# Help cocker spaniel resource guarding



## Chesterirene (Oct 25, 2017)

I have a 5 year old male red cocker spaniel that we have had from being a puppy. We also have a 6 month old female lemon roan cocker spaniel that my husband surprised us with. (Not really a good time to be getting another I know). The problem is with our 5 year old male his guarding has become quite difficult recently. I've read up quite a bit about resource guarding and bought the book mine! By Jean Donaldson but find it a difficult read. It's also difficult as he doesn't tend to guard food and doesn't guard toys. He guards our possessions i.e. handbag, clothes generally. It's also difficult to know what he is guarding sometimes as he is particularly bad in my son's bedroom. He tends to growl as soon as you walk through the door and there can be many things near him so we don't really know what he is guarding. We think that it is fear based with him as he is quite timid around other dogs on walks. He is also very scared of having a bath or letting us look at his teeth or groom him. I think in the past when he was a pup we didn't realise that he was aggressive because he was scared and thought he was challenging us so we probably made the problem worse. Since getting our new pup he has started to guard things from her which is a bit worrying. We have tried to go near to him when he guards and throw treats on the floor which does sometimes calm him down depending on how valuable the item is. But then he can have treats then we walk away and then he is back to guarding again. I know we probably need professional help but at the moment we just can't afford it. If anyone has any advice on techniques we can do with him would be really helpful. We just don't want things to escalate further. Thankyou


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Look on the sticky here..it's got absolutely lots of links and information to help. Give it a good read!

Cocker spaniels as a whole can be awful resource guarders , very much everything is theirs for the taking. So what am saying, you don't yourself need to explain the problem or even give it a label as such. It would be brilliant to know the what's, why's etc but at the end of the day, it doesn't necessarily help with the resource guarding per se, it's pretty much dealt with the same way! So take the pressure off yourself over that...yes I agree some things we do need to look in more clearly, and dog behaviour can be so misconstrued.

The younger dog, and your older dog! Well the most you can expect in a multi dog household is dogs tolerate each other...yes we all see those lovely photos of dogs cuddled up etc in reality it's not as common as people think. However, in most multidog households, there can always be some triggers from the most placid dogs..such as food and toys being most common. So not leaving things around and out. Allow your puppy interactive times to play alone without the other dog near. 

There is plenty more I could say...but before anything else, and I am sure others will be around to help too. Have you ever had a vet check to see if your dog has an underlying health issue...if hypothetically you were going down the behaviourist route. Then no decent behaviourist would see you without a thorough health check. This usually includes blood tests...it could be pain making your dog growl etc.

One more thing...and I am by far an expert in resource guarding..however I did have a resource guarder from hell a few years back. Who is perfectly good now. What really helped was her having her own safe space at times...her chosen place to go was my bedroom. She still spends lots of time there. Has your dog got any sort of safe haven just to relax, and let allow stress levels to go down slightly...this might be a crate, an room in the house where he isn't interrupted by the hustle and bustle of family life. Where an obnoxious young dog is around too...and all young dogs are obnoxious they are still learning. It may be pure coincidence that he's going in your son's bedroom.. but it might be his chosen area of peace and quiet.


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## Chesterirene (Oct 25, 2017)

lullabydream said:


> Look on the sticky here..it's got absolutely lots of links and information to help. Give it a good read!
> 
> Cocker spaniels as a whole can be awful resource guarders , very much everything is theirs for the taking. So what am saying, you don't yourself need to explain the problem or even give it a label as such. It would be brilliant to know the what's, why's etc but at the end of the day, it doesn't necessarily help with the resource guarding per se, it's pretty much dealt with the same way! So take the pressure off yourself over that...yes I agree some things we do need to look in more clearly, and dog behaviour can be so misconstrued.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your help . I've been looking at the stickys and some have been quite helpful. He does have his bed but doesn't really have his own space so I will have to think about that. I think a behaviourist might be the way to go with him


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Chesterirene said:


> Thank you for your help . I've been looking at the stickys and some have been quite helpful. He does have his bed but doesn't really have his own space so I will have to think about that. I think a behaviourist might be the way to go with him


You are welcome...

Resource guarding can be fixed, but sometimes it can take a behaviourist to point you in the right direction. If they see it for themselves...it gives a whole bigger picture.

Some pet insurances will pay for behaviourists too, so if you have insurance it might be worth looking into. It's always on referral from the vets, and to be honest no behaviourist should see a dog without a clean bill of health given by a vet anyway.


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