Resource guarding

For the last two or three days Pereg has started what I can only think of as resource guarding. Her first meal [chicken wings / turkey neck / whole small fish] she has on a large sheet of oilcloth that I put on the couch - if I put the food anywhere else she just takes whatever it is onto the couch hence the oilcloth.

Her second meal is in her bowl on the kitchen floor.

Previously as soon as she has finished I remove the oilcloth after her first meal and take it into the kitchen to wipe it down and put it away, and pick up her bowl to wash it following her second meal.

Now she just lays flat on the oilcloth and curls a lip if I tell her to move so I can remove it, and with her bowl she stands over it and again does not want me to touch it or pick it up. Again I get the lip curling and quiet grumbling growls. I am not trying to take her food away - she has already finished it - and usually she moves away as soon as she has eaten.

I am getting over this behaviour by asking if she wants a "Dompy" [a special ear-twiddling cuddle] and she is then back to her normal self, but why would she all of a sudden start this strange behaviour? And is there anything I should be doing [apart from offering the "Dompy" which she loves] as I have no idea why she suddenly started this.

As she has seizures you should be aware that on some occasions wires may be crossed or even and IME dogs with seizures can be more prone to this behaviour than others.

Whilst you may, at present, be able to snap her out of it, I would do some ACTIVE training around this.

http://www.apdt.co.uk/documents/Prev...ceguarding.pdf
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/re...ndfoodgame.pdf
http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resource-guarding/
http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...ctguarding.htm

I have had a quick look through those links - thank you for posting them - and have Bookmarked them for further study when I have a bit more time.

I did wonder if it had any connection with her condition but it has only just started and it is only when I want to take the oilcloth or empty bowl away. And the offer of a "Dompy" immediately takes her attention away from the cloth or the bowl.

She does not try to touch her food, whatever it is, until I tell her she may eat. She sits, waits, when asked "say please" she will lift her right front paw, and will stay in that position until I tell her she may eat. If I do not tell her she can, she will sit there until I do. I have even left the room while she is still waiting and she has not touched it, so she is normally quite an obedient dog.

That is why this sudden new behaviour puzzles me. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether she is just playing up or whether it is crossed wires in her brain, but she has never done the lip curling/grumbling growl before.

When one of mine started to resource guard his food bowl when it was empty, I simply removed the use of a bowl completely. They both now get fed with food (dried kibble not raw) straight on to the floor (or a washable mat/towel) and that sorted it out immediately.

Whether or not a dog is obedient or not has nothing to do with resource guarding.......