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.
