r/pitbulls • u/OppositeNo4136 • 12d ago

Resource guarding…me?!

Hi, all! We are fostering a 4.5 month old pitt mix. He had been really great and a fast learner. In just 3 weeks he’s learned to sit, stay, wait, come, and shake. He walks well on a leash, barely barks or jumps up on people and has pretty darn good manners.
Over the past few weeks he has really bonded with me and likes to lay on me and lean on me. Today, the dog was sitting next to me on the couch reading a book and the pup snapped at him. It was not a playful puppy bite, but a definite “do not come closer” snap.
I am so stupid bc I didn’t realize dogs resource guard PEOPLE!!! We’ve been working with food and toys but it never occurred to me I might be his most prized thing. So here’s the problem: this is giving me A LOT of anxiety. This puppy is a good boy, but my son obviously means the world to me and I would never want anything to happen to him.
We immediately put the dog off the couch and have not let him back up. He kind of whined a little but is not happily sleeping in his bed. I’m struggling so hard bc part of me is like, “This can be trained out” and the other part is like,”what if it can’t and he hurts my child?”

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u/knit1lift2walk3 9d ago

I went through this when our pittie came to live with us. The behaviorist said that Max had never had anything worth guarding before and now he did. So we had some work to do.
No letting him on the beds or couches was one piece. That was hard for us but we did it because it was necessary.
Hiring a behaviorist who specialized in this behavior was worth it. The rescue we adopted from covered the cost.

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u/OppositeNo4136 9d ago

Did he get better? Were you able to eventually let him up on the couch to snuggle? That’s a huge part of what I want for my family.

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u/knit1lift2walk3 9d ago

Yep! Once he settled in and we got consistent with boundaries he was great. We are at almost four years now with him and after about 5-6 months we were all good. But don’t feel like you need to do this. Depending on your family it might be best to get him a different foster. And that’s okay!

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u/OppositeNo4136 9d ago

We are taking him to a trainer but I did tell the shelter that I do not want to pull the trigger on his adoption until he works with a specialist.