A puppy visits

[Atemas]

Yesterday, we had friends visit with their 4 month old Irish Water Spaniel. She is a beautiful dog - a similar size to Red already so she is obviously going to grow into a big girl.

Red was fine with her and allowed so much from her until she had had enough and was then hiding under our chairs to keep out of her way. All was good until 5 pm when I gave Red her usual kong and gave the puppy one. For 20 minutes all was very peaceful until Red finished hers and moved towards us. The puppy totally freaked and bared her teeth and growled and barked big time. I found it quite scary. Poor Red who was nowhere near her was frightened and lay on the floor by F and me. She then sat up and again the puppy flew at her, teeth bared, growling. It was not a nice sight. Our friends said this is what she did and they weren’t sure what to do. I said it was resource guarding but had no experience of it. The conversation then moved on but Red gave her a wide berth after that

 

[Jacqui-S]

Scary sounding.
Did puppy behave this way towards owners approaching too?
I would be thinking advice from a behaviourist.......

 

[Selina27]

Crikey, that sounds quite alarming Alison. Poor sweet Red!

 

[kateincornwall]

Oh dear , worrying behaviour in one so young , poor Red xx

 

[HAH]

Well done Red, but also how quickly things turn eh? Hopefully for Red it was more of an overreaction than anything else, and her internal voice was saying ‘pffft, take a chill pill little one!’.
If her owners are keen to tackle it I’d suggest a behaviorist to help them; you can reinforce for them that it’s a really positive step to take to help their pup get over the stress around food/other things. The Animal Behavior and Training Council has good practitioner links, and depending where your friends are based we might recommend people?

 

[Atemas]

I would be thinking advice from a behaviourist.......

That’s why I’m posting really cos I felt it that serious. Yes she behaved that way towards them.

Poor sweet Red!

I know. I felt really sorry for her. She let the puppy play with her toys, have one of her kongs, lay in her bed.

Hopefully for Red it was more of an overreaction than anything else, and her internal voice was saying ‘pffft, take a chill pill little one!’.

I hope so

I’d suggest a behaviorist to help them

I didn’t feel I could suggest anything but I hope by saying the words ‘resource guarding’ they might look it up and realise they have a potentially difficult situation. She is going to grow into a big dog and let’s put it this way after seeing that yesterday, I wouldn’t want my grandchildren visiting at the same time

 

[Selina27]

@HAH , that's an interesting and useful link.

@Atemas , what about your step daughter? Would she have any knowledge or contacts that could help?

 

[Atemas]

what about your step daughter?

Yes she’s visiting soon so I’ll tell her what happened. Our friends are going to training classes. I’m hoping the issue might arise there and they will understand that yesterday wasn‘t what I class as normal puppy behaviour.

I found it very difficult not to say more yesterday - hard to explain why really. Fortunately these friends live quite a way away so we don’t see them regularly but I’d hate for it to become a problem for them which I fear it could

 

[Candy]

Poor Red, I hope she's OK, such a sweet and gentle girl. Definitely not normal puppy behaviour from the other dog.

 

[Stacia]

I have an acquaintance who has an 18 month old Irish Water Spaniel and he is a nightmare, he is such a bully to her other dogs, she has tried everything, I wonder if it is something in the breed?

 

[Boogie]

Oh dear, resource guarding. A real worry which needs urgent work.

 

[Atemas]

Oh dear, resource guarding. A real worry which needs urgent work.

Yes, although I know nothing about it, instincts tell me that

 

[Beanwood]

Context is key, not just the event itself, which sounds very upsetting for everyone, but what led up to the event, tired puppy leading to poor choices, or had something similar happened before and low level communication failed, think along the lines of moving away, a stare or growling which would be more normal behaviours.

Consider what opportunities the puppy had for appropriate socialisation if dog-dog resource guarding is developing.

This are some good points in this article, you could maybe signpost the link to your friend? @Atemas ?

Resource Guarding in Puppies | What is Resource Guarding

Resource guarding doesn't mean he's going to be a bad dog! Resource-guarding in dogs is a natural behavior - and, happily, one we can modify.

www.whole-dog-journal.com

 

[Atemas]

Thank you @Beanwood - I will pass this article on

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Resource guarding is such a tough one. I've been very lucky not to have had many fosters do it and none of my own dogs. With puppy fosters it was pretty easy to solve though admittedly I was probably ham-handed in the way I dealt with it and again just may have been lucky. For adults, I give them wide berth and don't voluntarily meet up with the dog again as I don't know how to handle, it and it scares me.

Irish water spaniels are such beautiful dogs and I believe quite rare too. Hopefully your friends can help her resolve the issue.