Guarding cockapoo

[1potato]

Hi everyone. Just looking for some advice.

Background first: a year ago we moved from a flat to a house, had a new baby and the toddler started to walk.

Since being in the new house, our cockapoo has started guarding random objects (anything left on floor) pretty ferociously, and sometimes just empty areas in the house. She attacks and bites if we go near. It started all of a sudden one night, like a switch went in her brain: she went all night long and it was terrifying.

We've had her checked by the vets twice and have the all clear for physical issues. We've worked with a behaviourist who seemed as mystified as us as to the cause. The only correlation is it seems to happens most often when we take the kids upstairs for bedtime. We included her in the bedtime routine now and she joins us upstairs and that's helped a lot.

At behaviourist and vet advice she's started on anti-anxiety medication but it didn't really help so we stopped.

We have worked out we can often snap her out of it by offering treats or a walk but sometimes we have to get the broom out to sweep away whatever object it is, which is horrible for us all.

I'd really appreciate any advice on this at all please as we're at the end of our tether with knowing how to manage it, especially with two kids. But more than anything, if anyone has any thoughts on possible cause I'd love to hear it.

Is your behaviourist registered with either IMDT or APDT?

It could be caused by all sorts of things - a huge change in her life and routine is the most likely, but this isn't something anyone should be advising you on without seeing your dogs' behaviour in person - just because the wrong advice could be really, really dangerous.

Resource guarding is very common in cockapoos and needs to be sorted before your children get more mobile.
A good behaviourist will be able to put you on the right path.

I'm not sure if the behaviourist was registered with those organisations. I'll check. Thank you for the advice.

Oh and she visited our house to see how everything works but didn't see the guarding in action.

Unfortunately "dog behaviourist" is not a protected term - anyone can set up a business and call themselves a behaviourist. It's a real minefield and it has the potential to be so dangerous.

You can visit the IMDT or APDT websites and search for registered behaviourists (not trainers - resource guarding needs a behaviourist) in your area.

An idea may be to see if you can get her behaviour on camera if at all possible, so that you have something to show the behaviourist when they visit you.

Best of luck :)

Resource guarding never just starts. It can be hard to see the initial signs but they will be there. Resource guarding always spreads and grow. So from little resource guarding issues you get a major issue which is when most owners notice it.

You do need a qualified behaviourist who has dealt with man resource guarding issues (ask them!) even a vet referred behaviourist if the case is causing a lot of issues.

In the meantime you do have a very stressed dog so I would be working on calm. This for some dogs will be very different.
Makes sure your dog is having a lot of high quality sleep. You may need to enforce this and encourage this.Look at how they exercise this needs to be calm and not high energy exercise eg ball throwing or chasing. Encourage calm in all occasions.

It is also really important to manage the situation and prevent it from escalating. So in the short time make sure there are no objects around for your dog to guard. If they are guarding particular items then remove them, if they are resourcing space then prevent access to the space or room.

It is vey hard to give advice on this issue without seeing how the guarding is manifesting itself.

Although I hate to describe by breed I have several cockerpoos on my books with resource guarding (alongside separation anxiety) issues so pretty common of the breed.

The major issue obviously in resource guarding dogs is fear and the inability to disengage. You will probably see this in oher areas of her environment as well as just in the guarding.

Do get professional advice this will not go away on its own. Do question the behaviourist and see how much experience they have with these types of cases and do shop around. Do not let location direct your choice this is an issue that can be dealt with via zoom really well

Please DO NOT set up to get the behaviour on camera if you already have it that is fine - but please do not stress out the dog to get this evidence.

A behaviourist will be happy to question you to find out all the info they need.

@PollyRoulllson

Please DO NOT set up to get the behaviour on camera if you already have it that is fine - but please do not stress out the dog to get this evidence.

A behaviourist will be happy to question you to find out all the info they need.

I didn't say to set up a situation to stress the dog out on purpose

I meant that if the situation is already occurring, getting it on camera might be useful going to forward.

Hi. Thanks so much to you all for the advice. Lots to think about there, especially around the behaviourist.

Does anyone happen to know if guarding can be linked to separation anxiety? The dog has quite extreme separation anxiety. But I find it strange as sometimes it's as though she'd prefer to stay downstairs guarding something than join us upstairs.

I also wanted to add that the behaviourist seemed mystified as there seems to be no obvious logic to the resources that are guarded. It also took a while to work out that it occurred most frequently at bedtime too, although not exclusively.

Oh and I checked the behaviourists qualifications and she has, amongst others..

Registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist, Animal Behaviour & Training Council (ABTC)

Full Member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC)

@1potato

Hi. Thanks so much to you all for the advice. Lots to think about there, especially around the behaviourist.

Does anyone happen to know if guarding can be linked to separation anxiety? The dog has quite extreme separation anxiety. But I find it strange as sometimes it's as though she'd prefer to stay downstairs guarding something than join us upstairs.

Resource guarding is often seen in dogs with SA. Fear and anxiety play a major part in both.

The qualifications are great and I would get back to them.

Most resource guarding dogs do not resource one or more particular item. Theoretically it is less about the item they are guarding but more about how they are feeling - if that makes sense.

Some dogs will only guard one thing but most dogs will guard anything.

If it is happening more at bedtime is it actually a separation anxiety symptom?eg when you leave your dog to all go upstairs she is more stressed. So she does not prefer to be left downstairs but this is her coping mecanism to being left downstairs. This could all be bollocks as I can not see the situation in rl!

Do get back to her and ask for a follow up

Yes we ended up thinking that it was to do with the physical separation and included her in the bedtime routine. That really seemed to help. So she is currently joining my partner and toddler (who is safe in a cot) in the bedroom overnight. However, once I went into the bedroom to grab something during the night and she went berserk at me, snapping and growling. So even though things massively improved, the problem is still very much there even when she is not separated.

This is why we're all so confused- it just doesn't seem like a clear cause and effect situation. But maybe I'm looking too hard for logic when it is about emotion?

Thanks again for the advice!

Oh and another question. You mention it is about the feeling and emotion, but what is she feeling? Why is she scared?

Resource guarding is common in cocker spaniels. I'd really recommend the Facebook group Dog Training Advice and Support, & contacting Spaniel Aid for behaviourist recommendations.

Cockere are gun dogs, hardwired to want something in their mouths. People taking their "treasure" from them can really reinforce the guarding - often the early signs (standing stiffly over an object, taking it to their bed, whale eye) get overlooked until the response becomes explosive - or signs such as growling are punished.

It really sounds like you've got to the stage where professional support is needed, I would not try to tackle this alone.
Our cocker spaniel started showing some early signs as a puppy and we've worked really hard to manage this. He's probably always going to find things occasionally but now he swaps for treats, & I'd rather that than guarding.

One of the biggest steps is making sure they don't have the opportunity to keep repeating the behaviour - so for us that meant keeping everything out of reach.
I think that using a broom to take her "treasure" is only going to reinforce the behaviour so, unless the object is going to cause her harm, you are probably better forfeiting it.

Good question as to why she is scared.

More likely to just be over threshold.

The bucket analogy may help here.

She has a bucket that gets filled with emotions. This may be good emotions or negative emotions.
So gets excited after a walk, gets frightened when a car back fires or hears a noise, gets stimulated by a busy household, gets over stimulated when the children make lots of noise gets disturbed when sleeping, has itchy skin or poorly tummy, playing with other dogs, meeting lots of new people, going to high energy areas etc. All these emotions over a period of time fill the dogs bucket .

These are all normal household and daily things and some dogs manage this better than others. If the dog does not have an opportunity to empty their bucket eg by chilling, sleeping, truly relaxing the build up in the bucket causes stress and anxiety and then circle continues.

The bucket size is different for each dog and is affected by their personality, breeding, health and life style so a lot of this is out of the owners control. However it is possible to help your dog by ensuring they get the opportunity to empty the bucket and chill.

So if I were treating any Separation Anxiety or Resource Guarding case I would be working very hard at ensuring there was more calmness in the dogs life. So making sure there is plenty of opportunities for sleeping, calm exercise, calming activites etc.

This alone can make a huge difference to the initial problem but also enables the dog to be in a better emotional state and makes the behavioural plan more effective.

@AwkwardPaws27

Resource guarding is common in cocker spaniels. I'd really recommend the Facebook group Dog Training Advice and Support, & contacting Spaniel Aid for behaviourist recommendations.

Cockere are gun dogs, hardwired to want something in their mouths. People taking their "treasure" from them can really reinforce the guarding - often the early signs (standing stiffly over an object, taking it to their bed, whale eye) get overlooked until the response becomes explosive - or signs such as growling are punished.

It really sounds like you've got to the stage where professional support is needed, I would not try to tackle this alone.
Our cocker spaniel started showing some early signs as a puppy and we've worked really hard to manage this. He's probably always going to find things occasionally but now he swaps for treats, & I'd rather that than guarding.

One of the biggest steps is making sure they don't have the opportunity to keep repeating the behaviour - so for us that meant keeping everything out of reach.
I think that using a broom to take her "treasure" is only going to reinforce the behaviour so, unless the object is going to cause her harm, you are probably better forfeiting it.

Hi thanks so much for the recommendations. I will definitely follow up.

I think you're absolutely correct about the warning signs. We probably spent a lot of time taking objects from her when she was a puppy (baby toys, stolen harmful food etc) and getting cross when she growled so this has probably massively contributed to the problem. Oh dear. I really feel like we've failed her.

Yes I agree about the broom. We only used it when we were desperate to retrieve object and don't anymore. It just made everything more intense and scary and very obviously had no long term wins.

@PollyRoulllson

Good question as to why she is scared.

More likely to just be over threshold.

The bucket analogy may help here.

She has a bucket that gets filled with emotions. This may be good emotions or negative emotions.
So gets excited after a walk, gets frightened when a car back fires or hears a noise, gets stimulated by a busy household, gets over stimulated when the children make lots of noise gets disturbed when sleeping, has itchy skin or poorly tummy, playing with other dogs, meeting lots of new people, going to high energy areas etc. All these emotions over a period of time fill the dogs bucket .

These are all normal household and daily things and some dogs manage this better than others. If the dog does not have an opportunity to empty their bucket eg by chilling, sleeping, truly relaxing the build up in the bucket causes stress and anxiety and then circle continues.

The bucket size is different for each dog and is affected by their personality, breeding, health and life style so a lot of this is out of the owners control. However it is possible to help your dog by ensuring they get the opportunity to empty the bucket and chill.

So if I were treating any Separation Anxiety or Resource Guarding case I would be working very hard at ensuring there was more calmness in the dogs life. So making sure there is plenty of opportunities for sleeping, calm exercise, calming activites etc.

This alone can make a huge difference to the initial problem but also enables the dog to be in a better emotional state and makes the behavioural plan more effective.

Ah thank you so much for answering my question so thoroughly and clearly. That makes a lot of sense. I guess in her lifetime she's gone from having just me at home to having my partner and two under 2.5 at home. And she never takes herself away upstairs to rest. And she's never able to relax with the kids. And she is so worried about the foxes in the garden. And that she's going to miss out on eating the kids food that has been thrown on the floor. And she's never taken to a crate or enclosed bed. So she's always always there. To be honest I think she felt a lot better when we started going out again regularly without her (outside lockdowns) as I could see she'd actually had a proper sleep.

Interestingly the risk factors for resource guarding in a dog is being a cross breed, multi dog household, netured males, fearfulness and removal of resources eg food from dogs.

However with all scientific studies there are always outliers so do not beat yourself up about what you may or may not have done. No one factor has created this situation.

Most dogs have disengagement issues eg they guard things because they cant bare to leave them alone.

Other dogs and this is the smaller minority do guard a particular item because they want to possess it

The other reason for guarding and in my experience the majority of dogs is fear and stress.

You know I am thinking back to when we first got her and on the breeder's advice we gave her frozen chicken wings. And she behaved so strangely. She would hold it in her mouth and run around crying. We couldn't understand so eventually stopped giving them to her. I do wonder if this was a very early sign of resource guarding. That said, she rarely guards food now.

I mean frozen raw duck wings, not chicken!

*I think you're absolutely correct about the warning signs. We probably spent a lot of time taking objects from her when she was a puppy (baby toys, stolen harmful food etc) and getting cross when she growled so this has probably massively contributed to the problem. Oh dear. I really feel like we've failed her.

Yes I agree about the broom. We only used it when we were desperate to retrieve object and don't anymore. It just made everything more intense and scary and very obviously had no long term wins.*

We made the same mistakes at first - removing stolen items like socks and gloves - but the important thing is not to beat yourself up about it but to change your behaviour now.
It's not easy - I've definitely reacted without thinking a few times & with every step backwards it has taken quite a while to get back to the same place again.

I'd definitely recommend using baby gates (we have two, & used a BabyDan playpen that opened out as a room divider) to control access to areas until you have picked up toys etc so you don't have to remove anything from her. Our airer firmly lives upstairs behind a gate as otherwise he would eat socks!

Having good alternative commands helps - AwkwardPup can't resist sticking his nose in cupboards or the washing machine as I load/ unload it, so I ask him to sit on his bed while I do these tasks, for example.