One of the frustrations people encounter when they begin to investigate dog behavior is that there are so many diverse opinions and conflicting information out there. How do you know who you should listen to? A helpful rule is to engage your common sense and put yourself in your dog’s place.

Many times I’ve heard clients say “My vet, a friend or a website said that you should make sure that you can take your dog’s food away so that he won’t be ‘possessive’ or exhibit ‘guarding’ behavior.” So said client dutifully goes about confiscating his dog’s food several times in the course of a meal, as if this were some sort of magic ritual to ward off the evil possessiveness spirit.

Well it doesn’t exactly work that way. Taking your dog’s food, bone, or toy away may indicate whether or not you have a possessiveness issue but it sure won’t prevent one or cure one.  In fact, even a patient dog may grow weary of the ritual and begin to grumble after awhile (wouldn’t you?). Since most dogs aren’t “guarders” my suggestion is that you don’t worry about it unless the problem presents itself. If you want to do something to pre-empt the problem, try occasionally dropping an especially yummy morsel into your dog’s food while he’s eating. This creates a positive association with your presence near his bowl during meal time.

If possessiveness or guarding behavior does rear its ugly head, there are probably some more serious underlying issues. It’s quite likely that your dog has come to think of himself as your equal (or boss even) so we need to begin a program to start changing the way he looks at his world. This is a recurring theme when dealing with behavior problems.

It seems counterintuitive doesn’t it? Wouldn’t disciplining a timid dog compound the problem? Not at all. You see dogs want to know to things; who’s in charge and what are the rules. The last thing a timid or fearful dog really wants is to be in control and yet sometimes it’s hard to tell, especially when they act aggressively.

This was brought home to me again this week as I worked with a medium sized mixed breed female I’ll call Rosie. When my client first called it was because the dog was acting fearfully around men in general and in particular the man of the house who is very kind and was being extremely solicitous of her. In fact he was feeling a bit hurt that Rosie wasn’t being more friendly with him. I had had almost the exact same situation earlier in the year with a male Collie. What was interesting is that neither of these dogs acted very afraid of me even though I was a complete stranger. What’s the explanation? When we behave solicitously toward a dog, we are conveying the idea that they are in charge and that is the very last thing a timid or fearful dog wants.

By laying down some simple rules and enforcing them in a clear coherent way, my client family was able to clarify the two big questions dogs have; who’s in charge and what are the rules. The on leash obedience work further opened the lines of communication and understanding. I like to define dog training as the establishing and maintaining of standards of behavior. Once a fearful dog knows what her responsibilities are and exactly what to expect, she has much less to be fearful of. The proof is in the pudding—Rosie is doing just fine and carrying herself with much more confidence. Because she’s more confident, she’s also a lot more friendly.