Guarding and protecting are natural dog behaviors. But these behaviors become dog problems when dogs attempt to guard and protect things from their owners or other people. Quite often, dogs growl, charge, and even bite in an attempt to protect their things, and it doesn’t really matter who they’re growling at or biting. This behavior is simply unacceptable -- especially in a household full of children who might walk close to something that belongs to a dog or who might need to retrieve a dog’s item for washing. It’s also not acceptable for dogs that have access to food all day long. Many owners feed their dogs kibble – a food item that’s accessible throughout the day. Readily accessible kibble turns a food possessive dog into a 24 guard dog.

The best approach to solving dog problems involving possessiveness and needlessly guarding is to prevent them with simple interaction. The dog must get used to others being around and handling "his" things, and there’s no better way to do that than by feeding the dog out of your hands or playing with the dog and its toys. Using treats as a training incentive really gets a dog used to humans handling food. But take extra precautions when children feed a dog from their hands. Never leave a possessive dog alone with small children since it likely regards you as its master and will think twice about misbehaving when you’re nearby.

The idea behind hand-feeding a possessive dog is to instill trust. With enough practice, the dog will figure out that humans aren’t interested in eating or stealing its food, and it will subside the urge to constantly guard it.

Another way to minimize the need for guarding is to feed the dog at specific times. Instead of giving the dog free access to food all day, only fill its bowl 3 – 4 times during the day for puppies, or 1 – 2 times a day for adult dogs. Then use the following steps to reinforce the idea that people are food providers, moving to the next step only when the dog has gotten used to the previous one:

1. Fill the bowl with half the dog's meal, and when the dog is done, eating pour in the rest.
2. Once the food is in the bowl, gently speak to the dog, pet it, and occasionally drop a few yummy treats into the bowl.
3. Take away the bowl while the dog is eating, drop in some treats, and give it back.

Sometimes possessiveness extends beyond the food bowl to the water bowl, the dog’s toys, and right on to the dog’s favorite person. Attempting to protect the attention that it gets from this person, the dog will wedge its way between that person and other animals or children who try to get close. This behavior is often misinterpreted as jealousy, but it’s really guarding. Instead of suggesting, "Oh, love me too! Don’t forget about me!" the dog’s behavior is actually suggesting, "Get away! Mine!" This behavior is also unacceptable, but there's a way to stop it.

A dog that claims ownership of another person does so because it believes it has the authority to do so. Small dogs that often sit on their owner's laps are prime examples. When company arrives, or when others in the family try to get close to that person, a small dog may become aggressively possessive because it believes its "territory" or "property" is being breached. By placing the dog on the floor, the owner removes the dog's authority over the perceived property. If the behavior is too much to bear, placing the dog in a time out is required. After about five minutes, the dog can come back within the owner's presence, but only when it demonstrates acceptable behavior.

Large dogs who wedge themselves between their owners and others must be taught to lay on command. The lay or down position is a submissive position that dogs must get used to when they have to share their owners' attention with others. Should your large dog continue to guard you, even after you've given it the stay or lay command, put it in a brief time out period and reward it when it behaves correctly outside of that restriction.