something else to do instead. So rather than barking at others, he could be staring adoringly at you, for example… We can’t expect that behavior while he’s surrounded by several new dogs, so one thing you can do is put up a visual barrier and then over time, make life more realistic by removing the barrier, bit by bit.

Here is a list of some of the things that we’ve found to help with barking. You don’t have to do all of them, but the more, the better.

  1. Teach your dog a Focus Trick, like Spin or Touch. When you see your dog getting antsy – staring at other dogs, ignoring you, etc., you can cue the Focus Trick. Reward with praise some times, other times with treats.
  2. Lots of exercise before class can help your barky dog calm down. A nice long walk is better than a ton of fetch.
  3. No food before class. (For the dog, that is. You might want to eat if it helps you feel calm!)
  4. We have the barriers that were mentioned above at the training center. The back section by the windows is somewhat easier on the dogs who like to bark at the other dogs in the class. Arriving first will help you get set up in the best spot.
  5. Busy dogs are quiet! Dogs will often stare at each other, and then bark, when the instructor is speaking to the class, because they’re not getting as much attention from their humans. Kongs with peanut butter, bully sticks, Bouncy Bones, and other food-based toys can make a big difference. Bring a variety of chew toys to distract your dog in class. Try to give her the toy before she starts barking. If she barks, get her attention back using her name or a tap on the behind, ask for a sit, then give the toy. Tug toys may also work for some active tuggers, but that can get too loud, too, so use tug in moderation during class.
  6. If the dog is little, you might scoop him up to sit on your lap during the explanations. There’s no point in getting him all worked up if we can help it. Calm, relaxed massage can help small and big dogs alike. As with the toys, try this approach before the barking starts.
  7. There’s a Dog Appeasing Pheromone collar that can keep them calm around town and in class. Many vets sell them.
  8. “Doggie Calm” is aromatherapy that can help with barking. We sell that at the training center and online.
  9. In class (and elsewhere), click/treat for calm behavior, mostly attention to you, but catch all of those good decisions where he was thinking about barking, but doesn’t. When you see him thinking of barking, which happens often when a new dog walks in the room, say his name or “shhhh” and click/treat for the one second of silence that produces.
  10. Teach a cue to signal quiet time. This takes time, so you’ll need to do the other things on this list in the meantime. Say “shhh” with your finger to your lips. When your dog is silent for one second, click and treat. Over time, start to require two, three, ten, or more seconds before clicking. At home, if the dog returns to barking, say “Too Bad!” and give her a time out in another room or a crate (if she’s fine with her crate). After one minute of silence, bring her back out. We have a big crate at the training center that you are welcome to use for time outs.
  11. Bringing a rug for them to sit on can make dogs feel more at ease. Of course, that’s what human laps are for if your dog fits. ????
  12. Bring two people, so one can work on keeping your dog quiet and the other can listen to the instructor.*
  13. If you’re alone, learn to multi-task in class. Ask your dog for behaviors he already knows well, like lying down, targeting your hand, or tricks. Please use hand signals instead of words, though, or your voice will distract others, instead of your dog’s barking!
  14. Recommended Reading: Dogwise books on barking
  15. If all else fails, you can put your dog in the car and come back to class to get the instruction. Work on “shhh” and attention to you for another week and your dog should be able to come back the next time!

*This may not be possible due to pandemic restrictions, if applicable.

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How to Teach Your Dog Loose Leash Walking

If your dog pulls on the leash, then the walk is neither healthy for the dog nor relaxing for you.  It’s also a sign that you and your dog are not paying attention to each other — it takes two to pull.

Pulling on leash is very rewarding to a dog.  What do we mean by this? The action of pulling doesn’t feel so bad at the time and it gets them where they need to go.  Any behavior as rewarding as pulling on the leash takes a lot of commitment to fix. Keep in mind that a dog that’s beside you on a tight leash is still pulling!

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Dog Relaxation: Training a Puppy or High-Energy Dog

With our young or high energy dogs we are often faced with the challenges of hyperactive behaviors such as excessive biting, chewing, jumping, destruction, and vocalization.  Most of these behaviors can be attributed to lack of physical and mental exercise, unintentionally reinforcing undesirable behaviors, and missed opportunities to reinforce calm behaviors.  Training calm behaviors is another important component to helping dogs learn to relax. When dogs are unable to properly relax, they find things to do in order to exert their energy and to occupy their minds…many of which can drive dog parents crazy.

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Marley to Lassie in 7 days – How to Be the Center of Your Dog’s Universe

Does your dog pull on leash or not come when called? Do you wish your dog would listen more? Follow our daily plan below to jump-start your dog training. Your dog won’t actually be Lassie yet, but you will have a lot more focus than you do right now. Focus is the essential foundation before you can train anything else.

For this exercise, we use either a clicker or a word, like “yes,” to mark instant that your dog earns a reward. Every time you mark (click or say, “yes,”) you owe a your dog a tangible reward, like a food treat or toy. (Read more about clicker training). When you mark a behavior, give your dog the reward within a few seconds.

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