# 4mo male with random, unpredictable aggression/resource guarding



## redrunner (Mar 15, 2021)

Hi, 
New member here so sorry if this ends up in the wrong location! I have read several threads about resource guarding, but was unable to find anything that was similar to my case. 

I currently have a healthy 4mo male puppy who I have had for a couple months. He is very affectionate and sweet, but lacks confidence with new people and dogs but will warm up eventually. He is very intelligent (and very stubborn) and training has been going well...apart from the moments when he turns on his selective hearing. 

Now for the problem: Over the past month I've been noticing small, inconsistent moments of resource guarding. First instance was him growling and moving himself away from another dog when he was playing with a toy. Next was when I got him a new edible nylabone that he got REALLY into and when I tried to take it away before it became a choking hazard, he reallly growled and lunged a little. I immediately threw the bones away and won't give him any more. Then he started growling if someone would pet him while he was eating, but was fine if you were in front of him and he would let you move his bowl around while he was eating. Because this one aspect has been more consistent, I have been able to work on this by hand feeding and being near him while he is eating. I can now run my hand down his back a few times before he stops eating and stiffens. Another instance was he was on my bed and started licking the sheet so I went to move him to get him to stop and he growled and lunged and wouldn't stop until I managed to wrap him in a blanket and set him on the floor (not an ideal method I know). And the most recent happened tonight when I was on the couch and he was laying partially on me chewing his bully stick (normal occurrence) when he suddenly stopped eating it and got interested in a couch cushion. He then froze suddenly and started growling. Once I got out from under him unscathed he would lunge and growl (pupils VERY dilated) and it took several minutes for me to coax him off the couch. Once he was off he was his normal happy and wiggly self! 

I am having a difficult time knowing how to help him through this and train him, since the aggression seems to happen so randomly and over weird items. I cannot find a common trigger to this other than him possibly getting obsessive over something or not being 100% trusting yet. Has anyone had this happen in their vizsla or any other dog? Any tips on training/working with him on this? Any help is appreciated...I want to get to the root of this ASAP.


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## rchik43 (Apr 12, 2020)

Pillu, my 10 month old male V seems to be extra possessive of bully sticks. This is pretty much the only thing he somewhat resource guards. I usually get him some other treat, if I have to get it away from him, and he gives it up. He gets a bully stick only once a week, and he really likes it, so may be that's where it comes from. I started holding the bully stick with a bully stick holder( which I use anyway since I don't want him to inhale the last piece) and let him chew it while I'm still holding it. and also stroke him , so he gets comfortable with me being around and doesn't feel the need to guard it so much. I think you are doing the right thing by hand feeding him, in fact in my opinion, try to hand feed every meal, and practice some commands during meals, it may help to form that relationship. This helped a lot with Pillu. To date, some person in the family still hand feeds him..it helped to form that relationship and trust with each person in the family. There are occasional times when he does not like anyone taking his collar off, while he is resting on the couch...I just take a very small amount of peanut butter on my finger , let him lick it while I take the collar off...then I pat him and he is fine. It could partly be adolescent behavior with my boy. If it was me, I would try exclusively hand feeding him every meal ( if you can) for a few days , with commands and see if it makes a difference. Your puppy is very young, great time to build that trust .

One other thing...if you haven't already, you may want to see if you can get him into a puppy socialization class or something. I did that with Pillu for almost 8-9 weeks from week 11 onwards and it was super helpful to build the confidence.


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## macy123 (Jan 27, 2021)

Just to say we are having issues with our 4 month old growling and trying to bite us if we try and move her when she is on the sofa. So following this thread with interest.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

There are many things that you can try to condition him. Some may work, and some may not.
The very first thing that needs to happen is a full vet exam. Dogs in pain can act out in some very aggressive manners, and it's also not fair to begin to condition them, without being certain that there is not an underlying condition.
Now, at 4 months old, he is beginning to "test the waters". You don't want it to continue which is understandable, but what you really don;t want to happen is for it to escalate.
Growling and moving away from another dog while chewing on a toy, or eating, is completely normal. It's a conversation that they are having.
It was good that you took away the nylabone. Some objects may trigger undesirable behaviors, and in a few month they won't. If you want to give him the nylabone, let him chew it, while you are holding it. Don't mess with him, or take it away, just let him know that as long as you are in control, everything is fine. He can have his cake and eat it too, but on your terms.
With the food bowl, every dog I have ever had, has had to eat from theier bowl, with my hand it, while the other moves them around, nudges, them, pets them, grabs their paws gently. They have to eat around my fingers. I never take their food away, I just gently harass them, and turn food time into a game of sorts. The reason I do this is to make absolutely certain that if a toddler, or small child, were to do it, the dog would be completely unfazed. Food aggressive dogs are a pain in the backside, and always unpredictable.
Four months old is still pretty young for any "true" aggression, but it won't be long until he'll have the size, speed, and hormones to back up his bark. Right now, he's having a conversation. He's talking back to you, and telling you "NO!", I don't have to!. 
Try a few weeks of keeping his leash attached in the house. He gets unruly, or snappy, just grab the leash and lead him off. It's a lot easier getting a hold of the leash, than the puppy, and now you are in control, with no fight. A few minutes of leash work around the house, and see if his behavior changes.
He's probably going to be a little dirtball for the next few months, and test your patience, but he is still only four months old right now and very much still a puppy. He's going to do bad things as part of his learning process. Be firm, but gentle with him. No emotion, just correction, a learning, and then a positive experience Make everything as black and white as you can. 
Don't get aggressive, or dominating with him, or you may find yourself having for a real big conversation with him in 4-6 months. 
Don't fight with him.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Here is one book that might help you deal with resource guarding issues. 








Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs: Jean Donaldson: 9780970562944: Amazon.com: Books


Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs [Jean Donaldson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs



www.amazon.com


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You can also look up Nothing in life is free.
It's basically the dog has to work (follow a known command) before any thing is given to them. 

We bring home these precious little puppies, and lavish them with everything under the sun. There is nothing wrong with it, we all do it. And they need to bond with their new family. It's just without some ground rules, some of these pups start to think they can make the rules, and correct us. For a lot of them, it's just a phase. If given the correct conditioning the problem will pass.


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## CalvinHobbes707 (Mar 16, 2021)

Longtime reader, first time poster! 

So glad I found this post. The advice here is great, and if it is OK I would love to piggy back and share my experience/questions if it helps the conversation for @macy123 . Otherwise I can move to another thread!

My 8 month male (still unfixed - waiting until 1.5 years) has shown aggression a handful of times, either about putting on a harness, getting a bone taken away, or getting him off the couch to go to bed, starting at six months. He is our first dog, so we have had mixed information with how to deal with it - give him his space for 10 minutes and try again, poke him in the chest, knock him under the chin. So admittedly, he hasn't gotten a consistent response to the growling. It had stopped for a while, without an episode in some time. 

Fast forward to this week, and we've had two episodes the past two days - yesterday when my friend tried to put his gentle leader on and he growled and snapped at her, and was growling at her for a couple minutes because she wouldn't back off. I then switched with her and was able to put it on with little protest. 

Just this afternoon, I was putting on his coat (still 15 degrees up north!) and took his collar to steady him. He growled and snarled at me for grabbing his collar. I wouldn't let go because I don't want him to think growling means Mom backs off. He got more aggressive, thrashing to try to get to my hand for a bite and snarling/high pitched growling. Got to the point where my husband stepped in, grabbed his collar, yelled at him and towered over him. The dog protested and stayed aggressive, but when we had a moment of still and quiet, we put him in the crate. He stayed there for 10 minutes. My husband opened it back up, put his hands all over the collar, put the slip lead on, and I took him for a walk. No more protesting, whining or aggression. Got back from the walk and he went back in the crate.

I would love to hear from @texasred and @gunnr again, if you have any advice for how to do the correction when it gets to this point. We plan on having a family and we absolutely do not want the pup to grow into any aggression. 

I know he is testing the boundaries, and perhaps because we've gotten so much advice he hasn't had consistent feedback from us which leads to the continued test. My friend believes in the alpha roll, but I've read horrible things about it and I don't feel good about throwing our Vizsla on the floor. 

Hope this add to the conversation helps everyone!


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

CalvinHobbes707 said:


> Longtime reader, first time poster!
> 
> So glad I found this post. The advice here is great, and if it is OK I would love to piggy back and share my experience/questions if it helps the conversation for @macy123 . Otherwise I can move to another thread!
> 
> ...


You have to condition harnesses, gentle leaders, collars, coats etc. He is showing you that he is uncomfortable with you putting them on. Yelling, punishing him for growling or showing him whos the boss WILL MAKE IT WORSE. If you punish the growls you have just taken his warning away. That will make him into a terrible dog that will not warn before he bites. Start conditioning everything to mean good things. Put a harness or whatever on the floor and when he looks at it click (mark) and treat. Do it a few times. If he steps towards it/sniffs it YES and jackpot it. Make good associations with it. DO NOT RUSH IT. Take it slow until he feels comfortable with a harness touching him. Countercondition the buckle sound. Then try putting the upper part of the harness on. If he lip licks, looks away, puts his ears back, growls, snarls etc go a few steps back. Read about counterconditioning and take it slow. For resource guarding I would recommend the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson.


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

ana19 said:


> You have to condition harnesses, gentle leaders, collars, coats etc. He is showing you that he is uncomfortable with you putting them on. Yelling, punishing him for growling or showing him whos the boss WILL MAKE IT WORSE. If you punish the growls you have just taken his warning away. That will make him into a terrible dog that will not warn before he bites. Start conditioning everything to mean good things. Put a harness or whatever on the floor and when he looks at it click (mark) and treat. Do it a few times. If he steps towards it/sniffs it YES and jackpot it. Make good associations with it. DO NOT RUSH IT. Take it slow until he feels comfortable with a harness touching him. Countercondition the buckle sound. Then try putting the upper part of the harness on. If he lip licks, looks away, puts his ears back, growls, snarls etc go a few steps back. Read about counterconditioning and take it slow. For resource guarding I would recommend the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson.


 You have tutorials on youtube on how to condition a harness. Same with coats and collars


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## CalvinHobbes707 (Mar 16, 2021)

ana19 said:


> You have to condition harnesses, gentle leaders, collars, coats etc. He is showing you that he is uncomfortable with you putting them on. Yelling, punishing him for growling or showing him whos the boss WILL MAKE IT WORSE. If you punish the growls you have just taken his warning away. That will make him into a terrible dog that will not warn before he bites. Start conditioning everything to mean good things. Put a harness or whatever on the floor and when he looks at it click (mark) and treat. Do it a few times. If he steps towards it/sniffs it YES and jackpot it. Make good associations with it. DO NOT RUSH IT. Take it slow until he feels comfortable with a harness touching him. Countercondition the buckle sound. Then try putting the upper part of the harness on. If he lip licks, looks away, puts his ears back, growls, snarls etc go a few steps back. Read about counterconditioning and take it slow. For resource guarding I would recommend the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson.


Thank you - I am so overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. My friends on farms have raised their labs and GSPs without a lot of treats and a hard hand if the dog shows aggression or disobedience. I just feel like our V is smarter than that, and honestly deserves better. 

Does the resource guarding book cover "how to" if he backs himself into a corner?


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

CalvinHobbes70

It is difficult at times because they do have to test you. It's part of their development. It is so deeply ingrained in them, and all dogs, that it is just part of growing up. Knowing and understanding that it is going to happen, and that it isn't personal, helps a person to be prepared.
Dogs act "assertively", not aggressively, for a reason. They are trying to understand their place, your place, and where everything fits in. They don't care who comes out on top, bottom, or middle, they just need to to know their place. Knowing their place makes them safe.
Texas Red has it correct. They have to work for it. Every command given has to be either followed, or corrected. Any slack, and lets admit it, we all want to give them slack, and it can cause confusion on their part.
"True aggression" is rare in Vizlsas. Should a person ever find them self in this situation, they need to back off. It is frightening, and dangerous. A game plan has to be developed before they continue.
"Assertiveness", is .just the dog trying to get it's way. It has a few tools to do this. It can bark, growl, raise their fur, and maybe snap a little. BUT,,,,,! The dog is positioned in a defensive posture, and is not escalating the situation. It's equally important that the handler does not escalate the situation. Get control first.
Finn is now 18 months old. He has showed zero food aggression until this morning. I gave him a treat for following the command to go "kennel in", and then reached in to pet him.as I have daily for 16 months. This morning, at 5:15am, he threateningly growled at me inside his kennel.
I backed off, let him finish, then grabbed the back of his crate and dumped him out the front door, then stood the crate on end so that he could not get back in it. This took him out of his space, and put him mine.
Very stern warnings took place. Nothing physical, I just got ahold of his collar and we had a close contact session. No beating, or yanking, him about by his collar. I needed to make sure he was paying attention.
The command for "kennel in" and "come here" was repeated many times. Treats were placed in his kennel and removed multiple times, then given to him, while my hands and arms stayed inside the kennel. He also had to eat his treat out of my hand in the kennel.
The correction must be immediate, quick, non emotional but assertive. Whatever caused the "trigger" needs to be replicated in a controlled manner. Absolute black and white needs to be established.

Time will tell, if Finn will regress.( I do expect him to keep pushing it in small ways over the next couple months.). If it happens again, we will have more training, a nd ultimately the decision will have to be made if he does not stop the behavior, to remove the "trigger".
I love my little dog to death, but I have been waiting a few months for this behavior. I knew it was coming. It has come with all of my other dogs, sometime between 14-18 months, except for Tika.
Finn will be on a "short leash" for awhile". I'll do the thinking for both of us. I don't want him to have time to make his own decisions until we get past this phase.
A little bit of tough love, but we'll get through it.


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## CalvinHobbes707 (Mar 16, 2021)

gunnr said:


> CalvinHobbes70
> 
> It is difficult at times because they do have to test you. It's part of their development. It is so deeply ingrained in them, and all dogs, that it is just part of growing up. Knowing and understanding that it is going to happen, and that it isn't personal, helps a person to be prepared.
> Dogs act "assertively", not aggressively, for a reason. They are trying to understand their place, your place, and where everything fits in. They don't care who comes out on top, bottom, or middle, they just need to to know their place. Knowing their place makes them safe.
> ...


Thank you so much, @gunnr - this makes me feel a whole lot better. Since we are first time dog owners we are looking into responsible trainers who are familiar with the breed to help us get a solid foundation and help with any confusion we may have given our Calvin. Your juxtaposition of assertion vs. aggression is very clear - he is definitely on the defense when he does get snappy, so it's good to remember it's about staying calm and helping them find out their place. 

Thank you again for your reply!


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## redrunner (Mar 15, 2021)

Thank you for all the replies and helpful tips! I will definitely be using some of them and checking out the resources suggested. I guess my biggest stumbling block is how to work on these undesired behaviors when the situation/trigger can't be replicated or is it even possible? It really has just been maybe one incident a month and once removed from the situation he won't show any signs of pushing back/testing his authority..which makes it hard to correct.


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

CalvinHobbes707 said:


> Thank you - I am so overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. My friends on farms have raised their labs and GSPs without a lot of treats and a hard hand if the dog shows aggression or disobedience. I just feel like our V is smarter than that, and honestly deserves better.
> 
> Does the resource guarding book cover "how to" if he backs himself into a corner?


There is no need for a hard hand, corrections and putting the dog in its place. Everything can be done in a kind way. I totally understand everything you're going through and yes, there are a lot of options out there but the best thing that ever happened to me and Aron is me listening to my gut and choosing a kind, compassionate way to train such as force free training. Using treats is not necessary and it's not the only way. You can use anything that your dog finds reinforcing eg. environmental rewards, play...
The resource guarding book covers everything and if you still have questions after reading it, hit me up I'd love to chat with you.


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