Training Philosophy
Resource Guarding Towards People
Early intervention is crucial when it comes to puppy resource guarding. Once you recognize the early signs of resource guarding in your puppy, you can prevent it from escalating into severe aggression once your puppy reaches adulthood. Puppy growling during healthy play is a perfectly normal puppy behavior but if your puppy stiffens and growls when taking one of your puppy’s toys, that could be an early indicator of resource guarding. Have you seen your puppy hunker down over items, hide them, or even swallow them whole? Treating your puppy’s resource guarding yourself can be challenging as punishing guarding can escalate the behavior. Our Austin Resource Guarding Puppy Training Programs will help you identify any potential puppy aggression and treat it in a safe, science-based training method.
Resource Guarding Towards Other Dogs
Puppies learn lots of new behaviors from their older siblings, resource guarding included. If your puppy is starting to pick up on your older pup’s problem behavior around food or toys, it’s time to contact a professional. Puppy aggression regarding resources can be concerning because the behavior worsens with age and, as a puppy matures, the low-level guarding can turn into severe aggression. We recommend treating any early signs of resource guarding as soon as possible! Led by Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Dr. Echterling-Savage, we only utilize the latest research in puppy behavior in our Austin puppy training programs. Our Austin puppy training programs are scientifically proven to reduce or eliminate puppy aggression using a proprietary combination of positive reinforcement and classical conditioning including teaching specific obedience behaviors to help manage your puppy’s behavior around resources.
Training Programs
This Austin puppy training program is specifically designed to reduce or eliminate any resource guarding and to teach your puppy relevant obedience commands. We will address behaviors such as:
Most puppy problem behaviors such as resource guarding develop due to a combination of the puppy’s environment, history, and genetics. Puppy resource guarding worsens with age but when it is treated with a function-based approach using behavior modification, it can be eliminated! After treating hundreds of puppies that resource guard, we have created a unique treatment that ethically reduces guarding behavior in any puppy. Research by Mehrkam et al. supports that functional analysis-based treatment using behavior modification was highly effective in treating resource guarding in dogs with long-lasting results after treatment has been performed. According to our resident CAAB Dr. Echterling-Savage, “The best way to eliminate puppy guarding is to recognize the early signs right away and seek professional help. Once the behavior has been identified, one of our Austin behavior consultants can easily treat the problem behavior.”
The All-Inclusive Program for Puppy Resource Guarding encompasses 20 training sessions across five intensive weeks with two follow-up sessions spanning a total of 22 training sessions over eight weeks! After you submit your training contract and Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, our pre-training team, led by our CAAB, Dr. Echterling-Savage, uses the information provided to craft your personalized puppy training program. Then, your trainer will put your training plan into action! Your trainer will work with your puppy one-on-one for three, 1-hour sessions during the week. The fourth session each week is dedicated to your training! This structure is designed to produce seamless learning and long-term behavior change. After the five-week-long training, there are two follow-up sessions to support your progress. Please note that our indirect behavior assessments will confirm your dog’s behavior and goals. If your dog’s training program requires additional oversight from our Animal Behavior Experts, a small additional fee may be required.
If you are a pet parent with an insurance policy covering behavior modification, our resource-guarding puppy behavior modification is likely covered. When behavior training is under the direction of a CAAB or a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, most companies with behavior policies such as Trupanion will cover behavioral training.
Want expert advice on how to manage and reduce your puppy’s resource guarding but don’t live in the greater Austin area? In these 1-hour virtual consultations, we will give you expert training advice and management strategies to help with your puppy’s resource guarding. Depending on the severity of your puppy’s resource guarding from the Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior, we will recommend one or multiple sessions with Dr. Echterling-Savage or with one of our other behavior consultants under her direct supervision. Pricing for 1-hour virtual consultations with Dr. Ectherling-Savage is $375. Pricing for a 1-hour virtual consultation with one of our Austin trainers starts at $150.
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