Help me to help our dog

[MyDogsANightmare]

We have seen trainers and a behaviourist but we are still struggling with our 2 year old golden spaniel.
He resource guards me (mainly) but also my husband and the room where he sleeps. He guards against anybody coming in the house but also our own children. If they come home, come downstairs, run around, make noise or even just stand up from being on the sofa he will bark aggressively at them and sometimes growls. He doesn’t bite. After about 20 seconds he stops barking then loves the kids and will sit next to them and ask for love from them constantly.
He’s a nightmare if we have guests around, especially children. He is generally highly strung and anxious and it took us a long time (about a year) to be able to leave him for any length of time.
Any pearls of wisdom?

Have you spoken with your vet about potentially putting him on some medication?

I’ve told her about our issues and she didn’t suggest anything other than giving him the once over to make sure he’s well.
Does medication help with resource guarding?

Look to Rehome through a spaniel rescue to a non children home before he bites and becomes harder to rehome

so sorry

Is there nothing that can be done?

Resource guarding is often anxiety based and medication can help take the "edge" off the anxiety so that behavioural training can actually sink in.

Some dogs are just so anxious that they need the help of medication in order to live normally, a bit like some people need lifelong medication to tackle their anxieties.

It's well worth speaking to your behaviourist again and seeing if they can communicate with your vet about whether medication could be the way forward.

What outlets does your get for his natural drives? If he is from working spaniel stock, he would benefit from the chance to do things like hunt for tennis balls in long grass and bring them to you, and do things like retrieving under direction.

I have a working-line gundog who, if she doesn't get a decent outlet like that four or five times a week becomes a pain in the arse around on-lead dogs, which I think is due to pent-up frustration. Might that be your dog's issue?

My black spaniel was exactly the same and we were on the point of having her pts. We decided to get help and she's now 13. Pm me if you want further info.

He’s not working stock, he’s a show line but he does have a high prey drive.
He is great off lead so he goes on a long off lead walk everyday and we do flyball but only once a week. He hunts/chases a tennis ball but can become too obsessed so we try to mix it up. I used to do a lot of training with him but I felt it was feeding into his obsession with me. So I get the kids to feed him and do some training now. It hasn’t made any difference though.
I don’t see any difference in him whether he’s been to flyball or had extra walks or not. We can go out all day walking as a family and he’s brilliant, off lead he doesn’t bark at children at all. Then as soon as the lead goes back on or we get home he switches back to guarding mode.

I’ve tried to PM you but it doesn’t bring up your name. I’ll try again after work.

Resource guarding is always down to stress and anxiety.

3 main reasons dogs resource guard and that is not often down to wanting the item

1. Struggle to disengage
2. Stress and Anxiety - always
3. To much stress so dog over threshold and vigilant so resource guarding happens at particular times or events eg visitors coming.

Medication is great for resource guarding BUT only when used with a behaviourist approach. Youi need a qualified behaviourist not someone that calls themselves a behaviourist. If the training concentrates on teaching a leave it or drop (although needed for management) and not much else find another qualified behaviourist.

Resource Guarding spreads like wild fire so does need attention but also it is a great to work with as you can see huge differences if treated correctly.

Good luck I hope you get it sorted soon

Maybe see if you can find a trainer or behaviourist that specialises in spaniels, they can be prone to resource guarding.

Just to be clear he doesn’t guard items. He has a strong drop command. He resource guards me and my husband to a lesser extent.

So if the children approach the area I’m in he will bark and growl. Or if he is with me and hears them. The longer we are together the worse he is. So in the morning he doesn’t bark when we all come down stairs.

What qualifications does your behaviourist hold, did they insist on vet referral, and what were their recommendations?

What do you do when he's barking/growling and "guarding?"

Agree you need a fully qualified and experienced registered behaviourist to work with you in the home and see these behaviours and triggers first hand.

This is definitely anxiety driven and as you have children in the house, you need the advice of a veterinary behaviourist with all the appropriate qualifications and experience.

Guarding is not something to get advice about from strangers or even regular trainers. You need proper, in-person help from a professional who knows what they're doing.

I know that sounds very serious but it can very easily go wrong and you don't want anyone getting bitten.

That tbh... also, I wouldn’t be allowing him near visitors.

We moved city so we are currently on the waiting list for someone via the vet. I can’t remember what she qualifications he has but I will look into this.

We send him to his crate, we actually don’t even do that now he goes himself. I did try leaving the room every-time he did it but it was impossible to be consistent with because I just can’t keep leaving the room every time he hears the kids upstairs.
We have also tried lots of positive rewards for not barking, especially around the stairs which are a big trigger for him.

I agree strangers on the internet aren’t the best for advice but I can’t get a behaviourist right now. I’m on a wait list for one that the vet recommended and have been ignored by a few others i contacted myself when we first got here.
Our old behaviourist will do a zoom with us but I feel like we’ve heard everything he has to say before. We had lots of sessions and he helped us with the separation anxiety and he has stopped being reactive to other dogs completely but the guarding of me hasn’t stopped.
The only thing that makes a difference is if the children call his name before he hears them coming. He thinks he’s getting a treat and doesn’t bark. It works less than half the time and it’s working less and less. It also doesn’t stop him barking at every noise they make. He barks if the cuddle us too.

TBH this does not sound like resource guarding.

What I am going to say now is something some owners find it really hard to get their heads around but is backed by science not just an opinion

Dogs rarely resource guard people.

However that does not mean they do not react around people and situations when people or owners are involved but it is vey very rarely resource guarding.

If you have a stressed dog and the situation or environment changes they will react but usually just due to stress levels rising and not to "protect" or "resource" guard their owner.

Management going forward until you can see someone

Keep dogs away from visitors - just have no interaction especially at initial entering of the home. If the dog calms down when visitors have been in the house then let the dog in the area but ignoring from everyone.

How stressed is he when the family are together? Can he think at all or is he completely overthreshold. Will he eat treats or listen to basic commands?

If he is completely over threshold then for the short term he needs to be away from the situations that cause him stress. So not in the room if the whole family is together

It’s just when the children come home, enter the room or thinks they are about to. After 30 seconds he’s fine unless they make sudden noise or movements.
He listens when we tell him to go to his crate and he will eat treats and bark at the same time (I know this when I’ve miss timed a reward for not reacting and then it’s hit the ground as he’s gone)
The reason that the behaviourist said it was resource guarding is that he doesn’t do it if we aren’t there. If the dog is on his own and the kids come in he’s completely fine.

It is highly unlikely to be resource guarding. Just the environment will be more exciting etc when you are all there together. If he is able to go to his crate when the children arrive in the room I would place treats in the crate ignore him and let him get over the excitement. Ignore his barking and just get him into the habit of going to his calm place. Dont lock him in and let him come out again but each time pop a treat back into his crate.

So DC coming into the room is his cue to go to his crate get a treat which in turn stops him being hypervigilant that the dc are around. DC will begin to cue calm.

However I am not seeing this in RL if there is any danger of biting then ignore everything I have said and keep DC and him separate.

Many dogs bark and get excited when people hug and get close to each other - your guy just has a slightly lower threshold and is finding just you being together over stimulating. The calmer it can all be the better and will help to calm down too.

Also I have never ever ever meet a dog that just resource guards one thing - it may start off as one thing but it will spread like fire.

The may start off guarding their food bowl, then they guard the area the food bowl is in, the they RG all corners, then they RG all flower pots, they they RG the tree etc etc.

So if he does not RG anything else it is not RG. Although tbh it doesnt matter what you call it just as long as you are given the right behaviour plan to change your dogs emotions to the situation

I agree strangers on the internet aren’t the best for advice but I can’t get a behaviourist right now. I’m on a wait list for one that the vet recommended and have been ignored by a few others i contacted myself when we first got here.

I do appreciate that, but none of these people giving (well-meaning) advice have met you or your dog, or seen any of this behaviour in person and therefore they shouldn't be giving you any kind of advice on how to deal with it. It has the potential to be incredibly dangerous.

I really do understand you're feeling desperate but you really need to speak or see someone qualified about this, especially as you have small children in the house who could end up getting badly hurt.