# Possessive and aggressive



## Caasper (Apr 10, 2015)

Good afternoon, I have a 3 year old male Cavalier king Charles Spaniel named Bo. 
We have owned him since he was about 16 weeks old, and got him from a reputable breeder.
Bo is an incredibly loving, mostly calm and docile dog. You could do whatever you wanted to him and he wouldn't react. However, since he was about 18 months to 2 years, he has become incredibly possessive. It started off with just slippers and shoes, but now he is possessive of everything he deems to have value, including food and chews. 

If we approach him when he has one of these items in his possession, he will growl and use his body to cover it. If we attempt to remove the item (or him), he begins to try to bite. Normally he only tries to snap at whatever he is guarding, but if your hand is in front of him he may go for this as well. We have tried luring him away with treats, but most of the time he won't show any interest in the item. If he does, he will still growl and be incredibly aggressive in his body language as he takes the treat.

Does anyone have any advice as to what to do to help?


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Why are you trying to take any treats off him? If I give my dog a treat, I leave her to it.. if somebody tried to steal my piece of cheesecake as I was eating it I wouldn't be impressed.


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## Muttly (Oct 1, 2014)

Hanwombat said:


> Hello and welcome to the forum.
> 
> Why are you trying to take any treats off him? If I give my dog a treat, I leave her to it.. if somebody tried to steal my piece of cheesecake as I was eating it I wouldn't be impressed.


Me either, they may loose a finger :sneaky2:

There are looooads of threads on this in this Behaviour forum, with some good links to help you.


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

I know back in the early months with Oliver he was starting to get this way.I started off slow.I would simply start to reach down while giving him the sweet innocent voice.Simply saying can i have it?Don't just reach down and grab it since this seems to accelerate the bad habit.It took a while but he eventually just let me touch it and from there i progressed to being able to take it.However when i could finally take it i just gave it right back.i did this for a bit and finally i got him to just give it to me when i asked for it.this took about a month of constant and consistent work.


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## Muttly (Oct 1, 2014)

Rott lover said:


> I know back in the early months with Oliver he was starting to get this way.I started off slow.I would simply start to reach down while giving him the sweet innocent voice.Simply saying can i have it?Don't just reach down and grab it since this seems to accelerate the bad habit.It took a while but he eventually just let me touch it and from there i progressed to being able to take it.However when i could finally take it i just gave it right back.i did this for a bit and finally i got him to just give it to me when i asked for it.this took about a month of constant and consistent work.


I really think this is bad advice for the OP, if you read how their dog is reacting.

I'm not sure what advice to give on a dog at this level, having never experienced it. But there is info on this forum.

Here is one:
http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-training-and-behaviour/279444-resource-guarding.html


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## Rott lover (Jan 2, 2015)

Muttly said:


> I really think this is bad advice for the OP, if you read how their dog is reacting.


the trust comes from building on things being taken and givin back.The problem with the way things are going is there is a reward for bad behavior.Giving treats to take something else away is rewarding for the dog.By slowly letting the dog accept you will take something but give it back is just the first step.once this happens then they can start giving something besides a slipper.Like if the slipper is the target then ask for the slipper and give back a toy.You just have to work on it slowly.It sounds as if everything keeps being taken with no replacement.Oliver used to get this way when he chewed his bone down.I didn't want him to choke on it so i would take it away.However i inadvertently created a monster that never wanted to give up anything.So i had to do as i explained to cure the issue.Once he figured out when he did something good he got something better things stayed that way for life.


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## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

Try swapsies? Play with him with a toy - then make that toy the most fab thing ever and keep it on you. When he`s pinched your phone or whatever, start chucking the toy about and playing with it. 99 dogs out of 100 will leave Object 1 to get Object 2. 
If you have that 1 in 100... walk away. Ignore him. It`s no fun if no-one reacts.


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## Jamesgoeswalkies (May 8, 2014)

Caasper said:


> However, since he was about 18 months to 2 years, he has become incredibly possessive. It started off with just slippers and shoes, but now he is possessive of everything he deems to have value, including food and chews.


Dogs rarely just change behaviour. As well as having a Vet check to ensure no underlying conditions are causing him anxiety, I would also look back to think whether any change of circumstances/environment may have acted as a trigger. Resource guarding is often a behaviour that is triggered by insecurity.

I would also look to see whether your actions to get the item away isn't exacerbating the behaviour and giving him a reason to 'up his game.' A dog will react out of fear if we appear to be the one out to just take things away.

And luring rarely works. Reward don't lure.

Teaching 'swapsies' is the best way to begin to change this behaviour (see above post by ClaireandDaisy). And reward copiously every time you do a swop and he complies. Start at a distance. Do not approach or touch him or the item. Then add a word to this behaviour (such as give). Start being the one who adds to his food bowl.

And revisit training. Cavvies are great little workers and enjoy learning. Give him an outlet for his energy and build on his self esteem.

J


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Were you regularly taking things off him when he was younger? If so that may well explain the seemingly sudden change as he matured. Chances are he was showing subtle signs of being uncomfortable before that but they're easily missed if you don't know what you're looking for. People often recommend taking things off a dog and giving it back to teach the dog to let them do it and yet it's about the best way to go about actually creating a dog who feels it needs to guard anything of value  

Management is key to fixing the problem. Initially you need to make it so he can't fail, put anything valuable/dangerous/you don't want chewed etc away so he can't get at them (I know, easier said than done) and ignore him when he does steal something. Outside of times when he's got something he shouldn't have or something you know he'll guard work on teaching him to swap one item for another, starting with swapping a low value item in return for something better. Be creative if needs be, there have been times I've had to offer a walk or a game rather than a treat. And one thing I do think is important, make sure to give the original item back at least some of the time. That way the dog doesn't see it as giving an item to you means it loses it. And I'd also remember that stolen items can be surprisingly high value. Spen values a stolen piece of cardboard far more highly than a piece of hot dog. Or he did, these days anything he steals is usually offered to me, even if I wasn't aware he had taken it. 

Mine! by Jean Donaldson is a book that's highly recommended for resource guarding problems. Haven't read it myself but I know a few here swear by it.

There's also the option to bring in a behaviourist but I would steer clear of anyone using dominance/punishment based methods. It's nothing to do with the dog wanting to take over and everything to do with the dog being afraid of losing what it values. Using punishment and force turned my collie from a dog who'd grumble if you got too close to his food to one who'd just bite you. Swaps and tossing food in his direction while he ate (we progressed to standing by him and dropping it by his bowl but initially would have been bitten doing that!) fixed the problem after 9 years of us living with it.


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