# Resource Guarding



## Wykes (Jun 8, 2021)

Ha .. I never thought I would need this forum as much as I have.. so thank you to all the people that answer. Ellie our V is now 9 months old. She has been a huge challenge from the beginning and I've posted a couple of times and very much appreciated the help/advice. We have been through extreme sharks; leash biting; general biting, reactive barking ... I must admit I envy all of you that have the more chill V's.. but we love her and are working with her. The irony is she is so independent we don't even get the cuddles .. she always wants to be near us, but not for cuddling. No sign of velcro yet..

That is just some background for the recent issue. We have been dealing with some resource guarding from quite an early age. It is very random - often directed towards my daughter and only with some chews and random toys. Perhaps once every two weeks and just a low growl.Nothing more as yet. Honestly I think we probably caused some of this as my kids and myself chased her and took things away from here when she was a puppy (she was/is constant stealer of items !) We have been working with a trainer ; trading with treats and consistently teaching the drop it and leave it commands.The kids have been heavily trained as well now and I think we are making progress on this in the house. However, the last time we went to the park she chased off a dog ( aggressively nipping and barking ) that came close to her ( the dog didn't even try and steal the ball - it was at least 10 feet away). I don't have too much of a problem if she gives a low growl, but actively going after another dog is not acceptable to me.

I have also noticed that when we play ball etc ( she is obsessive about the ball - to the point of excessiveness - where she won't come at the end of the game as she knows that means no more ball throwing) so I think this is definitely feeding into the resource guarding.

Would appreciate any advice on 1) how to curb the ball obsessiveness and 2) how to curb the dog - dog resource guarding behaviour. Just FYI she is off leash for about 2 hours a day so gets plenty of exercise.

I have aged 10 years since getting this puppy ! but am motivated by all the comments from people that have managed to change/manage the behaviours..

Thank you in advance.


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## MajorTom (May 17, 2021)

Hello,
We have an 11 month old Vizsla and we love him dearly.
He too has started resource guarding and today it escalated to the point of biting me and going for my husband as well. Quite a deep cut on my hand. We are sad and disappointed and immediately turn to the forum for some help.

Sascha is pretty good at the “drop it” command when we are playing. He will drop for a treat and he is also pretty good at the essential commands “sit”, “down””stay” etc. But he likes to take gloves, socks slippers etc if he has an opportunity and if he manages to get a hold of something he shouldn’t then he will not drop and gets very possessive. He doesn’t growl but gets a scary look in his eyes and if we try to take whatever it is away he will now…..well…. I hate to say it …..but attack.

after this mornings incident we have decided to go back to basics and be very consistent and firm with demands. No playing tug of war and if he wants to play with toys it will have to be on our terms.

Sascha gets 2-5 hours of exercise daily, much of it off leash. We’ve had some challenges with GI stuff from eating things outside and has always been a very mouthy dog, high energy, challenging in many ways but loving and wanting to be close a lot.we crate him at night and have had a couple of resource guarding incidents of his crate when he has felt out of sorts physically from some ailment.

I see your in Canada. I wonder if you would disclose where and if you have any information on behaviourists or Vizsla trainers that might help. We are inPrince Edward County, Ontario..

I agree with you that it is exhausting and I too feel like I’ve aged. On the other hand we absolutely love our Sascha and I can’t imagine life without him. So we have to fix this problem and I believe it’s more our fault than Saschas.
This forum has been very helpful and a comfort, knowing that we are not alone.

thanks for any advice you may have.


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## Mavis (Jun 11, 2021)

MajorTom said:


> Hello,
> We have an 11 month old Vizsla and we love him dearly.
> He too has started resource guarding and today it escalated to the point of biting me and going for my husband as well. Quite a deep cut on my hand. We are sad and disappointed and immediately turn to the forum for some help.
> 
> ...


I’m so sorry you are going through this too. It really is v stressful and exhausting so I empathize. What we have been doing is trading a lot, using the drop it and leave it commands. We did get to speak to a behaviourist - ( we are in bc ) although they are few and far between and the one we found from memory was an associate behaviourist. She was good to talk to as virtual appointment - advice was mainly .. if not an important item - just leave the dog and see if she loses interest ( she does) . Use the drop it and trade with treats. We are getting there but I honestly think this is something we will be working on continually with Ellie. With Ellie it appears to be mainly items she has “ stolen” and also she carries rocks which she is very possessive of. I will send u the directory of behaviourists as I think there are definitely more back east than on the west coast. Good luck !!


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## Mavis (Jun 11, 2021)

Mavis said:


> I’m so sorry you are going through this too. It really is v stressful and exhausting so I empathize. What we have been doing is trading a lot, using the drop it and leave it commands. We did get to speak to a behaviourist - ( we are in bc ) although they are few and far between and the one we found from memory was an associate behaviourist. She was good to talk to as virtual appointment - advice was mainly .. if not an important item - just leave the dog and see if she loses interest ( she does) . Use the drop it and trade with treats. We are getting there but I honestly think this is something we will be working on continually with Ellie. With Ellie it appears to be mainly items she has “ stolen” and also she carries rocks which she is very possessive of. I will send u the directory of behaviourists as I think there are definitely more back east than on the west coast. Good luck !!


This is what I used Animal Behavior Society


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## MajorTom (May 17, 2021)

Thank you
With Sascha it is items he has stolen as well and we do sometimes leave him and he does lose interest.
We will practice the “drop it” and “leave it” and share as well. I’ve been a bit emotional today after the event this morning and my hand is sore but as I write Sascha is sleeping with his head on my lap. Most of the time he’s such a good boy. 
I blame us. We need to spend more time working on commands and training. If we don’t have some success I will seek out a professional.
I’m sure I’ll be back to the forum soon. It’s a vital resource. Vizslas are complex dogs. I’ve had dogs in my life before but never a Vizsla and it teaches us much!
Good luck and thanks again.


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## Mavis (Jun 11, 2021)

MajorTom said:


> Thank you
> With Sascha it is items he has stolen as well and we do sometimes leave him and he does lose interest.
> We will practice the “drop it” and “leave it” and share as well. I’ve been a bit emotional today after the event this morning and my hand is sore but as I write Sascha is sleeping with his head on my lap. Most of the time he’s such a good boy.
> I blame us. We need to spend more time working on commands and training. If we don’t have some success I will seek out a professional.
> ...


Totally agree re Vizslas .. I have always had hunting dogs but Ellie is in a league of her own! Good luck anyway and let me know if u have any success as I’m prepared to try anything!


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