Resource Guarding – What’s in a Word, or Two?
- Cindy Benson
- Jun 1
- 5 min read
As a dog trainer, my goal is to protect dogs and empower owners on their behalf. In order to improve the quality of an owner’s dog’s life, I first need to be able to communicate accurately with the dog’s owner. We have a common language, right? Well...
Susan Friedman, PhD, speaks of learning through a cultural fog. It is a valid point and deserves strong consideration. The situation I run uphill about the most often is how words like “resource guarding” make people feel based on what they have read about them on Facebook. Even for me, when I hear these words, I have an !!*! emotional response because of my frustration with this truth. I can address and change my response once I become aware of it. When I do, my educated, logical mind looks to what the dog is showing he needs based on his stress around a resource, and can help the owner create a training plan that provides this.
Never have I read on Facebook a comment that looks at it this way. People want to shut this behavior down, going so far as to attribute it to “syndromes”. Littermate syndrome is a typically offered culprit; get rid of that second dog, and all will be well. In the descriptions of available dogs on these pages, an owner will state their dog “has resource guarding”; dogs don’t have behavior, they do behavior.
So, how does the relationship with resources work?
Every day of my life, I do things that I enjoy, and I protect my ability to continue to do so. Because I have decent social skills, I can usually ask for what I need in a way that meets societal norms, and I can set my life up so that living this kind of life is reasonably easy. If resources I care about are threatened, such as the loss of a job or an issue with my health, I may become fearful and/or grumpy. I can change my own circumstances to correct the situation to some degree; dogs can’t, so they ask us to.
This graphic provides a visual about how emotions can work, for dogs and people! Because dogs can’t tell us how they feel, we often don’t know how solidly a dog is hanging out in the “safe and happy” zone until something happens that pushes them toward one of these thresholds.
So, back to resource guarding – thank you, dog, for letting me know something is off for you! This is a call to action for an owner to better meet the needs of the dog. This behavior is an opportunity rather than something that is “bad.” Dogs that have the resources they need are easier to live with than dogs in conflict, so the way to shut down resource guarding is to take a look at what can be changed in the dog’s life so that he is more comfortable.
Subtle behavior changes need to be enough
Remember the canine ladder of aggression graphic. This ladder has ten steps. Most owners start to become aware of a shift in their dog’s relationship to something the dog cares about at the eight’s step, in my experience. Take a look at how many ways the dog has attempted to convey to his human his changing response to his circumstance prior to heading up this ladder. They must wonder just how long it will take them to train us to do better! Further, their circumstance are entirely in the control and creation of the owner; dogs have no choice in the matter, so who needs to change something?
I will never understand all I need to know about why my dogs do the things they do, but I get better at it every day. I study my dogs: every day, always, in every situation. My goal is to notice change at step #1. I think of this as the dog being able to whisper to me rather than needing to shout, as is true when a dog needs to move up this ladder to control something in his life that needs to change.
What students/owners hear when I ask questions about resource “guarding”
Owners who are not students in my Novice to Experts online course usually want to know how to stop this behavior. Students in my course often recognize that their own behavior has contributed to their dog’s behavior. It still comes down to trying to stop the behavior, but now it is about how to meet the needs of the dog rather than blaming the dog. Often, though, for owners or students whose education has brought them to a point where they see this, along comes the guilt. “Why didn’t I know better, do better, why didn’t I see this sooner?” Welcome to the real world, because I am right there with you.
As an experienced trainer, I know quite a lot, but I don’t know all of it. Guilt is not helpful, so let it go! If you are around your dog when you feel guilty, your dog will see the caution in your body language and is likely to take on that he caused it or contributed to it.
What can be done?
Take a nice big cleansing breath and forgive yourself. Then, from the top of your head and down to your toes, shake off your tension and be tall and smile. Dogs know what smiles mean! Go out and interact with your dog from where you currently are in your education, and do better. The right time to train is always right now.
When a dog appears to be hanging out in the “safe and happy” zone, recognize that until the dog heads toward one of these thresholds you may not be aware of how dead-centered your dog is feeling. Watch for very subtle shifts in behavior and see them as opportunities for you to change something and see how the dog looks then.
Many, many “problem” behaviors originate right here. A common reason dogs begin to chase or harass livestock is frustration. I have a catch phrase: Tuesday at 2:00.
Said differently, why, all of a sudden out of the blue, is my good dog going off the rails??!! When this happens, I recognize that the behavior isn’t sudden at all and that, in truth, I have been missing a lot in my dog’s subtle attempts to communicate a need.
Lastly, and the reason for this post, is that resource guarding is a good thing because it presents an opportunity for an owner to do better. When I ask students or training clients if they have seen any shift in the dog’s behavior around resources, it is never a bad thing. Conditioning a different emotional response in the dog to resources is one of the easiest things to accomplish as a trainer. It is all about improving the life skills the dog has in his options for how to communicate. This should always come from a place of comfort for the dog. Can you see how aversive tactics with the dog will make this behavior more prevalent and lead to additional stress behaviors?
Learned aggression/redirected aggression are common behaviors of “failed” LGDs. This can be prevented! Learn to do better. Reach out, I am happy to help.
Would you like to know how to train this way? Learn how to make informed training decisions; this course will show you how:
Thank you! this is so interesting . I am learning through your website and posts that even those of us who do not have LGDs will solidify our relationships with our pets when we are hyper aware of what they are telling us ....when they start whispering and before they become frustrated with our "not listening" .