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November 25, 2020

My 8 week old Malinois puppy won’t retrieve a ball and is showing signs of possession. Should I be concerned about a potential resource guarding issue?

Full Question:
I have an 8 week old Malinois who I plan on doing IGP with. I introduced a ball today to see his retrieving behavior in a small space with a small throw. He loved the ball but he immediately grabbed it, lay down facing away from me and started chewing it. It looks to me he is very possessive over it (you could see it in the eyes and him facing away). No amount of encouraging would make him move or come near me (I've never taken things away from him only redirected to not encourage guarding).

I introduced an identical ball and he didn't care either. The only way I could get the ball away without stealing (which I don't want to do) was to pretend to be interested in something else. But this doesn't help the retrieve.

Should I focus on his recall first and then use a strong recall to retrieve or bribe? But I'm not sure how this will help with the possessiveness. I tried a ball on a string to keep a hold on it and he tried to run away with it. Should I be concerned over a potential guarding issue?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
At the age of 8 weeks, I don't worry about retrieving. Sure, it's nice if they naturally do it but many pups show this kind of behavior. If you haven't already done so, I'd watch the Raising Your Puppy video with Michael Ellis. It's about 7 hours of info on how to set you and your puppy up for a successful working partnership.

I work on engagement, food throw recalls and don't start teaching any retrieving games yet with possessive puppies. I can always teach them to bring things back more easily once I have the engagement and relationship going. I give my puppies toys to chew on and play with in the ex pen but I'd keep balls/tugs and things like that away from him for now. I use food for all my puppy foundations.
User Response:
Hi Cindy,

Thank you very much for your reply and I will certainly look into that. It is reassuring to hear that from you also :)

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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