Resource Guarding

[Paumanok]

You can see on a slow replay that her tail is between her legs when she lunges the first time as well.

 

[Hector]

Karen that is a new bowl and a new place, which is part of what makes the whole thing so weird. There were 0 issues over food until this weekend and the very first time I tried working with her on it, it ended up like this.

Have you been doing the exercise where she is on leash and you guide/release her to food bowl? She eats. You say out, guide her away from food bowl. Repeat.

Like shown in this video

[video=youtube;ZWyAA-7hedo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWyAA-7hedo[/video]

If you have not done this, I suggest you start. Also, KEEP THE DOG ON A LEASH for control and safety reasons. See how you needed to grab the leash at the end because the dog didn't listen? Unless the dog is solid on kennel/crate command and will not attack you, you need a leash.

Also - I don't know why the dog went into resource guarding mode because 1. the dog wasn't even excited over the food (maybe that's just her) 2. dog didn't scarf the food down nor did she go after the kibble that dropped all over 3. she didn't break any of the wait commands. It looks like she redirected into resource guarding mode.

Some things I noticed:

1. At the start of the video - she's pretty relaxed. Once you've instructed her to mat - 1 lip lick and 2 yawns (signs of stress - might be out of excitement or maybe nerves)

2. Not once did she wag her tail over the food or while going to the food. When she was waiting for food and doing paw, etc. her body looks alert/attentive - seems normal

3. Once the food on plate exercise began - she became uncomfortable. Note position of tail - tense and close to body (sign of nervousness).
When she was done and came back to you and you told her to sit - she created space.

4. At 2:33, why did the lady say you won that one? The dog is confused. I don't think she understands the release word or does she? If she does, she might be telling you that she's uncomfortable going there.

5. Then comes the startle which comes the biting after 1 more plate exercise. It looked like she was going for the hand you startled her with?

It's hard to tell what the trigger is.

Some things to consider such as yelling and clapping when the dog is already in a heightened state of mind should be controlled. It usually escalates the situation. You want to be calm and redirect the dog. You gave multiple commands and none of them were followed through. Before you redirect them to a down or a kennel, you need to make damn sure the dog knows it and can perform it on a day to day basis no matter what the dog is doing (training sessions/proofing). I'm not sure maybe because the other lady was in the way so she couldn't go to her kennel or what, but it didn't look like she tried too hard to kennel (one look to lady and she sat).

and at 4:54 with the lunge growl - that's pretty scary - don't know how to make of it other than a challenge that she is being controlled or she has a negative association with such set up or maybe there's something not right in the head. I would have commanded her to a down (more submissive position) - if she doesn't comply, then just step on the leash.


I'm thinking this whole feeding thing is very stressful for her and she doesn't have a way of dealing with it and then it builds up and then she lashes out OR there's something not right in the head.

If I were you, I'd go back to basics and do a crap load of basic ground work exercises: kennel, sit, down, stay, come, place.

 

[Hector]

And yes you can over do it with training and sometimes that backfires. It's important to listen to your dog and that comes with reading their body language correctly. You might think she was doing well this whole time with the food exercises, but there were probably subtle signals you missed and maybe there were too much playing around with food exercises also. Maybe leave the food exercises alone for now and feed her in her kennel.

 

[Hector]

You can see on a slow replay that her tail is between her legs when she lunges the first time as well.

You can also tell from her bite when she bites you on the leg that it's not a full mouth grip. She's biting with her front teeth - signs of a fear biter. Notice too, she lunged at you when you backed up - another sign of fear biting.

 

[karennj]

I think eating in the kennel for a bit is a great idea and gives everyone a chance to relax. Like I said, with my one dog, I just do management instead of training as it is the least stressful method for everyone. It is easier to do that when it is dog to dog though. It becomes a little more tricky when it is dog to person (especially when kids could be around/visiting). Also, it is very easy to critique something after it has happened. It is very difficult to stay composed when a dog is full on lunging/biting. Yes, some things could have been done differently but all considering you did great. A lot of people would have totally crapped their pants during that. Remember resource guarding is a natural thing for dogs. I do believe constantly trying to "own" the food/control the feeding time can cause this issue but you can do everything right and still end up with this problem. Because the dog seems to be great all other times I think you can get this under control.

 

[PrinceLorde13]

I'm not even sure I'd call that resource gaurding, she seems confused, anxious, and under confident, and she's also only 10months old. I think you handled the situation great, I would suggest a leash already attached for quicker control. That is not aggression at you, it looks like the problems I mentioned above combine and build up and she gets so frustrated she doesn't know what else to do. It also seemed to me that as she was doing good the human energy began to rise, in a positive way but with a negative effect, it fed her already nervous energy. If you continue the way you were in the video I see no reason this cant be solved. It just will take consistency and tweaks along the way but after watching your video I personally am very confident you can overcome this with your pup

 

[Cobalt]

I'd love to be able to say "here's what you do" and everything is fixed, but I can't - especially since I've experienced nothing as advanced with Bea. Everyone has made good points and I'm sure there's a lot in there that you can work with; dogs, like humans, are individuals, and what works for one may not work for another. While I've never bought into the whole Cesear Milan "pack" theory thing, dogs - especially larger more powerful and strong willed ones like Presas do need to know who is boss. That can be reinforced in any number of ways, and I have at times physically controlled Bea (never any hitting or physical striking of any kind) to let her know I control what she is allowed to do and more importantly, what she is not allowed. Fortunately I've never had her be aggressive as you've described, just stubborn - which I'm sure we can all relate too LOL. There were some specific things I did right from 9 wks that probably helped this process, and you may find helpfull to going foward. Well, first an item that can't be controlled now, is I spent a year looking for a dog with a specific temperament (still a hit and miss with any pup I know, but you try to reduce the variables) and having extensive conversations with many breeders. Once Bea arrived, for one full meal each day for the first month, she was fed that meal by hand kibble piece by kibble piece and praised each time she took it calmly without excitement, including making her wait various time frames between each piece. She was also fed in turn with 4 other dogs and was fed last, being the newest member. I would also make a game of training by having all 5 dogs line up and lay food in front of them and having them sit patiently as one by one they were directed to picking up their own piece. Also played a lot of games with toys and playing with her with a toy with my hand in her mouth; she has a very gentle demeanor now around anyone's hand near her face - she just doesn't mind it. Bea has always lived in a group of 5 dogs too, so she's always had more mature dogs (and Willa really was a big help there) to take lead from and just how to "be a dog". Best of luck with it all, and don't give - whatever plane you go with, patience is key to them all.

 

[Paumanok]

Thanks everyone! I feel a million times better since we figured out she is not really being aggressive, though I'm very sad that she is so anxious and afraid. I think this is a case of really needing to tailor your training carefully to individual dogs. She was the runt and has always displayed some low level anxiety about food (bolting, guarding from other dogs.) She is also an extremely quick learner. I think my efforts to emphasize that the resources are mine by training at food time were too extensive for her, and they taught her instead that food is something contentious rather than joyful.

At least now I feel like this behavior is actually in character given how she acts the rest of the time (submissive) and I can see that her past behavior was actually ramping up to this for a while. I think based on your suggestions I have some good ideas on how to handle it for the next view days -- make everything as low stress as possible, feed in locations like the crate that don't have a bad association, become the "treat fairy" and dispense surprise treats on the floor at random. I'll also work on proofing as Hector suggested. Then after a while we will start counter-conditioning. I'll also talk with some behaviorists and trainers to get their assessment.

 

[Paumanok]

Just wanted to give an update since everyone was so helpful.

I talked with a lot of trainers and a Presa breeder about the issue. The trainers generally had canned advice about either all-positive techniques or "you need to alpha your dog." The breeder, who shall remain nameless, recommended that since she is a rescue I should put her down and start over with a new puppy from his kennel. He called back the next day to make sure I knew two of his gals are pregnant.

Fortunately, I found a trainer I really like, and who I think did an excellent job of reading our relationship, at the local dog park. He thought she was confused by the scenario in the video, and gave me the most insight into the problem and into our relationship. In addition to the normal resource guarding desensitization, he recommend that I show her more enthusiasm in my training. Both Portia and I are normally pretty emotionally reserved, and I think that dynamic hurt our level of trust. I have translated that advice into a lot more affection, a lot more play, and sharp, clear corrections.

Now that is in direct opposition to the trainers who said she was testing me and being dominant, etc. All I can say is that right now she is a different dog. We are both much happier, and she is obeying all commands with much more enthusiasm. She no longer has any reactivity to the scenario that caused the blowup, and we are slowly and steadily working through some moderate guarding of high value possessions. Instead of creating confrontations, when she shows any tenseness or guarding I call her away or make it into a silly situation that results in us both playing with the item in question. For the first time I feel like we are really working together and having fun.

So I'm posting this just in case anyone else runs into a similar problem in the future. I'm an experienced dog owner, and I think where I went wrong was treating Portia differently (and, yes, being fearful) because of her breed. I should have trained her using my instincts about her personality from the start. Yes, she requires more consistency and a stronger hand than my other dogs. Yes, I have to be aware of what she is and of her tendency to take a mile if you give her an inch. But she is not a "hard" dog -- she's a smart, sensitive dog who is eager to please, and she is more like my other dogs than she is different. She has some insecurity and probably a genetic predisposition to resource guarding; my constant efforts to claim her food and possessions in an effort to show my dominance were exactly the wrong technique to deploy, and exacerbated her tendencies. My worry, overreactions, and overeagerness to prevent dominance and aggression because of her breed prevented me from making good choices about how to handle her as an individual in her early life.

I hope that this experience is helpful to someone in the future. Of course, by posting this I'm just asking the universe to give us some new problem ...

 

[karennj]

So glad you decided to work as a team instead of a dominant alpha leader. You are on the right track! Keep up the good work!!!!

 

[tmricciuto]

This is a perfect example that one size does not fit all. I'm glad you have a plan in place that sounds like it's working. I'm really working hard with our girls to get them to listen consistently.


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[Cobalt]

Awesome, good to hear!