Resource guarding (a.k.a. “possessive aggression”) can be easy to spot when a dog shifts gears from their role as a cuddly family member to one that is growling, posturing, or snapping when their access to a valued resource is perceived to be threatened. But why does this happen? This presentation will dive deep into which aspects of this human-directed aggression pattern may be considered “normal” and which may have underlying influences of medical diagnoses or emotional disorders, before taking an even closer look at management and behavior modification strategies that can be used for the prevention of this pattern as well as for intervention. Patterns of behavior that are specific to individual resources will be compared to dogs showing a more “generalized” pattern, and case examples will be provided to discuss when or if medication may be helpful as part of a comprehensive intervention plan.

Sponsor:dog-ibox.com
Speaker(s):Dr. Christopher Pachel

Contact:
 Web: http://www.dog-ibox.com/