Hello again! I've gotten help advice on here when I first got Anya. Well Im back. Anya still has resource guarding. She is 6 months old. I've been working and working on it. I've been working on "drop it" and getting her comfortable with me and family being near her and food and toys. Well today my neighbor went to grab her toy and she growled and bit him. She didn't break the skin but it scared him. It was incredibly upsetting. She's a great dog otherwise. It's just this resource guarding! Ive used my trainers suggestions and read a book on it too. Help..

Why are you letting people grab her toys if you know she has guarding problems? You shouldn't put people in danger if you know your dog is unstable.

You never answered in your other thread, but

How are the reactions when this happens?

Does she spend a lot of time in the house freely moving about and doing things? When you say "drop it", does she do it?

What about other obedience stuff, like Down or Place (hang out on this thing)? Does she stay when told to?

How is she on walks, what are they like?

seattlesibe wrote:

Why are you letting people grab her toys if you know she has guarding problems?  You shouldn't put people in danger if you know your dog is unstable.  

You never answered in your other thread, but

How are the reactions when this happens?

Does she spend a lot of time in the house freely moving about and doing things?  When  you say "drop it", does she do it?

What about other obedience stuff, like Down or Place (hang out on this thing)?  Does she stay when told to?

How is she on walks, what are they like?

Im sorry, let me explain further. She has never done this with a toy before. Everyone knows when it comes to food to do swap out and drop it. These neighbors are family and dog people. I don't let just anyone deal with my dog. After she did it, we just said no and then I got a treat, told her to drop it, she let go of the toy and I gave her the treat while taking the toy.

Anya is very active outside of the home. She is socialized daily on 2 hour walks at parks where she meets lots of people and other dogs. She goes to doggy daycare where she has had absolutely no issue with other dogs. The trainers there are aware of her guarding and work on it too.

She is very good when we do sit, down, stay and on walks she is great. She is already learning to heal. She is a dream besides this guarding thing. With drop it, she takes a second to think about it but does drop it.

In the house, she is allowed in the kitchen, den, mud room and room above the garage. Food bowel is picked up if she doesnt eat. I hand feed her constantly. I have NEVER had an issue with toy guarding till today.

Here's the main issue - you do so many things to solidify trust, and then you break that trust by letting someone literally grab something out of her mouth. She's still learning. You cannot expect a 6 month old puppy to be proficient in all training methods. What you should have done is what you did after, offer the treat and swap. This solidifies the trusting bond. Often times, dogs with resource guarding may turn to another resource when in fear. Remember, you grabbing toy is different than your neighbor.

Be patient and practice.

I agree with Megan, she is still young. Another method that you can try, which involves more commands, which imho, solidifies your training, is to remove her from the object/food. First tell her to drop item, then call her over to where you want her (a safe distance from object), (you may, if you haven't already taught this, teach leave it, after she drops it) reward, then tell her to sit and stay, keep her in a stay and pick up the item you do not want her to have, reward. This type of removal, can help with neighbor, as in the neighbor can do this as a fun trick for your dog, and at the same time, neighbor and dog can get friendly. Rewards can be treats or simple praise, good girl, when the whole lesson is done, a good girl and a shoulder rub will increase your bonding. This all helps in socialization and bonding, and trust.

I will also ask you, are you sure she wasn't playing? My girl accidentally scrapes me from time to time and also has a very low woo (which to an untrained ear sounds like a growl) when we are playing and we are both going for a toy. Your girl still has puppy mouth, in that her bite inhibition is not completely "perfect" as she ages she will know not to put pressure on skin. But I would sincerely ask that you watch your girls attitude, and body language, playing on husky terms can indeed "seem" like she is being aggressive. Wish I could post up videos, it would help explain, way better than I can in text form.