Resource Guarding

[Caro]

Sounds like fantastic progress. The hardest part of NILIF and routine is sticking to it yourself. I know when mine regress a little bit of routine goes a long way to settle them back down again - if only I could stick to it all the time.

 

[SheltieChe]

It sounds like things are working out well. Yay!

I was wondering if you'd be willing to expand on what you're doing. Although I'm pretty sure Koji doesn't have a resource guarding issue, I figured since it sounds like structure worked for you, and I'm trying to get some back, I'd pick your brain.

Get "Ruff love" by SG. it is all in there, step by step, honest

what I do not understand how you can feed your dog and train it too... darn, if I do that my dogs will not fit through the door frame

 

[3Stars]

what I do not understand how you can feed your dog and train it too... darn, if I do that my dogs will not fit through the door frame

I have no idea how he stays as skinny as he does - I actually worry about him being underweight, as opposed to overweight!

 

[romeosangiovese]

The barking that he used to do at dogs/distractions outside has decreased by about 80% - 90% - I actually went outside on Day 4 to see if he had escaped the yard since I'm so used to hearing him bark!!!

I'm really curious how this happened! My dogs love the sound of their voice. If there's a way to get them to not bark at things on their own accord (especially in the house) without screaming at them to shut up, that would be pretty darn cool!

 

[SheltieChe]

I'm really curious how this happened! My dogs love the sound of their voice. If there's a way to get them to not bark at things on their own accord (especially in the house) without screaming at them to shut up, that would be pretty darn cool!

I would be curious to know this answer too. Because in my own research and understanding the only way for such behavior disappear/ change so fast if that was a behavior chain created. I.e. " dog barks " Hey Freddy, come on out, let me bark at you because if I bark my human will come out and give me attention, play ball with me and possible even ask to come in and given me cookie."
Dogs are brilliant at figuring out such behavior chains and if you give dog what he wants in the first place, i.e. attention and play he has no reason to go fence fighting... and chain is broken everyone is happy....
unfortunately I see only minor part of problem barking being resolved so easily

 

[3Stars]

I'm really curious how this happened! My dogs love the sound of their voice. If there's a way to get them to not bark at things on their own accord (especially in the house) without screaming at them to shut up, that would be pretty darn cool!

This was actually an unexpected (but very welcome) bonus - I expected his barking to decrease when he was with me on a walk, but I didn't anticipate it extending into the rest of the house/yard.

With many dogs, there is a strong link between insecurity and barking (as well as insecurity and aggression/reactivity). The added structure puts me in a leadership position. If I'm in a leadership position, he doesn't have anything to worry about - he doesn't have to warn me that a dog is on the sidewalk outside, he doesn't need to scare off the neighbour who pulled into the driveway, he doesn't need to worry about the kids in the back laneway, because he's more secure in the knowledge that his owner has everything under control. Today I had him loaded up in the SUV, facing the sidewalk. I went back to the house to get another dog. As I was bringing the second dog out of the house I saw a woman walking a dog past the house. A week ago, he would have had his front feet up against the bars of the kennel, barking madly. Today, he was standing in a somewhat tense stance, but wasn't freaking out and only gave a soft "woof".

He has never been an unthinking barker - he's always barked for a specific reason (dog next door has been let out, people waking by with dogs, neighbours down the street are having a party and he can hear them laughing etc.), but the problem was that he thought everything was a concern, and so he was barking a lot! Yelling has never worked for me (I think he just thinks I'm joining in on the barking ).

It's so hard to give advice on this forum because you never know what exactly is going on in any given situation, but there's no harm in giving the added structure a try - it won't harm your dogs in any way. As some one mentioned above, the hardest part will be sticking with it, but I think I'll have to - I've simply had enough of the barking/snarling/guarding etc, and my dog seems much happier for knowing where his place in the household is.

 

[SheltieChe]

Once my boys and I went through Ruff Love we relinquished few rules, we still maintain basic structure. It was very helpful for everybody. Although I do not like talk leadership words, somehow it always leads to discussions into dominant/ alpha etc. I prefer to say we are teammates
As for fence fighting I have one of each- youngest could care less but will support his brother and oldest really wants to be in a thick of it
but then oldest is much better with being quiet watchdog and youngest is alarmist... go figure...
one thing I know for sure- it has to be prevented from rehearsals if one wants it to be controlled, each and every time. And that is hard to do.

 

[3Stars]

Once my boys and I went through Ruff Love we relinquished few rules, we still maintain basic structure. It was very helpful for everybody. Although I do not like talk leadership words, somehow it always leads to discussions into dominant/ alpha etc. I prefer to say we are teammates
As for fence fighting I have one of each- youngest could care less but will support his brother and oldest really wants to be in a thick of it
but then oldest is much better with being quiet watchdog and youngest is alarmist... go figure...
one thing I know for sure- it has to be prevented from rehearsals if one wants it to be controlled, each and every time. And that is hard to do.

I haven't read Ruff Love yet, but I was talking to a friend who has it, and she's going to lend it to me. It sounds like a worthwhile lead. For me, there is a huge difference between leadership and dominant/alpha. Most true leaders in the dog world (I'm talking actual dogs, not humans) are "benevolent leaders" - not what people typically consider to be "dominant". They are the dogs who walk in the room, and the entire room just calms down because of their quiet energy. They're not the dogs who have been portrayed as "alpha" on various dog shows - they aren't barking, lunging, biting, making "hard eyes", etc - those dogs often aren't dominant dogs - they're insecure dogs who don't know their place. So when I talk about leadership, it isn't anything negative - it's a calm, benevolent, fair leader. Rehearsals are part of the reactive component of training - we haven't done any of those yet, and I'm not yet sure whether or not I'll need to, but it's a great suggestion. We'll see how the weeks progress.

 

[k9kreationz]

what I do not understand how you can feed your dog and train it too... darn, if I do that my dogs will not fit through the door frame

What do you mean?

I train Koji using his dinner. Once his dinner is gone, training session is over. Granted, though, doing LAT has made me have to give him more cheese, but I figure, cheese is at least somewhat healthier than random junk.

And like 3stars dog, Koji is thin. That boy can eat and eat and rarely gain weight. lol. I have to make sure he doesn't go underweight either. Even though I have him on the thinner side for agility.

 

[romeosangiovese]

It's so hard to give advice on this forum because you never know what exactly is going on in any given situation, but there's no harm in giving the added structure a try - it won't harm your dogs in any way. As some one mentioned above, the hardest part will be sticking with it, but I think I'll have to - I've simply had enough of the barking/snarling/guarding etc, and my dog seems much happier for knowing where his place in the household is.

Thanks for that! I've always practiced some form of structure in the house, but I guess, over time, when I stopped really thinking about it, I just ended up letting some things slide. I did however notice slightly more "anarchy" around the house! Romeo is an anxious barker afterall, especially with other dogs! And Juliet is always happy to sound the alert on just about everything going on outside the house!

Time to put in more much needed structure! And perhaps re-read Ruff Love too! It is as if we need to go through a much needed yearly refresher, and re-implement things around the house!