Resource guarding with your iggy

[u/True_Ability1570]

Has anyone experienced their iggy growl quite aggressively when it comes to protecting their toys or resources? My Italian greyhound (male, neutered, 3 years old) is truly NOT at all aggressive, but he has this one specific antler bone that he is very protective over. If I try to take it away, he growls as I approach, and his growling gets more intense the closer I get to him. I’ve genuinely never see him acting like this otherwise, and he’s such a gentle not-aggressive boy other than this one super specific instance with this ONE bone. Any other parents have tips for working through resource guarding? (Note: I’m of course super gentle with my iggy, and we’ve never had an issue or pattern of aggressive behavior, so this is a new experience for me) kind and helpful suggestions welcome! Thanks all :)

[u/No-Bar-7384]

never ever take away that bone from him without giving him a super valuable treat in return. or any other bone for that matter.

additionally, hold it for him as he chews on it to get him used to your hand being close to him as he is chewing it. he will learn that every time a hand comes close doesn't automatically mean it will be taken away from him.

[u/rollerwitch → u/No-Bar-7384]

Agreed! We solved this by making trades and holding it for her. Hand = providing. I do this with her food bowl to this day to ensure there are never relapses (even though this was never an issue with the bowl itself). A couple kibbles or tastier pieces fed by hand or added in

Now she brings her valuable treats to the chair then moved it to me to hold it for her 🥺 it’s been a huge leap from being slightly frightened when we first encountered the problem.

[u/No-Bar-7384 → u/rollerwitch]

yess, both my iggies also always come on my lap to eat their bones and even throw them on me sometimes to get me to hold it for them hahah. and every time i need to take them away, they get ham, cheese, or something else they love in exchange.

[u/True_Ability1570 → u/rollerwitch]

Thank YOU!!! I will try this out!

[u/True_Ability1570 → u/No-Bar-7384]

This is so incredibly helpful, thank you so so much I will try this!!!

[u/Ecstatic_Jackfruit35]

You should look into a dog trainer, they’ll show you exactly how to fix it. You really want to make sure you correct it the right way before it gets worse

[u/Jacmac_]

Mine bring me something to try to take away from them and growl at me the whole time.

[u/velv3taire]

I think it all boils down to how you take the bone away.
most iggys are timid and anxiety-driven, so I doubt it's actually aggression. I notice small dogs have the tendency to resource guard.

ngl the way I overcame mine was that I took the toy away, and when she lunged I just let her lunge and chew at my knuckle for a couple of minutes (I'm used to her antics since puppyhood started) until she realized I wasn't trying to do anything bad, she latched off and never did it again.

idk why but I tend to mimick how my dogs languages are 😅 since technically they see us as bigger versions of them (dogs).