Question:
The little brat growled at me! He is a 15 week old chocolate Lab. I bought him a big pork bone from the pet store for a chewing treat and he was enjoying it for the longest time. I remember that I should test him when he's eating so he won't develop food agression so I purposely went up to him to take his bone. I honestly didn't expect it from him as he is such a sweetheart but he growled angrily at me. I was a bit taken back but immediately grabbed him by his scruff and loudly/angrily told him 'no' and took away his bone.
A few minutes later I had him 'sit' and 'stay' and gave it back to him. A while later I again attempted to take the bone and he was totally submissive and let me take it. I tried again later with no problem.
The problem is probably solved as I didn't back down to him, I'm just surprised it even happened.
Stacey

Answer:
It may not be the end of this. It goes to show how important teahing household manners is, including give. You did right by getting him to give the bone to you. Continue to do this with everything possible. When I am teaching this to my students I tell them that as simple as this cue is it is one of the most important because it helps to prevent resource guarding. Resource guarding can be very dangerous and can be done with items like the bone, spaces, people, toys, etc, almost anything. What if it had been done to a child with their face down by their mouth.

I would really suggest that you take this puppy to classes. Seek out one that the whole family can attend and one that uses positive methods. Many of the people here can suggest a good one in your area.

Answer:
If you also try to trade a treat for a treat with a command like "give" your pup may give things up better. But it is a good thing you caught that and a working against it

Answer:
My pup used to growl and nip at me continually, to the point I was afraid to touch her. She seemed to have so much confidence for such a little dog. Once I established who was boss, she settled right down. She will still sometimes look at me with these wild eyes and start to growl but then I give a firm NO and she gives me kisses. I'm not sure if this was for attention or still testing her dominance. What a monkey!

Answer:
Haha I remember one of my dogs had this problem when I was a kid, I stared her down, and growled louder at her. It probably wasn't a good idea to growl back at her, but it was funny watching her try to be submissive because of my growling.

Answer:
We have some pretty simple rules in my house. When the dog has a high value item (a bone) you leave the dog to eat in peace. If there is a possiblity that he may be interrupted while eating this treat, then he is crated.

If you want to teach your pup not to have resource guarding issues, then you don't start with a top of the line treat! Start with the little things - a rawhide that is left out all the time, something along that line.

Answer:
I want my dogs to give up absolutely anything they have to everyone who wants to take it. I started when he was a young pup and when he had something I would go over say oh let me see, take it say oh thats nice and give it back. Not that I would suggest having my kids do this but if they wanted to they could grab the other end of what he has with their mouth and he wouldn't mind, he would share. That is just what we taught him.
Dogs should never have an excuse to resource guard and I will say let them eat but not to the point where he should not be disturbed ever when he had something of value to him. Only because when he was a puppy he would lose focus on eating and want to play instead. Montana will be 3 yrs the end of august and we still do this with him.

Answer: