I adopted this dog in Oct, so he's only been with me about 7 mos. He is 4 yrs old, and was stray, so no known history. I don't know that he was ever tested for resource guarding. So when I brought him home I just ran him thru the whole gammut of being sure I could take his water, toys, food, etc and have never had an issue...not once. My mother was here and he never had an issue with her taking stuff. If I left the cat food down, and he went over to it (my mistake) I could take it, no issue. Found a bone out on a walk, I took it out of his mouth, no issue. In my mind, we are 6 mos into this, this is a done deal.

Then I gave him a marrow bone last weekend. When I first gave it to him he didn't seem to know what to do with it. He licked it and left it lie. So I picked it up and held it and he happily licked it, no issue. Left it with him while I was working in the yard, and I started to notice that he was becoming obsessed with it, even though he wasn't chewing on it. He was in the backyard, if a dog barked in the neighborhood, he would pounce and pick up the bone and just hold it looking around for what he was protecting it from. I was like-- we have an issue. I went in the house and got his favorite canned chicken and his leash. When I walked towards him he knew what was coming because he was lying and hunkered over that bone was stiff and would not look at me. I tried to give him chicken, no dice. I dropped chicken right on his paws and he was so tight that he would flinch when it hit him. This is the first time that I have ever felt that there was something I couldn't do to him, like spin his collar on his neck to clip the leash. I made a slip noose with the leash and tried to drop it over his head, but when he saw it he pulled back out of it, snatched the bone, growled (first time he's ever growled at me), and ran for the deck. I was now p*****! He was trying to find someplace on the deck to hide. I pulled all the chairs away, blocking both staircases and leaving him exposed, and his whole look was changing. He still held the bone, but he was looking around much more "worried" knowing this wasn't going his way. Just in his demeanor, I knew I had the upper hand, so I clipped on his leash. He doesn't have a "drop" or "leave it" command (my mistake!). I could hold the end of the bone but he would not release it. I basically out-waited him because I knew he couldn't hold it too long. It took him about 2 minutes to put it down on the ground. I went to take him into the house, and he didn't want to move, when I gave him a tug on the leash he snapped at the leash. I think he surprised himself, too. He got the hardest correction I have ever given him, yanking him to his feet. Once he was 5 feet from that bone his attitude did 180 turnaround, and he went back to happy-go-lucky.

He hasn't had the bone since. We've been working with the everlast treat ball on a "drop" command. He's had no issue, but he never had an issue with the treat ball with me. I chose the treat ball to work with because he watches that to make sure the cat doesn't get it, it's the closest thing I could find.

Do I reintroduce the bone? How, without getting into another battle? Obviously, he'll be wearing a leash next time!

Thanks!
Nancy

Nancy, hopefully you will get some good responses to this; just as a suggestion, next time separate your post with paragraphs. A long post with no paragraphs may get ingored just because it's more difficult to read...

If it were me, I would not give marrow bones if it caused the dog to react this way.

You've been lucky so far, in that you have been able to take items directly from your dog without issue. You need to teach a 'drop it', or 'leave it' command and use it in those instances that you described.

If you intend to take something away from the dog, it's only fair that the dog has some expectation of what you are doing. On a high value item like a bone, I will give the command and then trade for something else, once the dog drops the item I want.

PS...Nice looking dog! An Akita?

Well, it looks like you have two options: No more marrow bones, or a huge amount of training sessions. If the dog considers the sound of a dog in the distance a threat, then he's got a pretty intense issue. The dog couldn't even take a break from guarding enough to chew the bone! So no reasonable person would think any less of you if you just decided to nix the marrow bones for this dog.

However, if you really want to work on this, you're on the right track with the drop it. You can either punish the dog for not outing, or you can make the dog think it's in his best interest to drop it (which gives you a more reliable dog, IMO).

So my suggestion is to make sure you're offering the dog a trade. And what you're giving the dog should be of higher value than what you're taking away. For example, if you ask him to drop a ball, reward him with a piece of steak or something.

For some dogs, the ball is a higher value than the steak, so make sure you tailor the rewards to fit your dog's particular desires. It's critical that what you offer as a reward is better than what you're taking away. So what to do when you have worked your way up to taking away his highest reward, the marrow bone?

I would start out with an already chewed bone and trade with a fresh one. Then move up to trading a small fresh one with a larger fresh one. A frozen one for a thawed one, etc., you get the idea.

The only way this is going to work is if you start out small, GO SLOWLY before you up the difficulty, and take lots of time doing this. If you get greedy and rush it, you'll set yourself way back and possibly put yourself in harm's way. You have plenty of time to do this, so take advantage of that fact and allow your dog to be conditioned to this game...a game that your dog should always think he 'wins.'

Whether or not you want to work on this or just get rid of the marrow bones, something to consider is that sometimes people accidentally cause resource guarding where there was none before. If your dog has learned that you're always taking things away from him, with him getting nothing in return, then everything may be well and good until the day he finds something (a marrow bone, for example) that he's willing to duke over. Then he's thinking, "Not THIS time, you don't."

In general, when you give your dog a treat, bone, food...whatever...let him eat it in peace. Control the environment so that he can't be threatened by anyone (including the cat who could get seriously hurt if he's in the wrong place at the wrong time). Taking food away from the dog should be the exception, not the rule. And a solid 'drop it and trade' game is the way to handle that exception, IMO.

And even once you've gotten this under control, don't get complacent. Keep it fresh and keep it safe.

Good luck with this. I know it's a frustrating thing to deal with.

Great post Amber, as usual.

And nice to see you on the forum again!

~Natalya

I like the hierarchy of rewards idea. But please, don't give any dog a frozen marrow bone, or any forzen bones. They can cause the dog to crack or break a tooth.

 Quote: john minaldo

But please, don't give any dog a frozen marrow bone, or any forzen bones. They can cause the dog to crack or break a tooth.

Actually, ANY kind of marrow bone (frozen, old/dry, even 100% fresh) poses the risk of cracked or broken teeth to a dog who is an aggressive chewer. Some dog's chew "lightly" however and are more interested in cleaning these bones, rather than taking them apart completely - for these dogs, the risk lowers. All depends on the dog.

I personally will never give my current dog another marrow bone, or any bone from a large ungulate mammal, since he broke a tooth on one last year and my x-mas present to him was a consequent root canal...

Now back to the thread on resource guarding...

~Natalya

Perhaps, but be aware that frozen bones are particularly hazardous.

I've personally never had a problem with marrow bones in any way, but I do know they happen. However, the risk, to me, is low compared to the alternatives. But at any rate, I suggested trading the frozen bone for the fresh one so the dog would have minimal chew time with the frozen bone if there are any concerns in that respect.

Hi Natalya!

Thanks for the tips. Amber, great suggestions. You hit on exactly what was my concern-- what do you trade with when he has the highest value object (bone)? Great suggestions on what/how to swap. Thanks.

The dog is quite soft-mouthed so I think it's unlikely he'd crack a tooth. I would love for him to be able to have bones, IF he can deal with it. We'll see how it goes.

He has shown zero guarding with his food. I don't really believe in messing with their food once you have given it to them, but I have done so enough to be sure I could take something away if I needed to. When I approach when he's eating he looks up and wags his tail. When he didn't have a drop command, I used an "Ah!" interrupter if he has something he shouldn't (like when I left the cat food down by mistake), and then give him a treat from his treat jar. I'll heed the warning to be careful not to cause resource guarding.

Lynn- thanks for the compliments,yes, he's an Akita, approx 4 yrs, from breed rescue.