[Lensa]

My usually sweet tempered beagle has recently started to growl and guard certain items. It is always something that he has stolen and 'knows' he shouldn't have , he never does it with his food bowl, toys or hide chews. The first time he did it was with an empty cat food tin, the second time with a lamb bone, I could understand why these items would be very valuable to him, but lately he has started doing it with odd items like carrier bags, cotton thread and other stolen oddments. The growling is horrible when he is doing it, but straight afterwards he acts as though nothing ever happened!!

We have taught him 'off' and 'give' but when he is in this mood he is deaf to these commands, which makes me worry - the cotton thread had a needle stuck in it and I needed to get it out of his mouth straight away with no fuss... I have tried being firm and removing the item like it or not, and also tried swapping it for a tasty treat which was easier and less confrontational, but I wondered if anyone could offer some advice on the best way to handle this behaviour?

 

[brandyb]

Sounds just like my Caesar. I think the worst thing to do is forcefully take back the item. I know it's hard to not take it from him, especially if he can hurt himself with it, like the needle and thread. You could end up getting biten. I find that if I ignore Caesar, he will lose interest in what he's taken in a few minutes. It's like he only wants it when he knows that I want it back. If he grabs my oven mitt and runs behind the sofa, I will stay in the kitchen. In a few minutes I'll see him emerge from the sofa, walk into the kitchen, (with the oven mitt still in his mouth), and sit there looking at me like "Hey Mom! I've got something!" Eventually he will drop it, or I can catch him off-guard and safely take it back. He looks disappointed after but at least no one got hurt. Sometimes I'll try to distract him by acting really excited about something else to make him think that the item he has taken is not as good as what I've got. He only wants attention - even if it is bad. I think he's testing his limits too. Good Luck!

 

[we3beagles]

The best way is to trade it for something else that is valuable to the dog so you don't get bitten. He is resource guarding and it will escalate unless leadership exercises are started now. Just like Caesar practice NILF with your pup and instead of a bowl make sure you are hand feeding him so he gets used to things of value to him being in your hand. Every once in a while when he is chewing on a toy try to take it away from him and giving it back.