December 19, 2016
What DVD would you recommend to help me learn how to deal with a dog that has crazy resource guarding habits?
Full Question:
What DVD would you recommend to help me learn how to deal with a dog that has crazy resource guarding habits? Everything I've read says it's one of the hardest behavior issues to correct and most dogs will never be corrected. (?!) I have two Australian Shepherds, an unaltered male and an altered female. The female is the one with the problem. They're always crated separately for feeding so that has never been an issue and thankfully, she doesn't guard people or show aggression towards people who take what she's guarding. She guards anything she perceives as food. She will even guard an orange peel, something she absolutely hates! She guards objects she doesn't even like, like the E-collar she wore after being spayed or toys with a squeaker (hates the sound so won't touch the toy unless another animal goes near it). In general, she's a very nervous and fearful dog. She's good with basic obedience, other than just ok recall out in the open but great recall in a controlled area. 
Cindy's Answer:
You are correct, resource guarding is a tough thing to work on especially when the dog guards so many different items. You may never fix it, but you can certainly manage the dog and contain her in a safe space like an ex-pen when you can't manage her. Our management video may give you some ideas that are helpful.
With a dog like this, I would manage her every move and teach her a command such as Leave It or Yuck that means "whatever you have is now off limits". Many dogs have guarding tendencies; they just vary in intensity.
Since you already have a recall trained, I would just fine tune it and work on calling her to you when there are items that could present a problem. Set up scenarios with extremely low value items at first. If you haven't conditioned the e-collar for obedience work (you say you used it after she was spayed) I would do that first. I would want this dog to understand Leave It and Come under any circumstances.
I think our recall video would be the best choice, it also covers e-collar use for the recall as well.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
With a dog like this, I would manage her every move and teach her a command such as Leave It or Yuck that means "whatever you have is now off limits". Many dogs have guarding tendencies; they just vary in intensity.
Since you already have a recall trained, I would just fine tune it and work on calling her to you when there are items that could present a problem. Set up scenarios with extremely low value items at first. If you haven't conditioned the e-collar for obedience work (you say you used it after she was spayed) I would do that first. I would want this dog to understand Leave It and Come under any circumstances.
I think our recall video would be the best choice, it also covers e-collar use for the recall as well.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
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