I am going to be a little harsh here so I apologize. You have been doing this less than a month. It is not an overnight process. it took me 6 - 8 weeks before I could get Delilah to be reasonable at meal time with a bowl, even now she still has little moments. But, when it comes to guarding high value items, in this case the kleenex, sometimes she still reverts. I don't like it, but I often come at her with treats instead of scaring her or demanding things. When she does what I want, she gets a treat. It's like trading one high value for another. And it has to be something good.

I doubt the people you got him from would tell you, but ask if the parents have resource guarding issues.

Are you punishing in any way when this happens?

Personally, I would not incorporate others into training, because there is risk of biting.

Personally, I would look into a behaviorist before a trainer. There HAS to be a reason he is doing this that you are missing. I also agree that with the risk of biting, bringing a trainer in is probably not the safest decision at the moment.

Dogs don't generalize well. At all. There was a point when Odin was guarding a pile of vomit from my dad and a stupid paper towel from my aunt. It takes time. This is a serious issue that isn't just cured. I'm late for work so ill catch back up when I get there...

Like I said, I understand that it takes time. But I can't keep him locked away in our house until the issue is resolved. I HAVE to go to my parents and he HAS to come with me (and I'm not going to keep him locked in his crate). Which means that until its resolved, he's going to be able to bite people. THAT is what's bothering me. The food guarding I can handle because we're the only people that feed him. But if my mom sees him with something in his mouth that needs taken right away, and I'm not there to do it, she'll get bit. Alki could care less about any other object of he really wants what he has. Treats, toys...anything. I've been racking my brain for a reason that he could have just developed this but I honestly can't figure it out. One day he was fine with us sitting with him while he ate and petting him, the next he was snapping/growling just because we walked by him while he was eating. You have to understand that I have never had or been around a dog (and I've been around a lot) that has this problem. So to me, it's completely unacceptable. Not as it, "I'm going to sell him right this minute", but in a more hurtful and shocking "wow, we give you everything, don't hit you and you still want to bite is" kind of way. I know it's more dynamic that way. But you know what I mean, I hope. It's just heartbreaking. Staying the same is what I expected, not for it to get worse! I usually just grab his muzzle and tell him "no" when he growls at Caitlyn or someone else. I take away whatever he had (for a few minutes). When he doesn't do anything when someone takes something away or pets him while he's chewing and he does nothing, he gets a treat. We give him treats while he's eating. I'm deeply grateful for all you guys' help. I just feel like maybe we should try something new? Do you think so? Bah. I hate not knowing how do things. Hah.

Limiting the amount of times he can get to something without there being some sort of structure to it is part of it all. If it means he has to be confined at your parents house, or can't come, or everyone has to be loaded with treats ready to trade- so be it.

I'm not sure what else you think there is to try. Using force to combat this isn't going to work. Plain and simple it isn't. It will make the problem worse and you'll have a real problem later on. You need to continue to hand feed and make your presence as NON-INTRUSIVE as possible. Petting him and messing with him now probably isn't helping matters. You can work on that later- right now he needs to be comfortable with you around him. Just because he isn't snapping and biting doesn't mean he is comfortable. Please- listen to me. I've been there. I've been there a few times.

Start doing set-ups where he has something and you trade. The more you trade, and the more you do it, and the more calm you make it... The faster he will get it and begin to understand that it's OK for you to approach because you have something better. Eventually he won't even care. EVENTUALLY. This is a mental issue- not something like urinating in the house or chewing furniture. You have to help his mind understand and become comfortable. If he has something your family needs to understand HOW to react and the best way to handle it. You need to be proactive with that and make sure everyone is on the same page.

It takes time, we've all told you. It's going to take time. An overnight fix isn't actually fixing it. They just don't exist.

I understand it doesn't. And I'm definitely going to be doing all the suggestions. I don't hit him...EVER. I'm going to keep bringing him to my parents, but I'll make sure they're aware of what we're doing and if he gets something he shouldn't have, they act accordingly. I guess I was just reeling and frazzled from it. I'm not selling him or getting rid of him in any way, just to clear things up.

There have been times over the course of the last year that my husband and I realized that we have at times set our puppy up for failure by putting him in an envirnment he wasn't ready for. Maybe he's not ready yet to travel with you to your parents. I understand it may be a source of inconvenience to you right now, but it might just be better to leave him at home crated while you go visit. We are going through some similar challenges now with Q and he's 14 months. But first and foremost, I want him to be safe, and I don't want him to get in trouble because we forced an issue, that doesn't really need to be forced. Just something to think about. Fortuantely for us, we were able to align ourselves with an excellent trainer as soon as we got him. She has been here for us every step of the way. Hopefully you can find someone to work with you sooner than May. Have you considered enrolling him in Puppy K? That might make a huge difference for you too. We noticed that Q was much better behaved all through the week after a class. And on the few occasions were a class was post-poned a week, he was more of a terror. The regular schedule did something to help keep him grounded. Wishing you good luck!

After thinking about last night more, I realized that he didn't have access to his toys last night. He could have simply seen the napkin as his only toy and didn't want someone to take it away. We have contacted a behaviorist and we're about to schedule an appointment for him. I'm thinking that, as it's been said, there's an underlying issue. I don't know if it was something we did not knowing or if it happened at the breeders before we got him.

If he was part of a large litter, mom didn't have enough milk, or the breeder wasn't very watchful and hands-on... There's a million reasons why this could be an issue. I'll put some feelers out and see if I can find a trainer that's in the same circle that we work with...


Not sure of your exact location but www.caninecountryacademy.com is about 45 mins N of Atlanta. Explained the situation and they would be able to help further.

So true, Kristina. Those 8 weeks are so imperative - I also think some of the behavior is a bit hereditary, even if that sounds odd. Certain lines are more fearful than others, which is why i asked if mom and dad had an issue. It doesn't mean the pup would but predisposition is a possibility.

When I met the parents, they had no fear whatsoever. They were jumping and giving me kisses and just so excited. Although, we came into THEIR territory, so it could be different when they're out of their comfort zone. I'm contacting them now to ask about the other issues. I hope they can shed some light on things.

Why do they have to be grabbing things from him? even when I take my dogs to my parents house, they never grab things from the dogs mouths or take things from them, because I'm there. They don't have anythign worry about, but if I'm there so I don't think its necessary for them to grab things.

I was referring to when I'm in the bathroom, on the phone or outside briefly. For instance, if he grabs something important and they can't wait for me to get it, they'll have to get it away from him. It hasn't been a problem until last night. So I'm almost hoping that it was just a one time thing because he didn't have his toys.

take him with you wherever you go. That's what I do. Better safe than sorry.

That's a great idea. I'll have to start doing that. Even if it's inconvenient, it'll prevent it happening.

Yes it will. ANd honestly, its not so bad petting a puppy while in the bathroom hahaha...although, keep the toilet paper out of reach or it will get destroyed.

Hahaha. Sometimes he follows me in and he'll reach over and grab it. Then he'll just look at me. Haha. Although, he has snuck a roll and hid. I guess he though we wouldn't notice, but he came trotting out with some stick to his lip and just blowing as he ran. Hahaha. I mean, we couldn't even be even a little upset. Too cute.

We have the same issue with our 5 month old puppy, George. I wish I had some advice on how to deal with it but obviously if I'm poking around this thread, I'm looking for help too. We've been dealing with guarding issues and general mouthing/anxiety for some time. We got George at 8 weeks and he was the sweetest puppy - albeit spunky with a bit of attitude. When we first started to feed him, we would do what we had read to do - put our hands in his food/touch him while he ate. At first, this seemed to not bother him but it seemed one day it did. He growled and so we stopped messing w/ him while he ate. Then one day when we attempted to remove the bowl after he finished eating, he growled and lunged at us. That was the first hint of his guarding. And we had always made him work for his food - implementing the NILIF.

Then one day he bit my neighbor when she tried to remove a baby wipe from his mouth. I had stepped a way for a few minutes. He had never bitten before so this was very unexpected. When I tried to remove the same wipe, he bit me - should have known better as he was extremely agitated - and I had nothing to trade it for.

Since that day he bit our neighbor he has bitten me (or tried to) at least 3 other times and my husband once. He's definitely more agressive with me. The second time he bit I was trying to remove his harness. He growled. I did not heed the warning and got bit. Now he does not growl. If anyone is newly experiencing this issue - you WANT the growling. Don't ever punish the growling b/c guess what? Once the growl goes away you have NO WARNING. That's where we are with George. The other time he bit me he was guarding something I could not see under the sofa - I reached down to pet him and got bit.

At the recommendation of our vet, we hired a trainer who came to our house and worked with us for 5 weeks. We now feed George at handfuls at a time - waiting for eye contact and dropping the kibble in the bowl. This progressed to kneeling down by the bowl and doing same > kneeling and touching bowl and dropping in kibble. He's still as tense today as he was over 5wks ago. The trainer noted that he was "all business" when it comes to food. No tail wag, closed mouth, lick his lips - all signs of a dog that is anxious/stressed/fearful (check out a blog called The Balanced Canine - search the site for aggression/food guarding - it has some interesting information - especially diagrams that will show you body language of a fear aggression dog vs a dominance aggression dog - totally different. There are subtle signs that they are stressed - like yawning, sniffing, lip licking - stuff I would never even have noticed.

We are at a very difficult place with our dog. Today we meet with a behaviorist vet so we will see what they say. It's very frustrating for sure. We had a husky previously for many years (got him when he was maybe 2-3) and never had these issues so this is a first for us and I'm sure we've made lots of mistakes along the way.

And yeah, that Cesar Milan crap will get you no where with a fear aggressive dog. Except maybe in the hospital.

Oh - and don't try Prozac either. The trainer we had at the end of our 5th week suggested we try it since the dog was started to guard other things besides his bowl. That was a disaster. About 10 days on the pill, things got worse. We learned later that in rare cases, the aggression gets worse b/c the pill helps the dog lower it's inhibitions...so it feels more confident to attack. We've stopped the prozac and at least he isn't as crazy acting.