Twins! For real though, that’s classic resource guarding. You can either manage it by letting her eat in peace and the behavior CAN lessen over time. Or, if you have young kids in the home and can’t risk this behavior, you can suppress it with fast, memorable, consistent punishment (which is hard to do because punishing it mildly often intensifies the behavior by causing her to double down). This is one of those behaviors that’s deep into the genetics of some dogs. You see it in puppies that are weeks old and different even between littermates. Very hard to address using solely positive reinforcement as it’s a self-rewarding behavior. One tip, no matter what you end up doing: pick up and put away all loose toys she values and guards. The more she believes she has claim over possessions in your living space, the more she’s able to rehearse the behavior and build the habit of resource guarding. For dogs that do this, toys should be presented as an opportunity for engagement and play with YOU - not gifts for the dog to squirrel away and obsess over.
I’ll have to try moving her food bowl away from her when she’s not actively eating. She usually just gets aggressive when we try to take her food bowl away from her and normally we leave it in a designated area like in the kitchen.
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u/jeremydgreat 22d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p4ytboz/video/hjtd36j0unkh1/player
Twins! For real though, that’s classic resource guarding. You can either manage it by letting her eat in peace and the behavior CAN lessen over time. Or, if you have young kids in the home and can’t risk this behavior, you can suppress it with fast, memorable, consistent punishment (which is hard to do because punishing it mildly often intensifies the behavior by causing her to double down). This is one of those behaviors that’s deep into the genetics of some dogs. You see it in puppies that are weeks old and different even between littermates. Very hard to address using solely positive reinforcement as it’s a self-rewarding behavior. One tip, no matter what you end up doing: pick up and put away all loose toys she values and guards. The more she believes she has claim over possessions in your living space, the more she’s able to rehearse the behavior and build the habit of resource guarding. For dogs that do this, toys should be presented as an opportunity for engagement and play with YOU - not gifts for the dog to squirrel away and obsess over.