Hi, I recently saw a few 14 week old puppies on petfinder.com.They were listed as having been partially evaluated by the group doing the courtesy posting, with a warning that they may be "resourse guarders". They are supposed to be Springer/Shepherd mixes that will be 80 lbs?? Anyway, I found this term interesting and was hoping someone could fill me in.

Hey Jeanette, it is a fancy name for food aggression or toy aggression. It can also include access to a particular member of the pack.

Blitz has a resource agression issue with other dogs. It can be ugly. Another dog can simply walk past his "bubble" of space too closely and he will hackle and show teeth. If the other dog is truely just walking by and does not see the warning, he disciplines them.

This is controled by changing the environment. No toys around. I don't leave toys out anyway- but to him a soda bottle is a toy, so sometimes things happen when you do not expect it. I have had problems in the spring when the snow melts and he finds a tiny piece of a toy. He will guard it. Nevermind the fact that the other dog can't even SEE the darn thing..

This is something that I can control if I am present, but not something that I think you can remove from the dog. Strangely enough he has no issues with giving up toys or food with me, so it is not always something that will be directed at humans, but it can be.

Depending on the acutal manifestation of the resource guarding it could simply mean the dogs would be best off in a single dog home, or it could mean the dog has some bigger issues like food guarding.

Thanks Deanna! That makes perfect sense to me, I just had never heard that term before.

Interesting about Blitz, I can't picture him being bossy like that, although I know you had said he can be tough! I just found him to be such a gentleman, and he was so great with the puppy...although he was busy swimming!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The puppies that were described as resoure guarders will most likely be adopted into the first available home. They were on the website of the group that I was the adoption counselor for last year, but only as a courtesy posting. So...they won't be involved in screening the applicants. I guess that's why they included the notation about the behavior issue.

Well, thanks again for the info, you learn something new everyday, right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />