{"id":4678,"date":"2015-07-29T08:22:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T06:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.socialdogcat.spregamore.ddnsfree.com\/magazine-en\/wellness\/behavior\/resource-guarding-what-happens-when-your-dog-growls-when-you-touch-its-food-or-objects\/"},"modified":"2015-07-29T08:22:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T06:22:55","slug":"resource-guarding-what-happens-when-your-dog-growls-when-you-touch-its-food-or-objects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.socialdogcat.spregamore.ddnsfree.com\/en\/behavior\/resource-guarding-what-happens-when-your-dog-growls-when-you-touch-its-food-or-objects.html","title":{"rendered":"Resource guarding: what happens when your dog growls when you touch its food or objects"},"content":{"rendered":"

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How many of us would like one of our relatives, or even worse, a stranger to come into our home to peek in drawers, move things, lie on our bed and rummage through our kitchen? By asking ourselves this question, we will be able to understand what our dogs feel when we try to invade their space without permission. This behaviour is called “resource guarding” and the most classic example is the dog growling when we approach its bowl, toys or kennel. Here’s why he does it and how to change this attitude, which can become very dangerous, especially if there are children or other animals in the house.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is resource guarding<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, we need to clarify a concept: the defence of one’s territory is an absolutely normal event for all of us. For this reason, it is easy to understand that the same thing happens to our dogs. Their private spaces are above all the kennel, the bowls, their favourite cot, their toys and even an old sock that may be very important for them, so it\u2019s a normal behaviour if they want to keep them all for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Let’s think, for example, of dogs that live outside and what would happen normally in nature if we weren\u2019t there. If anyone stole their things, all the effort made to find food, accumulate it and store it, would be wasted. But above all, they would risk starving. Not surprisingly, one of the most frequent reasons for contention are bones, which they consider extremely precious.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem arises when the protection of one’s spaces and objects becomes a real form of aggression, for which the dog begins to growl at us or other animals to tell us not to get too close.<\/span><\/p>\n

Growling is always a form of threat, unless the dog is simply playing or torturing a poor stuffed animal by flapping it here and there with unfriendly sounds. That is not real resource guarding, but simply a dog that is playing around with its toys.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, resource guarding is a form of aggression as a defence of personal spaces. We can notice some strange behaviours if we get close to its stuff:<\/span><\/p>\n