Meet Juliet!
Juliet is one beautiful lady! Unfortunately she was found abandoned and severely malnourished on the side of a road. Unfortunately, while Juliet is living in a wonderful and loving home, what she learned on the road (food guarding) was a hard lesson to unlearn.
Shortly after adopting Juliet her new family discovered that she was protecting her food. This is understandably a serious problem which was compounded by having a young child in the house. If not first managed, then actively trained - one wrong move to create a very bad situation– especially if it happened when young children were visiting!
Before we got started on a training plan we checked to make sure that the environment was safe. We suggested tethers and baby gates in various locations throughout the house but especially near the dining room. If Juliet came to the dinner table trying to scrounge for food her owners could simply Ask her to go to her bed (reward her when she did), or Refocus her and physically take her to bed (tether her there) and rewarding her for "staying" by giving her a special bone/toy.
We also recommended using tethers for the food guarding training as well. By working with Juliet near the end of her tether her owners could remain safe if anything happened. Next, we suggested hand feeding Juliet, playing Taking Treats Gently, as well as, sharing bones with her (low value at first) and practicing Leave It and giving her fantastic treats when she complied – of course giving her the bone back!
We wanted Juliet to learn that she was now safe and would be cared for without having to hunt or guard food. However, this is not an easy behavior to work on without help.
If you have a dog who you suspect is getting possessive over food, toys, bones or even the couch, please call Zen Dog Training to get help. More information about Resource Guarding can be found on Zen Dog Training Online, as well as homework sheets for Ask, Refocus, Leave it, and Taking Treats Gently.
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