Sisters dog, advice please

[MrsFluffyMuff]

I've started looking after my sister's dog one day a week whilst she is back at work. The only problem is, he is very possessive over things, and resource guards. Once he has something (could be a toy or food) he will not let you anywhere near him. He growls, barks and bears his teeth. I have young DC and am finding it hard to manage this. I have a dog myself who has never shown any resource guarding issues so i have no idea what to do. My sister says just leave him to it until he's finished with whatever it is he has but he seems to be getting worse. Last week he pinched one of DDs teddies and wouldn't let go until he'd chewed it to bits, my DD was really upset. I tried to swap for high value treat, but it didn't work.

Advice please!

Just say you're sorry you can't do it any more.

Resource guarding is a serious issue that shouldn’t be ignored.
What if he takes and chews something dangerous?
What if your child drops a toy, goes to pick it up and the dog bites (which it will)?

You can’t have a resource guarding dog with young children.

I've tried to tell her to consult a behaviourist but she won't be told, I don't think she realises the seriousness. I would pay for one myself but really can't afford it

You need to tell your sister you cannot and will not look after the dog.
I agree with a PP, you cannot have a resource guarder around children, the potential for bites is too high

As a dog lover and someone who has previously taken on a biter. You can’t do it with young children.
It takes time, patience and consistency which this dog doesn’t have if he’s being passed about.
You have to say no, or she has to get a professional trainer on-in her own house.
Dog needs one on one, intensive, repetitive intervention. You cannot do that with young children.

Ooft, that dog is dangerous.

Someone will make an innocent mistake and reach for something and get badly bitten.

Either you keep taking the dog and muzzle it permanently in a comfortable muzzle which you remove at feeding times when it’s locked in the kitchen away from small people, or she makes other arrangements for the dog.

She’s minimising the risk. Show her photos of kids who have been attacked by dogs in their own home to make her see sense.

She’s the one that’s enabling this behaviour as she doesn’t understand dog behaviour and training and is too stupid to realise her inadequacies.

Keep that dog away from your children.

Resource guarding takes time and work to fix. It's not something that you can do one day a week. It needs regular consistent counter conditioning

The dog is potentially dangerous to your children. You need to say you can't look after him until a behaviourist has assessed him and they've worked on the problem.

If your dsis won't consult a behaviourist then refuse to look after her dog.

Her advice of just leaving him until he's finished with whatever he has is ridiculous... as pp have said, what if he picked up something dangerous or bit your child?

What did your sister say about your daughter's teddy? It sounds like she's taking you for a ride.

As a fosterer, who is currently working with a dog with resource guarding issues, I wouldn’t want to keep looking after your sisters dog.

It’s potentially unsafe to have a resource guarding dog around your young children, and these behaviours need consistent training and management. If your sister doesn’t even think it’s an issue, I would take a step back and stop having the dog for her. It’s an accident waiting to happen

My friend had a dog like this who, once they had a dc, they had to rehome. They'd tried everything- more than one behaviourist over a very long term, all the research you could imagine. They tried so hard once the baby arrived but once baby started dropping things on the floor it became clear it wasn't a safe situation. Ds needs to take this more seriously but I'd say you can no longer look after dog in your position. She will be annoyed I'm sure but it's not worth the risk

Another one saying you can't look after the dog with your kids. I knew someone who's 3 yr old was bitten by their Jack Russell when she threw a toy which landed at the dog's feet and ran over to get it back.
Dog just went for her and even though the mother was in the same room it obviously happens so quickly. Same issue: no training. It shouldn't have been around the LO.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Yes I think I already knew the answer was to stop looking after him I just needed to see if there was anything I could do to help first. She will almost certainly be annoyed when I tell her but I do feel it's an accident waiting to happen, she thinks he will grow out of it with age. When I told her about the teddy she just laughed it off, she thinks the sun shines out of his arse to be honest and he can't do wrong. It will be a shame to stop having him really as he gets on with my dog and they love to play together but it's not worth the risk when I have DC about.

she thinks he will grow out of it with age
She’ll be very disappointed then.
Aggression tends to get worse with age, not better.

Thats what I fear @Hotchocolatewithcream

Presumably sis has an adult only home so perhaps this behavior isn't as frequently displayed as indirectly managed, but its shitty that she's minimising about the risks to your kids since you've told her just so she doesn't have to pay for alternative care.
She's failing the dog by not seeking professional help, its likely only a matter of time till someone's bitten if care isn't taken & its not safe to leave a dog to chew/eat stuff either, it could end up needing surgery to remove items or even be fatal.

She does have kids, two are teens and her youngest is 6. He is definitely displaying this behaviour at home, he does it with his food etc too

Sadly I expect a lot more posts of this nature re behavioural problems or lack of doggy day care, and subsequently a lot of dogs in rescue centres. Caused by stupid people with more money than sense buying a lockdown puppy when they don’t have the knowledge or finances or planning ahead to care properly for them.

That may not be all relevant to the OPs sister if she bought the dog pre lockdown but the other points still apply to her.

Doesn’t understand dog training or have suitable day care and the answer is ask family and then don’t listen to any of their concerns.

I doubt anywhere that provides a doggy daycare service would want the animal either due to its issues as it could attack others over toys etc and be a liability.

She did buy him during lockdown, he is 6 months old, and you're right, she did pay alot of money for him without doing any research into the breed or anything.She got him because he is cute and fluffy. I've told her dogs may look cute and fluffy but they are still animals that require proper training, they aren't teddy bears! I told her I don't think its a good idea to have him round the DC until she gets a behaviourist in to help with his resource guarding issue, she seemed annoyed and I haven't heard from her since.

Tbh, comments like that from Elieza are really not at all helpful.

Things like resource guarding, anxiety, dog aggression etc often have a strong genetic basis.
Far more than training.

Its often not a training issue but an inherited problem, I know the OPs sister hasn’t but often, owners of dogs with severe behavioural problems will have put a great deal of time into training, socialisation, often they will have had behaviourists and trainers in aswell.

I am going to take a guess that the dog spoke about in this thread is probably a cockerpoo?
If so, severe resource guarding is a well known fault in many lines of golden retriever, cocker spaniel and Springer spaniel and their crosses are not immune.

Yes you got it in one. Hes a cockapoo

@Hotchocolatewithcream

Just expressing my opinion. Sounds like I hit a raw nerve with you for some reason.

You’ve basically called people with dogs with behavioural problems stupid, claimed they are people with more money than sense and people with no understanding of dog training or knowledge to care for them..

It’s a very offensive, insensitive post.
Especially when you consider that most behavioural problems are largely genetic and have little to do with the owner.

So what if loads of people bought dogs during lockdown?
It doesn’t automatically make them bad owners..

There hasn’t been an explosion in rescue dogs so clearly, people are not giving up their lockdown dogs in droves.
Many people have been made WFH permanently and in some ways social distancing is quite useful for a socialisation perspective as it means you can expose to different stimulus without overwhelming or inadvertently teaching rude behaviour like jumping at people or ambushing other dogs.

The OPs sister bought on a whim without research and isn’t taking the problem seriously granted, but people have been doing that well before coronavirus unfortunately.

@Hotchocolatewithcream

I didn’t call all owners of dogs with behaviour problems anything of the sort. Or refer to every single owner who bought a lockdown dog (and I don’t think I referred even to dogs, only puppies).
I merely referred to the stupid ones.

I don’t think my post was insensitive. Possibly offensive to the idiots in that boat but then again the truth hurts, I’m not going to start telling lies to appease people. The truth will out.

You have taken this personally for some reason.

I don’t know you from Adam and I am not having a go at you or whatever dogs you have tried and failed to retrain due to their deep seated issues due to breed characteristics.

I stand by what I said.
There have been tv programmes made about the subject, I’m not the only one of this opinion.

As it happens I agree re breed. It’s a given that some breeds have certain traits. Sometimes you can’t control nature.

I'm with the others - you need to stop looking after this dog until your DSis has consulted a properly qualified behaviourist, followed through on the advice and actually addressed the issue.

Your first responsibility is to your children and own dog, not your DSis and definitely not her dog.

The dog won't grow out of the behaviour, it will only become more ingrained at time goes on unless something is actually done about it.