Comments on: Resource Guarding – “Mine!”, Says the Shiba Inu

By: i love my dog

i love my dog — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:19:05 +0000

In reply to Laurie. OH! My shibe does this too! I have been told that they do this because they are herding dogs (they are not, they were originally bred for hunting) but when my Sophie does this, it is usually to get my attention and direct me somewhere. Does she nip at your ankles? When Sophie does that, it's to get me to walk/run away in a certain direction.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 11:51:55 +0000

I’ve read through all of the posts on resource guarding. But I’m dumbfounded on dealing with my shiba Suki. Ever since Suki was a puppy she has unexpectedly gone after my feet. I used to give treats like smoked bones, pizzle sticks, dental chews. Long periods of time would pass with no incidents. Out of the blue she would attack my feet. I’ve taken her to trainers and an animal behaviorist but I could never replicate the situation. She does not food guard her dish or toys. The professionals have insisted she isn’t resource guarding because there is no warning growl, etc. I’ve taken away all chew treats and has only the nylabone and toys to chew. I haven’t had any incidents for over 6 months until Christmas. She went after my 95 year old mother in law and another guest. The only thing I can figure is there was a sealed Christmas stocking with rawhide chews for another dog. HELP!

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 23:17:38 +0000

We have a 5 year old Shiba, our second one. He seems to have a resource guarding attitude but seems to have a few quirks with it that I’m curious if they are associated or a different behavior altogether. We have to feed him a special low fat diet due to some pancreatitis two years ago. We mix a bit of dry and wet food and overall he eats it fine but every meal he has to tip most of the food out of his bowl and push it around on the floor. He will also regularly carry pieces of food to the living room and drop them and leave them. Or he will sit and stare at it for hours like it’s going to move. When one of us gets up he grabs it and runs off with it then returns and drops it once we sit back down. I know some of this is resource guarding but I don’t know what the rest of it is. What is the best way to break this behavior? Every time we pick up his food he whines like we are doing a bad thing but as we reassure him he is ok but will dump it again in short order…sometimes this behavior is amusing but mostly it’s just messy and annoying. Thanks for all the great articles.

By: shibashake

shibashake — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 05:09:09 +0000

In reply to Cristina.

I would consult with a good professional trainer. Given what you describe, it sounds like the behavior is expanding to other contexts, so it is important to come up with a good and safe plan for retraining.

When I was having problems with my Shiba, we visited with several professional trainers to troubleshoot each of his problem behaviors. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it was useful to have a trainer observe Sephy in his regular environment and routine, read his body language, help me with training and timing, and come up with a safe and effective plan for retraining.

However, the dog training field is not well regulated, so finding a good trainer can be a challenge.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
http://shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer

Some things that helped with Sephy in terms of retraining behavior-
1. I always try to set Sephy up for success.
I do this by starting small and carefully managing his environment. For example, I may start with a low priority toy that does not have any food in it. Then I engage Sephy in doing commands for me, while a friend has another dog (on-leash) far away. I reward Sephy well for doing work for me.

Distance will lower the strength of the other dog stimulus, and together with the low priority item, Sephy will be able to focus on me. In this way, he succeeds, stays calm, and gets rewarded for performing good behaviors that I ask of him. Then, I *very slowly* build up his tolerance from there.

2. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program
My dogs work for all the things that they want, including food, affection, going outside, etc. They “work” by following house rules, being calm while waiting for food, doing commands, allowing grooming, and more. I make sure to reward good behaviors well, and at the same time I try to make sure that they do not get rewarded for undesirable behaviors.

Often, dogs repeat bad behaviors because they inadvertently get rewarded for it. For example, if we throw our dog food scraps before tossing stuff in the garbage, then our dog may start to guard the garbage area because he associates it with getting food.

This is why I find the NILIF program to be useful because it teaches my dog to associate food and other rewards with good behavior and performing tasks for me. More on how I do NILIF with my dogs.

3. I set up a fixed routine and consistent rules.
This creates certainty, and my dogs always know what to expect from me, what to expect from each other, and what I expect from them in return. This helps to reduce stress and makes them more calm.

More on how I deal with bad dog behavior.
Why dogs get aggressive over food and toys.
More on how I discourage guarding behavior in my dog.

However, dog behavior is very context dependent. Therefore, especially in cases where the guarding behavior is escalating, it is usually best to get help from a good professional trainer who can observe my dog firsthand, and help me develop a plan for retraining that is effective and safe.

By: Cristina

Cristina — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 14:46:47 +0000

We have a 7-month-old female shiba. She does have resource guarding and food aggression issues with our 3-year-old male Pekingese. We feed them in separate rooms and tried doing training to remedy it, i.e. giving her a kong and every time we bring our Peke into the room and she notices, giving here a piece of chicken and using a clicker. She does well during the exercise, but doesn’t seem to apply it to real life situations. So now we give them their kongs in separate rooms.

Recently, she has been hanging out by the garbage can and if I throw something away, she stares at my feet. She has even barked at them aggressively, though has not bitten them. This behavior just started when my husband and I left for vacation and his grandmother stayed at our house to watch our Shiba. It’s almost like she is resource guarding the garbage can and seeing our feet as a threat. Any advice?

By: shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 19 May 2014 04:07:16 +0000

In reply to A.T. lawson. How long have you had your dog? Has she always been reactive to other dogs? What things have you tried? My Shiba Inu (Sephy) was also reactive to other dogs when he was young. It took some time and management to retrain him, but he is now the best behaved during walks of my three dogs. Here are some of the things I did with Sephy.

By: A.T. lawson

A.T. lawson — Thu, 15 May 2014 01:30:00 +0000

I need help with my dog. people are telling me give up. ” that dog is aggressive toward other dogs”. I cant walk my dog with out her barking and lunging at other dogs. please I am out of options and will be forced to get rid of her soon….

By: shibashake

shibashake — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:26:38 +0000

In reply to Lisa. What a wonderful comment to receive at the start of the weekend! Thank you. :D

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 13:29:17 +0000

I just read a few of your blog posts and I have to say, you explain resource guarding and how to control/eliminate it better than any book or website I’ve seen. You break it down so simply, and offer help without using punishment or violence towards your dog. Thank you for doing the right thing, and for sharing it with us!

By: Denise Borowske

Denise Borowske — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:05:15 +0000

I inherited a Shiba from my daughter who could not train the dog to not be aggressive towards males. She had purchased him from a rescue organization who told her that he was probably a breeder farm dog. This dog had so many issues I cannot list them all here. I also already had 3 cats and a poodle I had rescued living in my home. Other than trying to dominate the cats, he was o.k. However, his food aggression was out of control. I started with placing a couple of pieces of food on the floor and told him to sit when finished, then I would place a couple more and so on and so forth. Eventually, we got to a dish that I would not place on the floor until he sat (I never used my hands to remove anything…I used a broom at first so I wouldn’t get bit). In time, I progressed to commanding him to sit and removing the dish and then returning it to him when he sat. He was never allowed to eat in the same area as the other pets. It has been almost a year and he now sits without my command, I praise him and then give him his dish. I can even remove it with my hands (after he sits) and can touch him when he is eating, but I have to say I trained with itty bitty steps to get to this stage. I also worked on giving him lots of treats for everything he did so that he knew if he was good and listened to me he got more food. Basically, I found out that this dog would do anything for food! I also gave him what I called hug therapy because he didn’t know what affection was. He is now a great, affectionate dog BUT I know his limitations and do not force him to do anything that upsets him. I think of him as an abused animal whose trust was broken and use tons of patience and love to win him over. He is my Shiba success story.