[Dailydrool] Conley and Doc

[Jennifer Martin]

Resource guarding is such a pain. what I find really frustrating is in all
the book I have read, they deal with it from the standpoint of dog has item
and guards it from human. That is most definitely not the problem at our
house. The number one problem is that Bugsey thinks I am HIS. Sometimes he
gets where he starts to guard everything else in site, but this is much
more predictable and easier to work with at our house. When that happens,
it usually means he is over stimulated and he needs a nap. A nap mean going
in his crate and sleeping for a couple of hours. It is amazing to me how
much that helps his frame of mind. That is why I was so reluctant to have
him sleep with Browyn. I was afraid that he wouldn't find his naps as
restorative if he had to sleep with her. Fortunately that has not been the
case.

So, I handle a lot of it by making sure the routine is not screwed up too
much and that everyone gets at least two naps a day. Browyn will not
challenge Bugsey when he turns into a green eyed monster...ever. She just
runs away. Beauford on the other hand has less tolerance. He will ignore
Bugsey most of the time, but if he is tired and cranky, he is more likely
not to put up with Bugsey's crap. That means blood shed.

What I do when it is mostly a fighting over me situation: I don't know if
it is Conley or Doc or both guarding Bev. In my case it is solely Bugsey.
The other two like me well enough but they don't live and breathe by the
attention I give them. When Bugsey starts guarding me in the house, I turn
around and give him the cold shoulder. I do not make eye contact with him.
I do not talk to him. I do not pet him. I usually set a timer for 10
minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes, I call him to me. We do a few
obedience commands. He gets treats and I love on him profusely. Then he
gets a nap. When he wakes up, just the two of us go do something special
together. It can be a walk. We can watch a TV show together. Sometimes I
cook in the kitchen while the other two are outside and just Bugsey is
inside with me and I talk to him and share appropriate parts of what I am
cooking. Is the boy spoiled rotten? Probably, but this is how I deal with
it.

Don't get me wrong, I do special things with the other two as well. It just
doesn't seem to have to be as scheduled as Bugsey. For the record, Bugsey
is neutered. Beauford is neutered and Browyn is spayed. Bev is right. I
don't think the problem is so much that Conley and Doc aren't neutered.

I used to have two females that tried to kill each other on a regular
basis. I found with them as well that it was predominately an issue of time
away from each other. Banshee had wicked food aggression and had to be fed
in a room where she couldn't see the other two eat. Bubbles was the top
dog. She felt the need to remind Banshee of that all the time and was in
her face all the time. We had huge vet bills from the fights until we
started leaving Banshee in her room after she ate until she asked to be let
out. It seemed that being able to sit in that room all by herself recharged
her batteries and she could just walk away when Bubbles reminded her that
she was low man on the totem pole. If she didn't get that time alone,
Banshee had to retaliate. My biggest regret with them is that it took me 4
years to figure this out.

All dogs are different and the dynamics in a household with multiple dogs
is different, but I am hoping maybe some sees some suggestion in this post
and can glean some tidbit that will help them.

Jennifer with Beauford, Bugsey, and Browyn the Fairy Princess
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