The Dog Behavior Answer Book - Arden Moore [76]
Once Maggie shows some appropriate social skills out of the house, the next hurdle involves turning your mom’s home into a welcoming place. Your mother should start inviting people over to her house specifically to visit Maggie. Visitors should offer Maggie treats when they are there and talk to her in an upbeat tone. Again, after a number of enjoyable interactions, the dog will start to see visitors as a pleasure rather than a threat.
As for your relationship with Maggie, you need to walk in with a new attitude — a genuine desire to make friends. When you first go into the house, act happy to see Maggie and offer her some of the special treats that she’s been receiving from other people. If your mom has been working on this, Maggie shouldn’t be too stressed when she sees you and should readily take the food. Ask your mom if you can take over the mealtime duties and daily walks with Maggie while you are there. What you are doing is communicating a leadership role and showing Maggie that her place in the pack comes after you, but that you can provide comfort and security.
When you go to the room where you sleep when you visit, put some of Maggie’s treats around in strategic places. Lay the treats on your suitcase and around the bed. Let Maggie come into the room and discover the treats. Do the same thing in the guest bathroom. Feed her some treats from your hand in these rooms, too (but still remember to keep the doors closed when you’re not there to supervise her). Don’t rush into petting her — look for a more relaxed attitude and maybe even a tail wag first.
The goal here is to change Maggie’s view of you and visitors in general from an intrusion to a welcome diversion. Food is a great way to do this, along with gentle behavior and talking. It’s amazing how quickly a dog’s opinion of someone can change when a particularly good treat is offered or a favorite game is initiated!
Mine, Mine, All Mine
Q Our Boston terrier, Foggy, has started to growl and snap at our cats whenever they come within 10 feet of his food bowl, even if it is empty. Recently, he lunged at one of them, making her climb up a cat tree to escape. He also stares icily at my husband and me when we walk by his bowl. Foggy is nine months old and neutered. When the food bowl isn’t involved, he is fun and friendly and obedient. Why is he guarding his food bowl with such intensity?
A Foggy doesn’t hold the deed to your house or the title to your car, but he does know the concept of ownership. From his viewpoint, the food bowl — empty or full — is one of his most prized possessions and, even if they show no interest in it, he must ensure that cats or people don’t attempt to steal his bowl. This common type of resource guarding harks back to his ancestors’ need to protect food and other resources in order to survive. Snapping and growling at other members of the pack was a way for dogs to tell them to back off and leave their food alone. Despite being domesticated, some modern-day dogs extend this territorial thinking to favorite toys, bedding, and even a certain location in the house, like a sunny spot near a window.
At nine months, Foggy is also beginning to feel more grown-up, and like all young adults, he is testing the limits of authority. He wants to know if he can chase you away from his bowl and if the cats will yield to his threats. From your description, Foggy’s turf defending is growing in intensity and range. Unchecked, this behavior can become dangerous, with Foggy escalating from growls to snapping, even to biting. As natural as it may seem, do not yell at Foggy or physically punish him for guarding his food bowl. You risk making the problem worse: He will feel a greater need to protect his bowl since it will appear to him that you are angry enough to fight for it.
This problem did not surface overnight, and it won’t go away in one day. Stopping resource guarding takes time. The first step is to establish a new dinnertime