[Dailydrool] Help with night time behavior

[Dawn Gardner]

Contrary to some popular dog mythology, guarding resources is a natural dog
behavior, and perfectly normal in dog circles.  Unfortunately, it is not
considered so great by we humans.  How you deal with it depends on the dog's
age and history.  If the dog is older, and this behavior has just started,
please go see your vet.  It could very well be a medical problem.

 

Behaviorists now recognize that most aggression issues are caused by
anxiety, not because the dog is "dominant".   I very rarely meet a dog that
is truly status seeking - it just isn't logical for them to be from an
ecological perspective. If we compare them with wolf packs we know that
there isn't that much strife within the pack because the whole purpose of
the pack is to help each other survive.  In addition, dogs are behaviorally
more like adolescent wolves than adults, and are therefore far less
aggressive by nature.   Behaviorists pretty much agree that even comparing
our dogs with wolves is a mistake.  Many of the genetic behaviors in wolves
are completely absent from dogs, but some are still present.

 

For some reason you have become such a valuable resource that her genetics
have kicked in.  This is the part of the dog that says that something about
this person or object is necessary for survival, and I must keep someone
else from taking it from me.  

 

A comfy spot is also worth guarding to a lot of dogs.  A polite dog will not
try to take a resource away from another dog.  It is natural for even pups
to guard their food, and dogs with healthy social cues will back off and
wait.  Some dogs, whether by poor socialization or because we trained it out
of them, no longer read social cues properly, and therefore no longer
respond to them.  

 

So my recommendation is that you avoid the behavior (esp on the bed) by
removing the resource (the comfy spot) until you've started a good
desensitization program with your dog.  You need to work on teaching her
that having the other dog near her resources is not just okay, but it is a
good thing.  I realize you can't remove yourself, so that's a challenge.

 

Jean Donaldson, one of the top names in dog behavior among professional
trainers, has a great little book about resource guarding called "Mine!"  It
is available on Amazon.com.  Patricia McConnell is also probably the top
behaviorist in the nation when it comes to dog aggression, and  her website
is www.patriciamcconnell.com .  You might check to see if she has anything
on her blog about it, but pretty much anything McConnell does is worth
reading / listening to / watching, and she's good at making it enjoyable and
even entertaining.   You may recognize her name - she was the expert on
behavior that did the radio show "Calling All Pets" for several decades.  

 

Dawn Gardner

Behavioral Consultant & Trainer

Happy Hound Pet Services

336-432-8715

www.happyhoundpetservices.com

 

APDT Member #74988

 

 

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