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?

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?

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 :)