Resource guarding against other dogs

[YuChen]

Hi, I currently have 2 dogs, one male and one female. They are both fixed and are siblings. They're both mastiff x rotti mixes and are around 2 and a half years old now.

My dog, Happy (F), will become protective over her food and chews. She's not really protective over the toys. The problem is that she exhibits this behaviour towards my other dog, Lucky (M). Not once has she ever done it to me or any of my family members. I could be right next to her and even move her bowl/chews without her growling or barking, but whenever Lucky is even remotely close, she starts letting him know to back off. I do feed them with enough distance between them that she doesn't do this, but whenever she's with a kong or a chew is when this behaviour usually shows up. If Lucky gets too close and does not move, Happy will often pickup whatever she's eating/chewing and move farther away from him after growling/barking. It's ironic sometimes though since she'll go to his bowl after they're done eating to gobble any leftovers and once again become protective if he comes near.

There's another situation where something similar happens but I'm not sure if it counts as resource guarding. Often my neighbour's dog will approach the fence (it's a wire fence so they can clearly see each other), and if I give her (neighbour's dog) a treat, Happy becomes upset and will jump at the fence and bark at her. 

I did read the article on resource guarding, specifically the one about food, but I could not see a section on what to do when it's against other dogs.

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

In general, we consider some level of resource guarding among dogs "normal." Although dog- to-dog "resource guarding" may sound noisy, serious and sometimes scary too, in many cases it just consists of ritualized aggression. Ritualized aggression is a dog's way of preventing real aggression. It's dogs "using their words" to prevent themselves from getting hurt.

When some "discussions" occur dogs are therefore using their communication skills in productive ways to resolve conflict. If dog A is getting closer to dog B who is holding a bone or eating from the food bowl, dog B has his right to tell dog A "this is mine, give me distance" if he can do so without harming dog A. Dog A must understand this request for space and respectfully move away (and hopefully learn to not come to close next time).

Many dog owners are intimidated by ritualistic displays and feel very strongly about them. They may enlist the help of a professional concerned about their dogs fighting or they may punish their dogs when all dogs are doing is preventing aggression in the first place. Punishing a dog for growling is a big no-no as it pushes dogs to no longer "use their words" and possibly go straight to biting as their conflict resolution is bypassed. Punishment also leads to added stress, which only exacerbates any tension. Here's a read about the drawbacks in punishing growls: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/growling-never-suppressed-dogs/

While ritualistic aggression is just dogs having "conversations" to negotiate distance and prevent real aggression from happening, things can sometimes get problematic when the ritualized aggression progresses to actual fights. And this often happens when a dog forces himself on another dog to give up a resource or a dog not respecting another dog's request for space. However, sometimes certain dynamics may predispose to this. For example, a dog may not feel too well or may have mobility issues, causing him to not move away as promptly as expected and this may trigger a fight. Or perhaps dog A tells dogs B to not move any closer,  but then the owners calls dog B (causing him to get too close) leading to dog A snapping or biting. 

So we need to be careful on what may be going on. If Happy tells Lucky to back off from the food bowl, does Lucky readily comply and give more space? If he does, this is rather good conflict resolution. So if this is just a case of dogs using their words, management may be the best option.  It sounds like you are giving enough distance so she doesn't rehearse this behavior  when eating her meals which is good. If we want to play it safer though and prevent her from getting stressed (which often leads to dogs who eat faster and are tense) we can further increase distance or feed both dogs in separated areas or even in a crate. 

Now with the  Kong or a chew, resource guarding is often more pronounced because these are longer lasting treats and perceived as very valuable, so a dog might like to lie down with it and relax with it undisturbed. The  fact that she is getting up to move is good as she is trying to avoid conflict, but it's sign they are still too close for comfort. So it may be best taking steps to not put them in this situation. Therefore with chew toys being more valuable and longer lasting, we may need to create more distance than with regular food.

Once again, you can help her relax by providing more distance, feeding in separated areas or putting a barrier between them so that Lucky can get up and do whatever he wants if he finishes first and she doesn't have to feel stressed. This is important because left untreated, she may reach a level where she may start increasing her aggressive warning behaviors if Lucky doesn't learn to keep more distance or she may even reach a point of refusing to eat something valuable if she can't relax enough to eat and  therefore will just guard. 

The fence behavior you describe could very likely be resource guarding if it happens contingent upon you feeding this neighbor dog a treat. To prevent hard feelings and rehearsal, I would suggest not feeding treats to this dog in Happy's presence. 

More dog-to-dog- resource guarding discussions may be found here in the below threads. They may be a worthy a read to go more in depth on certain triggers and situations. 

 

 

I hope this helps! If you notice ritualized aggression turning into something more worrisome or progression despite using management  it is best to play it safe and consult with a professional using force-free behavior modification methods for safety and correct implementation.

Best,

Adrienne