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Ugh. This is honestly what I was dreading. We just had our very first episode of resource guarding.
Peggy's now 6.5 months old and has been very good with all the Christmas ornaments in the home, largely ignoring them. But tonight, in a terrible twist of bad luck, I kicked a small Christmas light while we were playing a gentle game of "soccer."
Peggy followed my eyes to the sharp red piece on the floor, likely sensed my heightened "UH OH" energy, and lunged for it. Knowing from experience I'd never catch her while she's in that state of mind, I ran to the pantry and offered her a favourite piece of chicken jerky. She dropped the shard, took the jerky, and ran with it to her x-pen. (She's never run away with a treat before.)
My husband, hearing the commotion and knowing something bad had happened, followed her into the pen and tried yanking the jerky out of her mouth. (He didn't realize it was just the jerky - he thought she still had the bulb.)
I explained what had actually happened, so, feeling bad for scaring Peggy, my husband reached into the pen to pet her the way he always does—just a gentle rub on the back.
Oh boy did she ever growl!!!! She has NEVER growled at us before. But her body was stiff and she meant business.
Now I know these were strange circumstances. We don't make a habit of yanking food from her mouth and emotions were certainly heightened.
Should I be worried?
We've practiced "trading up" with her food, treats, and toys since we first brought her home. She's never guarded anything before, from us our anyone. But anyone who knows our story with Peggy knows she growled at the vet at 9 weeks old, and we almost returned her to the breeder due to temperament concerns. All those concerns had evaporated in the past few months of puppy classes and getting to know her (and her getting to know us), but in the back of my mind I was always afraid she'd start showing behaviour issues in adolescence.
This isn't one of those issues, right? Just a normal reaction to a bad series of events?
Looking for reassurance.....
Peggy's now 6.5 months old and has been very good with all the Christmas ornaments in the home, largely ignoring them. But tonight, in a terrible twist of bad luck, I kicked a small Christmas light while we were playing a gentle game of "soccer."
Peggy followed my eyes to the sharp red piece on the floor, likely sensed my heightened "UH OH" energy, and lunged for it. Knowing from experience I'd never catch her while she's in that state of mind, I ran to the pantry and offered her a favourite piece of chicken jerky. She dropped the shard, took the jerky, and ran with it to her x-pen. (She's never run away with a treat before.)
My husband, hearing the commotion and knowing something bad had happened, followed her into the pen and tried yanking the jerky out of her mouth. (He didn't realize it was just the jerky - he thought she still had the bulb.)
I explained what had actually happened, so, feeling bad for scaring Peggy, my husband reached into the pen to pet her the way he always does—just a gentle rub on the back.
Oh boy did she ever growl!!!! She has NEVER growled at us before. But her body was stiff and she meant business.
Now I know these were strange circumstances. We don't make a habit of yanking food from her mouth and emotions were certainly heightened.
Should I be worried?
We've practiced "trading up" with her food, treats, and toys since we first brought her home. She's never guarded anything before, from us our anyone. But anyone who knows our story with Peggy knows she growled at the vet at 9 weeks old, and we almost returned her to the breeder due to temperament concerns. All those concerns had evaporated in the past few months of puppy classes and getting to know her (and her getting to know us), but in the back of my mind I was always afraid she'd start showing behaviour issues in adolescence.
This isn't one of those issues, right? Just a normal reaction to a bad series of events?
Looking for reassurance.....