# help!....resource guarding



## dperecko (Dec 16, 2013)

Looking for some major help here. 

My 7 month old male Vizsla "Rooney" is continuously showing some very scary behavior. Any time he gets something in his mouth that he shouldnt have (shoe, sock, garbage from outside walks) he refuses to let anyone take it from his mouth. If you approach him to get it he will growl and viciously bite at you. this happens VERY quickly. It began that you couldnt reach for it, now you cannot even approach him. The bites are often landed and are not meant to scare....he is trying to connect. We have tried absolutely everything and nothing is working. This doesnt happen with food or treats or toys....only when he has something he shouldnt. 

We have tried a choker collar which creates a very intense situation and have been using that for over 3 months now. It has worked with other aspects of his "alpha" but not this one. absolutely nothing has changed. I have many times tackled him to get item out of his mouth. Many people told me thats what he needs to know that he is not in charge. However, countless bites and fights later there is still zero change. 

Other than this piece he is excellent and extremely loving. Its just this one aspect that is very dangerous. 

We have our first born baby arriving in 3 months and we are beginning to become extremely nervous. If the baby should ever reach for something in his mouth it would be a very bad scene. 

Looking for any help at all. 

Thanks!


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## Melissa_DT (Jan 9, 2013)

There are a few threads on the forum on this topic that you can search that will help with some methods to try.

I had some issues with resource guarding when my boy was around that age and a few things I did that worked for me:

1- go and buy a light leash that you can leave attached to your dogs collar at all times when he is in the house. This will allow for corrections/control from afar without putting yourself at risk to be bitten

2-positive reinforcement. I would give Bentley something he loved (like a bully stick) then give him a few mins to really get into it. Then I would have a treat in my hand (a treat he also loves) and would start to approach him and ask him to "leave it" for the bully stick and offer the treat as reward/a "trade" for letting me take the stick. Then I would wait a short minute and tell him to sit and return the bully stick. I would repeat this a few times thought out the time it took for him to finish the bully stick. Basically it was telling him that me taking things isn't "bad". 

At this time I also took away all couch, bed privileges, including his own dog bed (he got the most possessive of things on his bed). This is where the leash came in handy-I had control to remove him off of any furniture I needed to without inviting confrontation. It took a few weeks of consistent work but he hasn't had these issues since


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

dperecko.
Time to call a professional before your newborn child comes in three months.

*This is not a DIY fix at this point.
*
You have a time bomb waiting to go off any minute if I read your post correctly.

Every day you wait makes it harder. Once your dog bites and draws blood his options for a good life decrease tremendously.

I know this is your first post and you want on-line advice. This is beyond that. Find a professional dog behaviorist to work with you and your dog.

I hope I was clear enough. Don't want to scare you away but your dog in it's current mental state is dangerous.

RBD


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I agree with RBD, and I don't like to give advice out on aggressive dogs when kids are involved.


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## FLgatorgirl (Mar 11, 2013)

Dperecko,

RBD and Texas Red are 100% spot on. This is beyond what you can deal with, please seek professional help immediately. Also, have you called your breeder? They need to be involved or at least informed. Here is a link to board certified animal behaviorists: http://www.dacvb.org/resources/find/ If there are none in your area, contact the closest university with a veterinary college, they should have a behaviorist. You do not want a trainer calling themselves a behaviorist, you are looking for the one with a DVM and a PHD. It will not be cheap or simple and you will have to take many hours filling out a full case history, but this is what you need to do for your family and your pup. 

I have a girl that went through some of the issues you are having with your dog. She also had no issue with food or treats, just things she "found" or was not supposed to have. Otherwise, besides the typical puppy stuff, an awesome, sweet dog. Her behavior seemed to gradually escalate around the same age as your boy (although the incidents were not as severe as you describe) so we looked for help from the breeder and then a behaviorist. It takes a long time to fix this behavior, but since we first saw the behaviorist in June, there is a world of difference and she is fully expected to be back to normal in time. 

Also, a lot of people thought my dog was being "alpha" as well in the resource guarding and that was totally NOT the case. However, each dog is different and does it for different reasons. I can tell you at least from our experience that some of what you are doing is likely making things worse (the choke collar, tackling the dog). I can promise you no matter how good your intentions, this is beyond what the very vast majority of people can handle on their own. Please find a behaviorist right away before things get worse and you potentially risk losing your dog if it bites someone. You are welcome to message me if you would like. Good luck.


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