Resource guarding is one of the issues many puppy owners may deal with. It can be a scarry situation, but there are some things that puppy owners can do to head it off before it starts.
The first thing to know and do is that you should never take something away from your puppy. Think about how you would feel if someone walked up to you and took something away from you. That is how your puppy would feel. Also, many times puppies and dogs will swallow things instead of letting you get it away from them.
The best thing to do is teach “Drop It”
- Have lots of good treats in a pouch (40-50 treats)
- Dog on leash, no distractions
- Scatter handful (4-6) of treats on the floor and say “drop it” at the same time
- Repeat 10-15 times a day, 2-3 times per day.
- Next, Get one of your puppy’s favorite toys. The best toy would be a tug toy of some kind.
- Play tug.
- While playing, do a treat scatter in the opposite direction from the puppy and say drop it. While your puppy is eating the treats, pick up toy off of ground. Repeat. Be fun!
- Do this in lots of places around your house.
- Be ready. Have treats stashed around your house so you can grab some quickly. When your pup has something, say drop it and then do the treat scatter.
- Practice now and then so everyone knows how it works.
JE Dog Training 
Leave a comment