Resource Guarding in Puppies: When Your Puppy Biting Seems Aggressive #82
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2021
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
Imagine if your cute, cuddly puppy suddenly turned aggressive on you. You might think your puppy is trying to dominate you or acting out to spite you, but that is not the case. We're looking at what is going on with aggression in puppies and what to do about resource guarding. As scary and unimaginable as it may seem, a puppy showing aggression over resources is normal, and there are things that you can do right now to help.
In the episode you'll hear:
• How resource guarding is a survival mechanism for puppies and dogs.
• What to notice about the early signs of resource guarding.
• How humans can make resource guarding worse.
• When and why to see a Veterinary Behaviorist.
• What to do when a dog guards against you or another person.
• Why to consider your dog's emotional response and feelings of fear.
• How we can have feelings that lead us to want to guard our resources too!
• Why to look at things from your puppy's point of view.
• How to create a great Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) for your pup or dog.
• The reason punishment only suppresses behavior and does not change behavior.
• Why not to take your pup's bowl away or put your hands in the food.
• How to keep everyone safe and create a relationship of trust with your dog.
• The common ways your puppy will show you they are not comfortable.
• All the steps to prevent and fix puppy aggression.
Resources:
• Podcast Episode 66: Resource Guarding: Dog vs Dog Aggression - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/66/
• Podcast Episode 4: T.E.M.P. (Tail, Eyes/Ears, Mouth, Posture) - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/4/
• *Book: Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs by Jean Donaldson - https://geni.us/mine-jean-donaldson
• Learn How to Play ItsYerChoice (IYC) - https://recallers.com/iycsummit-join/
• Crate Games Online - https://get.crategames.com/
• To join Home School the Dog at a special discount, write to us at wag@dogsthat.com with the subject line: I watched resource guarding
• Podcast Episode 6: The Art of Manipulation - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/6/
• Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/XDdf1w_9Ha0
Ex-Pen Information:
• Ex-Pen: Rover Modular Pet Enclosures - http://dogsthat.com/roverpanels
• *Ex-Pen: Plastic 8-Panel - https://geni.us/ex-pen-white
• *Ex-Pen: Folding Metal - https://geni.us/ex-pen-metal
*Amazon Links Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Susan only recommends products she uses herself, and all opinions expressed here are her own. The link above is an affiliate link that, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission if you decide to buy from it. Thank you!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Imagine if your cute, cuddly, lovable little four-month-old puppy suddenly, like, turned aggressive on you. |
| 0:17.7 | You know, the thoughts that went, go through your mind. At first, you might say, like, |
| 0:21.1 | is there something wrong with him? Oh my gosh. Like Susan mentioned the thyroid problems in a podcast |
| 0:27.0 | could cause this. That's not likely with a puppy of that age. So then you might think, |
| 0:34.3 | oh, is he trying to dominate me? Do I need to be pack leader? |
| 0:40.2 | No. Dominance theory was debunked ages ago. And then you might think, well, is there something that |
| 0:49.4 | I've done wrong? That is possible. Hi, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. And I'm going to share |
| 0:57.6 | a letter, the exact letter that came into me and I got Tammy's permission to share this with you. |
| 1:03.1 | Susan, I'm a member of your homeschool the dog program right now, but I have a question that |
| 1:07.1 | doesn't relate to the games we're doing. My four-month-old male sheep-a-doodle has been |
| 1:12.5 | having random bursts of aggression. If my kids or I try to take something he's chewing on that's |
| 1:18.3 | new to him and he really likes it like a dog bone, he growls and tries to bite. Not nip-at, |
| 1:25.5 | but full-on attack mode whoever is reaching for it. For the most part, |
| 1:31.0 | he's really good at letting us take things from him, like a toy or a sock that he's gotten |
| 1:35.6 | that he shouldn't have. But the aggression has happened a couple of times and it seems like it's |
| 1:41.0 | getting more often. What can I do to stop it quickly? So, very likely what Tammy |
| 1:46.3 | is describing is something called resource guarding and as scary and unimaginable as it may seem. |
| 1:52.9 | It's 100% completely normal. It's hardwired in puppies. Kind of like loving hockey and apologizing all the time is hardwired |
| 2:04.7 | in Canadians. Just kidding, I know that's nurture. That's not nature. It's the dog or the puppy |
| 2:09.6 | saying, I've got something of value. I want to make sure nobody takes it. It's a survival |
| 2:15.0 | mechanism because let's say for some whatever, you know, horrible reason your dog ends up living on the streets. |
| 2:21.7 | That couldn't happen, Susan. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from DogsThat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of DogsThat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.