Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.381 --> 00:00:08.403
Have you ever seen a puppy just getting a tad too possessive over a toy, or maybe their food, and you thought to yourself oh, that's so cute.
00:00:08.403 --> 00:00:10.711
Look at that puppy guarding that giant toy.
00:00:10.711 --> 00:00:18.500
Well, it might be something that's very cute when a puppy is small, but it's a much bigger issue when it turns into an 80 pound dog.
00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:30.240
And, in fact, 20% of dogs have an issue called resource guarding and if you don't deal with it early on, you can find yourself in a situation where your dog has given someone a serious bite.
00:00:30.240 --> 00:00:36.200
So we're going to tackle this tough topic today to keep not only you safe, but your dog as well.
00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.106
So let's explore this together.
00:00:38.106 --> 00:00:51.460
You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets.
00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:59.435
We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare.
00:01:00.081 --> 00:01:06.459
My name is Amy Castro and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for Pet Age Magazine.
00:01:06.459 --> 00:01:11.753
I've rescued thousands of animals and helped people just like you find the right pet for their family.
00:01:11.753 --> 00:01:22.233
My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with, and even have fun with their pets so they can live their very best lives and their pets can, too.
00:01:22.233 --> 00:01:31.950
Joining us today on the show is Will Bangura, an internationally renowned certified dog behavior consultant with more than 35 years experience.
00:01:31.950 --> 00:01:47.792
An expert in addressing a wide range of canine behavioral issues, will is going to bring an evidence-based approach to our discussion today, enriched by his extensive background as not only an author but host of the acclaimed Dog Training Today podcast.
00:01:47.792 --> 00:01:57.873
His work, deeply rooted in scientific principles, offers invaluable insights for pet guardians seeking to understand and enhance their relationships with their canine companions.
00:01:57.873 --> 00:01:59.825
Will welcome to the show.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:01.323
Good to be here, Amy.
00:02:01.323 --> 00:02:02.909
Thank you so much for having me.
00:02:03.641 --> 00:02:09.340
I really appreciate you making the time to do this with me today, because this issue of resource guarding comes up.
00:02:09.902 --> 00:02:18.712
I mean, I've been doing animal rescue and volunteering in a shelter for probably 15 years now and I'm a long time animal person.
00:02:18.712 --> 00:02:26.960
I work for a vet in high school, things like that and it's to me one of those topics that can start out seeming like it's almost funny.
00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.500
Like I said in my teaser, it's like, oh, isn't that cute.
00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:35.280
We even get kittens that'll slam their feet down and guard a bowl of food from the other kittens and it's funny.
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:41.554
But it wouldn't be so funny if it's an 80 pound pit bull or a great dane or whatever it might be.
00:02:41.554 --> 00:02:53.693
So I really wanted to kind of take people through the process of understanding it, knowing how it develops, what they can do about it, if anything, obviously with working with a professional trainer like yourself.
00:02:53.693 --> 00:02:57.680
But before we dive into that, I'm always curious when I have people on the show.
00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:02.093
How did you get into this and why specifically this interest in this topic?
00:03:02.093 --> 00:03:03.259
Because that's why I sought you out.
00:03:04.104 --> 00:03:06.477
Sure, sure, do you have a couple days?
00:03:06.477 --> 00:03:10.879
No, yeah, you know, I started out like probably a lot of trainers.
00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:12.659
I was a kid who loved dogs.
00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:14.879
My dad was into dogs.
00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:23.840
I had a dad that was raising German shepherds, breeding German shepherds and training and competing in AKC obedience matches.
00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:26.879
Now this was back mid 70s, early 80s.
00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:28.858
Things were very different.
00:03:28.858 --> 00:03:32.620
Back then Everything was about force and coercion.
00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:38.659
So training methods, styles, philosophies a lot has changed since then.
00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:42.659
That's where I got my start and my love for all of it.
00:03:43.712 --> 00:03:44.280
And then I went to school.
00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:48.080
I got my bachelor's degree and my master's degree in psychology.
00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.479
I did a little bit of time working as a therapist and I worked in a psych hospital.
00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.860
I worked in a drug and alcohol rehab place.
00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:58.592
I did outpatient psych and I wasn't happy with it.
00:03:58.592 --> 00:04:03.885
I was like, no, this just isn't for me.
00:04:03.885 --> 00:04:04.322
Okay.
00:04:04.322 --> 00:04:06.280
So I'm like what do I do now?
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:07.897
What do I do with this degree now?
00:04:07.897 --> 00:04:12.080
And I went back to my first love.
00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:21.274
And so then I started to take some courses specifically on animal behavior, because my background was more in human behavior.
00:04:21.274 --> 00:04:23.187
And then the rest is history.
00:04:23.187 --> 00:04:25.425
Yeah, that kind of thing.
00:04:26.262 --> 00:04:27.879
Yeah, that kind of leads me.
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.279
Well, number one, the first thing you did was trigger a horrific memory as a child.
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:38.660
Now that you said 70s and dog training and how it's changed, we used to have this boxer named Bootsy and she was a runner.
00:04:38.862 --> 00:04:41.360
Like if that door was open, you're not going to you know what You're going to.
00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.451
Tell me the same story I could tell you about my dad and our dog, Max.
00:04:44.451 --> 00:04:46.889
I know how this, I know how the story goes, but go ahead.
00:04:48.148 --> 00:04:49.879
Well, part of the story was the trainer.
00:04:49.879 --> 00:05:04.127
I remember my parents finally got fed up with it because she was terrorizing the neighborhood and the only thing I can really remember out this trainer is him literally like with a choke chain, lifting her up a little different off the ground.
00:05:04.286 --> 00:05:15.247
You know, between the brutal tactics Like you said, like just totally manhandling dogs back in the day and thinking that's going to work with aggression, and then just giving up on it.
00:05:15.247 --> 00:05:23.634
I just you know, looking back on it now it's like there's so many other things we could have done or tried or whatever it might be, that just weren't even part of the equation.
00:05:23.634 --> 00:05:28.951
It was about dominating the dog until it was terrified of you so that it listened to you.
00:05:28.951 --> 00:05:31.872
Sure, that's when it's 20 feet away going down the street.
00:05:31.872 --> 00:05:34.168
It's not coming back when you're calling it when it's terrified.
00:05:34.940 --> 00:05:39.471
Oh, exactly, and we had a dog like that when I was a kid Max, and Max was a runner.
00:05:39.471 --> 00:05:44.848
He would take off and my dad was frustrated and so next thing you know, he's got a shock collar on the dog.
00:05:44.848 --> 00:05:47.096
And that was going to be the answer.
00:05:47.096 --> 00:05:51.048
Right, the dog's not going to run away, so the dog takes off, he hits the button on the remote.
00:05:51.048 --> 00:05:59.779
All I can remember is the dog screaming and yelping and jumping up off the ground and rather than say hey, I shouldn't run away and come home, the dog ran further in family.
00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:02.964
Yeah, I mean yeah, so that didn't work really well.
00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:03.701
No.
00:06:04.961 --> 00:06:07.028
But yeah, lots changed for thank goodness.
00:06:07.822 --> 00:06:10.579
We see, I see a lot of people running around with the shock collars and I can't.
00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:12.867
Oh, we've got a lot of work We've got.
00:06:12.867 --> 00:06:14.783
That could be a whole other podcast We've got another.
00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:16.725
We've got a lot of work to do.
00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:21.930
Yeah, yeah, crazy industry, this dog training industry that's not regulated.
00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:23.939
Yeah, and that's yeah, that's part of it.
00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:33.033
I mean it's such a wide range of knowledge and experience and that's, you know, for those who are listening so important to choose wisely and do your homework.
00:06:33.033 --> 00:06:44.892
Not only you know it's like for you, obviously, as somebody that's got a master's and you know I value education, the fact that you've gone through the trouble of taking all these certifications, you know that's, that's a piece of it.
00:06:44.892 --> 00:06:46.004
Not everybody has to have.
00:06:46.084 --> 00:07:01.052
I don't think all that alphabet soup, but I think I think, you really need to understand before you take your dog to a trainer is, you know, understand what is the philosophy of methodology, because we even had a German Shepherd that we recently adopted out and it it didn't.
00:07:01.052 --> 00:07:07.151
It wasn't ours originally, it went through a trainer and it basically came to us with the shock collar and the and the clicker.
00:07:07.151 --> 00:07:14.305
And you know, not having done a whole lot of research that on that, because I've never done that before I tested the shock collar.
00:07:14.305 --> 00:07:21.392
It wasn't like it was, it was barely, you know, you could feel a little tingle on your hand, but it wasn't like it was blasting the dog out of its skin.
00:07:21.392 --> 00:07:28.353
But at the same time, what I always thought was that's the only thing controlling the dog.
00:07:28.353 --> 00:07:32.591
So what if the collar is not on, or what if it's not working, or what if the battery?
00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.927
Well, what if the dog doesn't listen at that low level?
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.264
Exactly Now you're going to crank it up right, and eventually you're going to hit maximum capacity, and yeah, so it's just.
00:07:42.264 --> 00:07:45.851
I just have always thought there's got to be got to be a better way.
00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:52.990
Well, you know, because I started so early and there's been so many changes in the way we train dogs.
00:07:52.990 --> 00:07:54.913
You know, I did all that stuff.
00:07:54.913 --> 00:08:03.793
I used prawn collars, I used electronic collars because I've been training for a long time and those things were more involved.
00:08:03.793 --> 00:08:18.809
You know, today I think you know modern dog trainers, people that are educated today, that have chosen to educate themselves, that understand the science that's out there no modern dog trainer uses those tools today.
00:08:18.809 --> 00:08:20.245
They're just unnecessary.
00:08:20.245 --> 00:08:32.629
But, like I said, we could do a whole other podcast because it also goes into wanting to get things done fast and there's a financial benefit for dog trainers to want to get things done fast.
00:08:32.629 --> 00:08:37.047
And that's where we start talking about ethics and animal welfare.
00:08:37.047 --> 00:08:39.871
And where do you balance that?
00:08:39.871 --> 00:08:40.833
Yeah, you're in business.
00:08:40.833 --> 00:08:44.465
You need to make money as a trainer, all right, but at what cost?
00:08:44.465 --> 00:08:46.864
Yeah, that's to the dog.
00:08:47.567 --> 00:08:52.085
Right, that's the yeah, that's so true, and there's, you know, there's two sides to that coin too.
00:08:52.085 --> 00:08:59.587
Is that the consumer, the pet parent, pet guardian, pet owner, whatever terminology we want to use they want it done fast and they don't want to have to do the work.
00:08:59.587 --> 00:09:03.691
And I will 100% admit I am lazy as all get out.
00:09:03.691 --> 00:09:04.682
My dogs are not.
00:09:04.682 --> 00:09:10.514
You know, I've got some dogs I can take out in public and some dogs it's just, you know, they just be too excited.
00:09:10.514 --> 00:09:13.369
It's not like they're going to be aggressive to people, but they just like out of control.
00:09:13.369 --> 00:09:21.510
But what I've done with them is it works for our life here and I think that's you know, understanding what kind of lifestyle you're going to live with that pet.
00:09:21.510 --> 00:09:23.187
Like, does my dog need to know to heal?
00:09:23.187 --> 00:09:31.649
No, because I mean she spent her entire life off leash with me walking around this property and you know she stays within three feet of me.
00:09:31.649 --> 00:09:36.652
If I tell her, you know, go on, or she'll go and run around, but she comes back when I call her.
00:09:36.652 --> 00:09:39.229
I don't have to call her twice, you know, unless she doesn't hear me.
00:09:39.229 --> 00:09:42.830
But I mean, once she's got my, I've got her attention she comes right back.
00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:44.306
So do I care that she heals?
00:09:44.306 --> 00:09:45.501
No, but I.
00:09:45.501 --> 00:09:53.575
But I think what happens with pet parents is they get super excited about the puppy and they may or may not get involved in training it.
00:09:53.575 --> 00:10:07.326
So they'll go to a puppy kindergarten and they've taught it to sit and they've taught it to stay ish and they've taught it to come ish and um, and then they think they're done with the process and then when problems crop up, they don't want to fall, you know, they don't.
00:10:07.326 --> 00:10:12.067
They want to ship it off somewhere, get it taken care of and then have it come back and not have to follow through.
00:10:12.067 --> 00:10:15.549
So I think we're just very inconsistent as human beings and we're lazy.
00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:20.432
Let's let's bring it back to the, to this issue of resource guarding.
00:10:20.432 --> 00:10:22.707
So how does how does that all kind of start?
00:10:22.707 --> 00:10:23.301
Or women, you know?
00:10:23.301 --> 00:10:25.725
Cause I know I've seen we've had litters of puppies.
00:10:25.725 --> 00:10:28.192
You know a dog has 10 puppies, you know nine puppies.
00:10:28.192 --> 00:10:37.927
In the beginning they all sort of seem the same and then the personalities get a little bit different and then you get that one where you can see their resource guarding and it's so interesting.
00:10:37.927 --> 00:10:42.774
For anybody who's ever had a chance to see how the mom manages those behaviors.
00:10:42.774 --> 00:10:44.120
It's very interesting, but what?
00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:45.024
What should pet parents?
00:10:45.024 --> 00:10:46.509
I get a new puppy, I bring it home.
00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:52.552
When does that all start to become an issue that I should be, you know, turning in my attention?
00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:59.993
Well, I think the first thing when when we talk about resource guarding that we need to say is that it's a very natural canine behavior.
00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:08.110
I think there are so many people that are surprised when a dog displays resource guarding like, oh my God, it it.
00:11:08.110 --> 00:11:17.732
You know, it's amazing how, quite frankly amazing, how little that we see, even though I don't want to minimize it, there's a lot of it out there.
00:11:17.732 --> 00:11:35.427
But when it comes, when you take a look at the genetics of dogs and the fact that you know, for most of their evolution they're in an environment where resources are scarce and they're having to protect them, they're having to fight for them.
00:11:35.427 --> 00:11:39.171
So that's a normal canine behavior.
00:11:39.171 --> 00:12:01.712
However, you know, with tens of thousands of years of evolution and domestication, you know a lot of that has been bred out of the dogs, but it's still part of the makeup of of a canine and there are some breeds that are going to be a little more predisposed, you know, or a guarding breed.
00:12:01.712 --> 00:12:05.831
So our shepherds, our mastiffs, you know great Pyrenees.
00:12:05.831 --> 00:12:17.595
So there are going to be certain breeds that if, historically, they were bred for guarding well, resource guarding guarding's in half of that word, right?
00:12:17.595 --> 00:12:17.836
Yeah.
00:12:18.400 --> 00:12:23.032
And so they're naturally going to be a little more prone towards that.
00:12:23.032 --> 00:12:27.331
There are genetic factors that can come into play.
00:12:27.331 --> 00:12:35.284
You had talked about you know, a litter of 10 puppies or so, and you know this, Amy, that you can have in that litter.
00:12:35.284 --> 00:12:41.575
If we were to do a bell curve, on one end we may have some dogs that are really shy and timid.
00:12:41.575 --> 00:12:46.995
On the other end of the spectrum, we may have a dog that's extremely rambunctious.
00:12:46.995 --> 00:12:47.788
And.
00:12:49.481 --> 00:12:51.986
We can have same breed.
00:12:51.986 --> 00:12:54.613
You know, people are always like, well, which breeds are more prone?
00:12:54.613 --> 00:13:01.323
Well, I talked about the guarding breeds, but any breed of dog, any breed of dog, can be a resource garter.
00:13:01.323 --> 00:13:34.988
And I will say that if, right from the beginning, we've got a puppy that is insecure right from the beginning and we've all seen them, you've seen them right the puppy that's skittish, nervous, fearful, not so social, those dogs are going to have problems across the board and one of those things are going to be resources, because resources they need to live, they need food, they need water, they need space to be able to have comfort.
00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:38.908
There are dogs out there that have had a lot of trauma.
00:13:38.908 --> 00:13:50.105
You know a large litter, let's say we got a litter of 12 and we've got 10 nipples and we've got puppies fighting for resources right there Because the resources are scarce.
00:13:50.105 --> 00:14:03.346
And now take a runt, or take a dog that's a little more withdrawn, a little more shy, a little more fearful, a little more anxious, because that's its makeup, and now there's more scarcity.
00:14:03.346 --> 00:14:18.688
Okay, and what happens is we also do certain things as pet owners, guardians, pet parents, but we make a lot of mistakes with our dogs.
00:14:19.822 --> 00:14:20.505
We get a puppy.
00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:25.008
How many times does a puppy grab something it shouldn't have and run off, run off with it.
00:14:25.008 --> 00:14:25.708
It's so cute.
00:14:25.970 --> 00:14:28.173
Yeah, it's cute and it's funny, right, we get it on video.
00:14:29.804 --> 00:14:30.628
The puppy wants it.
00:14:30.628 --> 00:14:34.109
But we run and we grab it and we take it away from the puppy.
00:14:34.109 --> 00:14:37.082
So the puppy lost, we don't replace it.
00:14:37.082 --> 00:14:41.706
Oftentimes Most of us know, oh my God, he's got my remote, boom, let me grab that.
00:14:41.706 --> 00:14:45.884
Oh my God, he's got my glasses, let me grab those, let me never replace it.
00:14:46.019 --> 00:15:08.645
So a puppy that's, you know, kind of exploring the world, just a happy-go-lucky puppy and starts grabbing things and starts realizing that, hey, every time I grab something, it gets taken away from me and starts to develop a little bit of protectiveness, starts to develop a little bit of possessiveness, and that's just a normal happy-go-lucky puppy.
00:15:08.645 --> 00:15:25.164
People that with good intentions, you know, sticking their fingers in the food bowl, taking the food bowl away from the dog or the puppy and trying to make a point and prove hey, I can take the food away from the puppy, I can stick my hands in there.
00:15:25.164 --> 00:15:34.062
But creating situations where they're causing some level of discomfort, okay.
00:15:34.062 --> 00:15:59.124
First, guarding is about the fear of loss, the fear of losing something that is very important, okay, and that can be food, it can be toys, it can be any object, it can be a location, space, it can be a person, it can be another pet.
00:15:59.124 --> 00:16:00.567
Yeah.
00:16:00.607 --> 00:16:02.804
Inanimate objects, it can be anything.
00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.248
I'm glad you said person, because that's another thing that crops up.
00:16:06.248 --> 00:16:22.429
A lot is that and I made this I made this very mistake we had a lab who was, you know, brought up kind of isolated because we were in them, I was getting out of the Air Force and we were moving from Colorado to Texas, so the dog spent a lot of time by himself during formative time where he didn't get socialized.
00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:23.471
That was a huge piece of it.
00:16:23.471 --> 00:16:35.606
But I remember thinking, when he was a puppy at the time, but then a young dog, how cool it was when I would be walking my daughter in the stroller and the dog would be walking and he would growl at people that came up.
00:16:35.606 --> 00:16:36.703
He's protecting us.
00:16:36.703 --> 00:16:48.510
And I hear people say, oh, he's very protective of me, he really loves me, and it's like is he protecting you because he loves you or is he?
00:16:48.510 --> 00:16:53.124
You know, they don't understand what's really happening and I didn't in the time either.
00:16:54.581 --> 00:16:59.272
And it escalated into a good bite to my daughter in the face at one point.
00:17:01.605 --> 00:17:03.349
So it's, you know.
00:17:03.349 --> 00:17:10.311
Yeah, the dog may love them, the dog may be protecting them, but it's not altruistic, it's selfish.
00:17:10.311 --> 00:17:12.202
The dog, you know.
00:17:12.202 --> 00:17:21.425
That's why I get a kick out of even today, in 2024, people saying hey you need to be alpha, Even though we know that's BS.
00:17:21.425 --> 00:17:22.087
We know that.
00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:23.484
Oh, and a lot of people still think it.
00:17:23.484 --> 00:17:27.569
We've seen famous people on TV say it, and so therefore yes.
00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:32.731
But I tell pet owners I say listen, you feed your dog.
00:17:32.731 --> 00:17:34.267
Your dog doesn't eat without you.
00:17:34.267 --> 00:17:36.506
You provide water for your dog.
00:17:36.506 --> 00:17:37.925
Your dog doesn't drink without you.
00:17:37.925 --> 00:17:39.707
Provide shelter for your dog.
00:17:39.707 --> 00:17:42.028
Your dog doesn't have a place to live without you.
00:17:42.028 --> 00:17:43.884
Alpha, your God.
00:17:43.884 --> 00:17:44.546
Yeah.
00:17:44.546 --> 00:17:45.710
What are you talking about?
00:17:45.710 --> 00:17:53.788
You got to be you're already God to them and this whole idea of you know.
00:17:53.788 --> 00:17:55.131
You've got to show him who's boss.
00:17:55.131 --> 00:17:56.213
You've got to be alpha.
00:17:56.213 --> 00:17:58.479
No yeah.
00:17:59.201 --> 00:18:21.542
But despite that right, that love that they have and everything that we provide for them, they can view and this is the one thing that I think a lot of pet parents don't grasp, and I think aggression in general is when a dog's aggressive in the pet parents like but there's no threat, I don't see a threat.
00:18:21.542 --> 00:18:24.001
Dog does there doesn't.
00:18:24.001 --> 00:18:26.088
First of all, there doesn't have to be a real threat.
00:18:26.088 --> 00:18:35.384
It can be a perceived threat, and what one dog is going to perceive as threatening is going to be different than the next dog and the next dog and the next dog.
00:18:35.384 --> 00:18:46.683
And again, pet parents, they they're trying, and they're trying to find logic and reason and use critical thinking.
00:18:46.683 --> 00:18:48.931
For you know why is the dog upset?
00:18:48.931 --> 00:18:51.205
Why does the dog feel that it needs to attack?
00:18:51.567 --> 00:18:59.672
Yeah, yeah, I've even in a situation where it's like a big dog, little dog, it's like what's he so worried about?
00:18:59.672 --> 00:19:04.869
That's just a little chihuahua, and it's like it's not the point that you know the size of the dog is not the point.
00:19:04.869 --> 00:19:07.506
Whether he can take him or not is not the point.
00:19:08.127 --> 00:19:08.288
Yeah.
00:19:08.288 --> 00:19:24.284
So I think one of the things that's important when we talk about resource guarding, that we don't take on the thought process or the idea that my dog's a little jerk and he's being dominant.
00:19:24.284 --> 00:19:36.506
But that's the first thing that a lot of people want to think and that's what, unfortunately, a lot of well intentioned trainers that are out there that you know promote that as well.
00:19:36.506 --> 00:19:37.644
It's my intention.
00:19:37.644 --> 00:19:41.490
No animal goes into fight or flight unless they perceive a threat.
00:19:41.490 --> 00:19:50.287
And if they're perceiving a threat they're uncomfortable, they're nervous, they're stressed, they're anxious, they're fearful.
00:19:50.287 --> 00:19:56.172
It's that underlying emotional state that's the real problem.
00:19:56.172 --> 00:20:05.348
The aggressive behavior is a problem for the pet parent, it's a problem for anybody that you know is on the receiving end of that.
00:20:05.348 --> 00:20:32.442
But for the dog, that aggression is the dog's solution to the problem of, hey, I'm afraid that you're going to take my food or my toy, or you're going to harm or take away my pet parent or this comfortable couch that I'm on, and as a result of that anxiety, they may start to display behaviors.
00:20:32.442 --> 00:20:38.921
Right, they might start to growl and if the growling isn't heated, maybe they show their teeth.
00:20:38.921 --> 00:20:46.057
If that's not heated, then maybe they start doing some lunging or snapping, and if that's not heated, then maybe they actually bite.
00:20:46.057 --> 00:20:47.855
But think about what the dog wants.
00:20:47.855 --> 00:20:54.397
The dog is feeling threatened, that it's going to lose that and it feels that this is a very important resource.
00:20:54.397 --> 00:20:55.381
I'm going to lose it.
00:20:55.381 --> 00:20:59.798
I'm scared, so I want that threat to go away.
00:20:59.798 --> 00:21:11.838
I want distance and space between me, the scared dog, and that person or that other dog or other animal that I feel is a threat.
00:21:11.838 --> 00:21:21.472
And so all that aggressive behavior is very functional for the dog to try to get distance and space, and what typically happens?
00:21:21.472 --> 00:21:27.219
We go whoa, whoa, we back off right, but these behaviors become functional.
00:21:27.219 --> 00:21:32.801
The dog wants distance and space and oftentimes that's just what's going to happen.
00:21:32.801 --> 00:21:43.857
It works for them to get distance and space and when they can get that distance and space and that keeps on working for them, they're not going to give up that behavior.
00:21:44.609 --> 00:22:03.521
One of the things that I have to do is educate pet parents on what negative reinforcement is, and that's the removal of something uncomfortable, that if a behavior causes the removal of something uncomfortable, that behavior has value, because who wants to be uncomfortable, right?
00:22:03.521 --> 00:22:28.180
So if you are a dog or you're a person and I've got a resource guarding issue, I'm a dog with a resource guarding issue and you're coming near me and I want distance and space and I growl or I snap or I snarl or I do a lunge and that threat that I'm perceiving moves away.
00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:33.171
That takes away some of this uncomfortable feeling.
00:22:33.171 --> 00:22:36.499
This emotional pressure that I have is removed.
00:22:36.499 --> 00:22:43.734
Negative reinforcement is the removal of something uncomfortable Pet parents would understand it about.
00:22:43.734 --> 00:22:49.278
When you get in the car, all right, if you don't buckle up, there's a negative reinforcement tool in there.
00:22:49.278 --> 00:22:50.450
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
00:22:50.450 --> 00:22:58.592
It's annoying and as soon as you engage in the behavior that they want, that something unpleasant goes away.
00:22:58.592 --> 00:23:00.116
That ding, ding, ding goes away.
00:23:00.116 --> 00:23:21.334
And so aggressive behavior is used to create distance and space and oftentimes it works for the dog and it reinforces and strengthens that behavior, and so they need to understand that these behaviors are getting reinforced, they're getting strengthened.
00:23:22.089 --> 00:23:33.219
The other thing that I have to talk to pet parents about is in the beginning, when they've got a problem and they want to address it, avoiding all the triggers.
00:23:33.219 --> 00:23:33.800
What does that mean?
00:23:33.800 --> 00:23:47.760
When it comes to problems with food, we don't put the dog in a situation where, whether it be, it's afraid of another person approaching it when it has food, whether it be another dog, we don't put that dog in that situation.
