# Puppy is very protective of her treats



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Treats are just what implied,...'treats' and are given for good behavior. If your treat is just tossed to the dog he never learns to take it gently from your hand or that you are the giver of wonderful things! I think if I were you I would start by withholding the larger treats and first try giving very small bits from your hand with the intent of your dog taking it gently and knowing that your hand is the source of those goodies! My dog must always 'sit' to get her treat. Also, from the time they are pups, you control the food and giving it and taking it is part of that control but it must be done as a matter of fact, with no yelling or force, or they think they have to fight for their food! I think I would rethink HOW you are feeding/treating and teach her to trust you! At 8 months old she could be a danger to a small child who mistakenly picks up 'her stuff'!


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply!

I do train her to sit and etc. before getting her treats. Smaller treats she will just eat it very fast leaving me no chance of taking it away. Bigger treats on the other hand, she would sit and once she gets it she would try to take it back to her bed/usual spot to eat it. If I try to take it away then, she becomes very protective of it. What should I do in this case? Should I hold onto the larger treat and only let her eat it out of my hand, that way I can take it away easily whenever?


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## Qarza (Feb 23, 2013)

Bridget will do this too. I know she is is protecting it from Poppy, but if it is bedtime and they still have unfinished chewies, I try to remove them to give them out tomorrow. Bridget, growls and snaps at me. I will not hit her, I don't believe in that, but I do speak very harshly to her. I also make sure there is never any food or treats around when the grandsons are about. I have taught the children never to touch the dogs if they have food.


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

I have always taught my dogs that if I take something away, they will either get it back, or another good treat in its place. When I start this training, I make sure I have a treat that's a higher value than the thing they want to keep, for example, if the dog has a large dog cookie, I'll exchange it for a small piece of real meat.

I show the dog the piece of meat while reaching for the cookie. The dog will be focused on the meat and probably not be paying much attention to the cookie. I'll say "give", take the cookie, feed the meat and praise the dog. I will then give the dog the cookie back. I make a point of practicing taking anything and everything from the dog but always reward the dog for giving it up and then give it back to the dog. Sometimes you can't give back what you take away, but you can give a big reward to compensate. 

I've had a lot of success using this method, I can take a juicy marrow bone away from Cali with no problem. I take it away, give her a treat, hang on to the bone for a couple of seconds and then give it back to her. She doesn't get worried about me taking her stuff away because 99% of the time I give it back and she gets extra treats to boot. I teach this just in case she gets hold of something one day that could be dangerous to her and I need to get it away. 

I don't think this has anything to do with you being lower in the pack. Even in the wild if an alpha dog should waltz over and try and take away a lower dog's food, the lower dog would certainly try and warn the alpha off. With dogs, possession really is 99% of the law. They don't usually try and take things right out from under the other dog's nose or out of his mouth. They'll wait until the other guy takes his attention off of it for a second and then they'll steal it. LOL

Whatever you do, don't use force or physical punishment to try and fix this, it will only cause it to escalate.


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## Qarza (Feb 23, 2013)

I will try this method from now on


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks Caroline! Just tried your method tonight...she knows that I am trying to lure her with a better treat, she is very interested in the new treat but at the same time wouldn't really take it and still keeps an eye out on her old one. But she began taking it after a while and I would take the first treat away, and give it back to her soon after...she is still a bit protective though when I get close. I'll continue trying this for a while, hopefully it gets better. But just wondering, would I eventually be able to take something away without having to offer her a better treat?


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Caroline429 is right on with the trading game! Practice taking all kinds of things from your dog so you can trade in case she gets a hold of something she shouldn't have!


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Caroline429 is right on with the trading game! Practice taking all kinds of things from your dog so you can trade in case she gets a hold of something she shouldn't have!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Excellent advice from Caroline. Yes, eventually you would be able to take something from your dog without trading, but I would reckon on a LOT of swaps first, as she has learned to guard. Think 100+ repetitions, rather than 10! And I would work in stages - first showing her the better treat, then letting her know it is on the table beside you, and when she is ready - probably near the 100 mark - building up to a happy dash to the fridge for it. And I would continue to reward her for letting you take anything good forever, even if not every time.

Scolding or force will convince the dog she needs to guard even more obsessively, and may well result in bites. How often would you let someone snatch a bar of really good chocolate you had just unwrapped without retaliating?! 

This is one of those things that it is much easier to prevent than cure - playing Swapsies with young puppies sets them up for a lifetime of letting you remove dangerous or over large items when necessary.


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

Pipikuma said:


> I'll continue trying this for a while, hopefully it gets better. But just wondering, would I eventually be able to take something away without having to offer her a better treat?


As fjm said, since your pup has become protective of her possessions, it will take a lot of repetitions. You won't fix this overnight but as long as you stay calm and upbeat, she should come around. You won't have to offer a better treat forever, it's just now because you are training. Dogs don't really want to give you their good stuff so this is a training exercise to show them that good things happen if you take something away. 

Now that my Cali understands what "give" means, occasionally I ask her to give me whatever she has, I take it for a second and then give it right back and tell her she's a good dog. Her reward is just praise and getting her possession back. Other times I'll take it away, give her another small treat and then give the possession back. She doesn't always know what's going to happen, but she knows it'll be a good thing.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Caroline429's advice for making it a trade up game is great. Since you are fixing a problem, not preventing one, it will take longer but will work.

Absolutely no hitting (ever for anything).

Make sure you do this fix now. Resource guarding (what this is) is very serious and potentially terribly dangerous. One other thing I would add is to make sure that whatever you are giving your pup, guarded treat or better treat you make sure that it is taken gently from your hand while pup is in a calm static (sit or down) state. When my dogs are overly interested in a certain treat and start reaching to make a grab, we withdraw it from their reach, put the dog back in the stay if they broke it and then slowly extend the treat again with the word "easy" (as in be easy about this not excited) or "fingers" (as in your teeth better not touch mine). This is repeated as needed until reaching the point where you actually place the treat into the dogs mouth.

I would also suggest that you get the pup used to you having you put your hands on the muzzle and in the mouth (actually all parts of the body). In an emergency being able to get your hands in your dog's mouth without you being bitten can be very helpful. We always have play time with our dogs that reinforces acceptance of touching all over. We goof around with stuff like " I caught a Lily foot," "look I found Peeves' tail." When our dogs go to the vet they are very relaxed and don't resist any part of their exams.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

I learned a lot of how *not* to treat resource guarding from Caesar's video . . . the one where he got bit! lol






A seminar on the dying art of Dog Challenging??? 

But seriously, the biggest part of this correction is time . . . and repetition. Smart dogs will learn very quickly that there's no real issue here . . . and therefore no reason to snap and growl. Introducing a 2nd treat starts to turn this into an interesting new 'line of thought' for the dog . . . 'distraction' works well with dogs and kids, eh?  lol


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

lily cd re said:


> I would also suggest that you get the pup used to you having you put your hands on the muzzle and in the mouth (actually all parts of the body). In an emergency being able to get your hands in your dog's mouth without you being bitten can be very helpful.


Very true. :smile: You never know when that might come in handy. It reminds me of a funny thing that happened to me with my first Rottweiler, Maggie. She had IBD, along with a lot of food sensitivities, and if she ate something she shouldn't, we'd both pay.....she'd have diarrhea/vomiting for days and I'd have to clean up after her!

Maggie was a therapy dog and during one of our visits to the hospital, one of the patients asked me if she could have a chicken treat. Before I could answer, he gave it to her. Chicken was guaranteed to make her very sick so I immediately told her to drop it. She hesitated but didn't spit it out. It was obviously a really good treat and I could tell she was going to swallow it if I didn't do something. I pried open her jaws, shoved my hand in and removed the treat. 

Before this incident, even though Maggie was a certified therapy dog, there was more than one person who was afraid of her because she was a Rottweiler. I guess the story of the Rottweiler who allowed me to reach into her mouth and remove food must have spread around the hospital because after that, people didn't seem as scared of her. I guess they figured if I could put my hand in her mouth and come out with all my fingers that maybe she wasn't all that scary after all!


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## Qarza (Feb 23, 2013)

I tried Caroline's swapsie idea with Bridget last night and it worked so easily. She happily gave up one treat for another. She even watched me put her chewy away in the cupboard for tomorrow and went off to bed. As soon as the chewy was out of sight Bridget had no need to guard anything and relaxed.


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

Yes I find that as soon as the treat is out of her mouth/control, she becomes very relaxed again. It's getting it away from her that's the hard part. Anyway, I came back here to give you guys an update. I've been practicing swapsies with her since last night, and she's getting a lot better. She was still snapping and growling a bit last night when I tried, but just now I traded with her again, although she wanted to guard her first treat, she did not growl or snap yay! gonna continue this every day and hopefully she will catch on soon. thanks everyone!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Do remember to give her the first treat back as well - it is getting both that persuades the dog that human etiquette (Good Stuff happens for dogs who are prepared to share) is even better for dogs than canine etiquette (Mine - how dare you!). It helps to give her a dull boring treat, and offer to swap it for something really good, too.


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