How I helped Puma with her severe Resource Guarding issues
Say he has something he isn't supposed to. Like a child's toy or a sock. How do we get that from him?
Wouldn't trading reinforce it by telling him "Keep stealing and you'll get what you want"?
Hi HollyH,
Very good question you ask:
" Wouldn't trading reinforce it by telling him "Keep stealing and you'll get what you want?"
Seems like this would be the case, right? I wrestled with that myself when I first started working with my Puma pup, who loves nothing more than to steal my socks or her dad's shirt!
I figured out in Puma's case it has something to do with wanting something personal of ours, that smells like us. She doesn't eat the items or destroy them at all, she just wants to be with them for comfort or closeness....and then protect them like crazy! OY! Kinda a
compliment that she loves us so much that she wants to be surrounded by our things, our scent, but then again--it can lead to dangerous consequences so it has to be worked out. Complex, huh?
But it isn't the case. The mission is to teach our RG dogs that we are not there to "steal" from them or "take" from them or "betray" them by stealing their treasures. Once they realize that we are not a
threat to them, it won't be an issue. It doesn't happen overnight--especially if the dog has been rehearsing this behavior over and over again! My Puma is much, much better like I said before, but we see her RG flare up occasionally at times, usually due to other stressors.
I started working on her with this by teaching a strong
leave it and
drop it, by playing fun games with food and praise over and over and over again! In many different places, public and at home. Anywhere I could. In parking lots with food trash. At my shop with customers helping out in the game. I made it super fun and highly rewarding. These commands or cues or tricks or whatever you would like to call them, they can be the basis for working with a RG dog.
So when Puma is in RG mode with a sock sitting in her corner of the kitchen on her blankie growling at me as I approach, I do a bunch of things...until she finally
willing releases the stolen treasure (sock)...
1)I say "Hi Puma" every time as cue that we will be working this
together and good things are coming her way (yummy food bites)
2) I go near her, r
especting her growl as she is telling me she is
worried, and I drop tons of small pieces of
very high value food near her (cheese, meat, chicken, hot dogs, livers, etc) but at a safe enough distance that she will not ever bite me. (RG dogs can bite) Usually I prefer to stay far enough away that she is NOT growling at me and then toss her the treats from that distance.
Growling= worried or stressed or uncomfortable
If she continues to growl I may speak softly to her and say "Hey, Puma no worries, I'm not coming to take your things" or something like that. Helps to calm both her and me!
I do this often, randomly, everytime she RG. Becomes standard practice. I do it --say the cue, then drop the treats, then walk away. Rinse and repeat.
Note:I don't ask
anything of her, she does not need to do
anything at this stage of the RG training!!!!! I am just wanting to change her mindset over time to
Human (me) approaches= good things will happen.
This is where most people mess up! They expect too much too soon.
3)in the beginning when Puma's RG was ultra scary and threatening, I did not feel safe to enter into her room to do this. So I stood across from the baby gate and put some yummy peanut butter on a long fly swatter over the gate and did the routine!! Worked well, kept my distance and kept her from biting me!
Puma had very severe RG issues early on at 3 months, poor lil doggie. How horrible to be so worried as a young puppy, right? She was the runt....who knows why? Also when I first got her she "got" a bird and I freaked out (eeeww creepy) and I stole it from her. I am quite sure she has never forgotten this. In hindsite, I should have done it differently...but I had never had a dog "get" a bird....... live and learn, right?
4)Then when we got better together and it was safer, I increased my distance gradually. Still the same routine.
5)Then I worked on playing the drop it/or leave it games with her in the situation. It worked well for us.
6) Eventually she learned that if she gives me the prize, I trade her for other valuable items. And she gets to have fun while doing so.
6.5) Eventually the goal is that she never ever needs to worry about my coming near her when she has anything, right? We are getting there, slowly but surely.
7)
The other day she actually let me take a super high value prized chewie right out of her mouth on the couch. No growls whatsoever! I gave her some of my hamburger from my dinner, then gave the chewie back to her. All was A+, huge difference from her prior RG.
8)
I still have to keep practicing so that her RG issues don't reappear, but for the most part, it is so much easier for both of us, since we both know the drill!
9) On the occasions when her Rg comes out strong it is usually due to being overtired so it is much harder for her to release the object. (Think cranky toddler!)
SO at times, when it is very late at night and we all need to go to bed, we do distract her with something to eat or a toy or whatever.. and then go retrieve the
stolen item when she is safely in our bedroom and cannot watch us do it. By the time she jumps in bed with me, she has completely forgotten all about it and is back to snuggling me in bed.
Rg is a trip, and not a fun one! But it can get so much better if you are patient and understanding!
Hope this helps. I may have left some stuff out--it is late, but I wanted to try to offer you some help if I could