advice please - our 11 month old cockapoo resource guarding

[Scarlet14]

Would really value advice from others as think i've lost perspective on this whole situation. We have a very beautiful cockapoo girl who's now 11 months old. We absolutely love her to bits and 90% of the time she's a total sweetheart - but she can also be very bad for resource guarding and it's getting pretty unmanageable. Things started to escalate a few months ago when she started getting snappy, snarly when we asked her to do things she didn't want to do or to let go of things and then things progressed to her biting me/the kids a few times with no obvious warning (i've since learnt a lot about dog behaviour and understand there may well have been subtle signs we didn't pick up on) which was unnerving. On one occasion she properly broke the skin and bit repetitively (just on me thankfully not the kids) We got a dog behaviourist involved pretty early on and she's brilliant and giving us lots of ideas on how to control the situation although she said from the off that given the severity of the situation it may be that we'd need to look at her living in a different environment/without kids etc. Implementing all the things she's suggested - no-one's been bitten for a few weeks - but we're also leading quite a restricted life. The dog's only allowed in one room (she started resource guarding various places around the house) no-one picks her up ever, the kids aren't allowed to cuddle her or put their faces at their level (they're 10 and 12 so are able to be pretty sensible although not all the time) & we're all pretty nervous around her all the time to be honest. You don't know if you're going to get waggy tail or snarl/snap. It can change in a second either way. She came from a breeder known to us who is great and has a great reputation.

We thought we were on an equilibrium but the last few days things have really escalated again - she's started resource guarding the whole kitchen quite often, so we can't come in to make lunch/dinner etc (the behaviourist tells us to back off when she's like that and give her space) so we've been having food upstairs/watching tv upstairs etc. On one day she made it out of the kitchen by accident and set up camp in one of her spots in the hall and absolutely wouldn't let me come anywhere near - which meant i couldn't get back to my office to work - for over 3 hours. Tonight - she was dozy in the kitchen and i think i startled her and she just went for me - bit my foot hard a few times - i had big boots on so was fine but feel incredibly worried about what would have happened if that was one of the kids in their slippers. Half an hour later she did the same to my husband as he had to go into the kitchen to lock the door and despite entering very slowly with head down, no eye contact etc and him not actually approaching her at all, she came and went for him and bit his foot again. I can't bear the thought of her living elsewhere - i'm sure tomorrow morning she'll be waggy tail and our beautiful girl again - but it's really stressful living here at the moment and i'm worried for the kids and also post lockdown for the kids friends coming over - sure we can try and keep everyone separate but the whole point of having a dog was for the kids to be able to enjoy her. Any advice/thoughts gratefully received - we're all pretty stressed and can't think straight on it all anymore.

Oh that sounds awful for you all . I’m afraid I don’t have any advice other than to have a look at www.rduk.online/. I joined their Facebook group as our cockapoo has a few reactive tendencies and there’s a wealth of support and information there. It’s certainly worth a look. Wishing you lots of luck.

There is a programme on Channel 5 - Dogs Behaving Badly - and they dealt with a little dog recently which sounded very similar. The family were living like prisoners in their own home. They turned the dog around very quickly - might be worth watching to see if you can get some tips?

One thing that stands out to me is that the behaviouralist made them stand up to the dog using body language (and a rolled up newspaper which the dog jumped at and shredded) rather than just allowing the dog to guard the room which it sounds like your behaviouralist is telling you to do.

Good luck, hope you can get this sorted

That sounds very extreme behaviour
Have you had a vet check ?
Has she been speyed or had a season recently? Could be a false pregnancy with hormones all over the shop making it worse.
Is your behaviourist actually properly qualified and experienced and giving you useful advice other than to just give her space.
The aggression sounds like it's at a level where you are going to need a veterinary behaviourist and drug help to be honest .

I think it's Series 3 episode 8, just had a look.

@joeysapple - thanks we'll definitely take a look thank you!

@Cecillie - thanks for the message - she's had a split season which the dog behaviourist said might be making things worse - but that finished a good 6 weeks ago, so i'm not sure if that would still be having an impact? .. we took her to the vet a few weeks ago and she's apparently very healthy, no issues. It's a good idea re: asking the vet more directly for involvement - last time they referred us onto the behaviourist but think we need to get them back involved again.

@Twerking9to5 thank you - i haven't heard of them but it looks great, thank you.

I've been told that a dog should be at the absolute bottom of the pecking order in a household. It sounds like he's currently at the top. Poor you. Sounds very stressful and I'm not sure how easy it'll be to turn it around. Good luck

Oh dear, you've had some poor (and dangerous) advice on this thread. I realise it's a bit old but in case it's still of use...

Resource guarding is, at the heart, fear of losing something the dog already has. It's a fear based behaviour. Reducing an individual DOWN the pecking order (that only applies to chickens anway) will not help them be less afraid. It risks making them much more afraid and thus escalating their behaviour to dangerous levels.

In the specific episode of Dogs Behaving Badly referenced above, the Jack Russell's behaviour when "cured" was bloody heartbreaking. That dog was not trained, was not happy and was not calm. It was fearful and anxious and all the newspaper shit had helped turn it that way.

However, there is an episode of DBB that deals specifically with reosurce guarding as is not quite so shockingly bad - because a large part of it relies on it building up the dog's experience that allowing humans near its food, only ever results on MORE food - thus reduces the fear. Not that I recommend using that as your training bible.

There are lots of really good advice on resourcing guarding. The Dogs Trusts do a pretty good fact sheet (www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/behaviour/behaviour-factsheets/resource%20guarding.pdf).

It is also a good trainers 'bread and butter' and so finding one that can help support you through it, is also really worth doing. Look for one who's approach does not involve punishment (shouting, hitting, shaking, not even a firm vocal tone), but instead focusses on human safety and helping the dog change the way it feels about people near its stuff - i.e reducing the fear.

Am very sorry, I just spotted you alread had a behaviourist helping you. Be guided by them. If you are not getting anywhere, don't be afraid to find someone else or ask for referral on to a vet behaviourist (i.e. a vet who specialises in behaviour rather than a clinical behaviourist who 'just' does behaviour iyswim).