Sometimes my husky Jake will hunt for mice or go after squirrels and rock chucks. The other day he had a rock chuck trapped under a downed tree and was trying to dig down for it. After awhile I tried to get him away from it and he growled and nipped at me like he never has before, it wasn't playful at all. I've never seent his kind of aggression towards me before, even other times he has had an animal cornered like that. Has anyone else had this kind of experience?

Guarding something they want is pretty common. I assume he was after the critter for a while before you came to remove him? If that's the case then he had a lot of time for his excitement to build which makes him feel like the stakes are higher thus making him feel more like it's worth guarding. My latest will give up most stuff like toys and will call off scents pretty well but once he's invested in things, like he has already eaten half that apple that he got off the ground then he's more willing to stand his ground. The goal is to not let him get invested in what he is after or has to the point he is more focused on it than you. How I am dealing with mine and the apples is to not let him have the apples or go near where they are (I have two apple trees in the back yard, so not a convenient endeavor). If he can't listen to me where the apples are concerned then he doesn't get the luxury of sitting out there and gorging himself on them.

Yes I gave him about 10 minutes at it than tried to get him out of there. After trying for awhile I went off to grab some treats to redirect him and he ended up giving it up. Thanks for the advice!

Damn. My response disappeared. Not that it adds much - basically Jenn is spot on. With the persnickety one, if I catch him just as he notices a bone in the lawn, a simple "eh eh eh" or "let's go" or even "Z'evi" in a warning tone is enough to make him leave it. But...let him sit down and start licking it (all he can do with the muzzle) and he is in full guard mode. Including lunging, snarling and snapping. (Did I mention, he wears a muzzle ) Wayne learned that lesson yesterday when the idget found Ami's leftover dinner sitting on the floor. And, to think....we were considering a trial without the muzzle. At the moment, when hell freezes over comes to mind.