Training Philosophy
Does your puppy growl or snap when you approach their food or toys? Does your puppy swallow something instead of letting you take it from its mouth? These are signs of resource guarding; if you’re noticing these behaviors, it is time to seek expert guidance.
Resource guarders often protect high-value items, such as their favorite toys and meals. They may also guard specific areas of your home, like the couch or places where food is stored, such as the kitchen pantry. Beyond the Dog specializes in addressing resource-guarding behaviors in puppies.
Resource guarding can also occur between dogs in the same household, leading to dangerous situations or even dog fights when protecting toys, meals, comfortable areas in the home, and other resources. These conflicts can create negative relationships between your pets, eventually preventing them from being in the same areas of the house, leading to tension in the home.
At Beyond the Dog, we’ve helped hundreds of dogs with resource guarding with over 20 years of experience across six cities. Our training methods are continuously refined, informed by the latest scientific research and our collective experience, to ensure the most effective solutions for your puppy.
Our unique Tampa puppy resource guarding program will treat your puppy’s resource guarding through a proprietary blend of classical conditioning and positive reinforcement. Our team is led by Dr. Echterling-Savage, our resident Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant Sean Savage, who ensures that our training methods incorporate the latest and most effective scientific techniques to address puppy behaviors.
Training Programs
We aim to make a happy home environment by reducing and eliminating resource guarding while teaching your puppy relevant obedience behavior skills. We will help you manage previously unsafe situations where your puppy may have snapped at you if you took away their chew toy or retrieved a stolen sock. We will address behaviors where your puppy has growled, barked, or snapped at a family member or another pet who approached them while they were:
A puppy’s resource guarding is influenced by their environment and experiences, including aversive training techniques and the behavior of other pets in the home. Additionally, genetics and breed can play a role in resource-guarding behaviors. Once resource guarding develops, it is tough for owners to avoid unintentionally reinforcing the behavior. Resource-guarding behaviors tend to worsen without proper training as a dog ages. At Beyond the Dog, we treat puppy resource guarding using function-based training, combining a proprietary blend of operant conditioning and classical counterconditioning. Research by Lindsay Mehrkram’s “Functional analysis and operant treatment of foot guarding in a pet dog” demonstrates that behavior modification is the most effective treatment for resource-related aggression. Behavior Modification is a structured method for understanding and altering dog behavior by applying learning theories like operant conditioning and classical counterconditioning to encourage desirable behaviors and eliminate undesirable behaviors. Dr. Echterling-Savages further explains, “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, our team can easily treat the problem behavior.”
To best understand and treat your puppy’s resource guarding behaviors, we ask that you complete our “Indirect Assessment of Canine Behavior” before training begins. Our team, led by our co-founders and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Dr. Echterling-Savage, and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Sean Savage, will evaluate your assessment to create a customized training plan tailored to your puppy’s needs.
Sean Savage will conduct private sessions at your home, focusing on resolving resource-guarding issues while teaching basic obedience and manners. Each session lasts one hour, and your attendance is required at the final session of each week. During this session, Sean will guide you in reinforcing your puppy’s learned behaviors and obedience commands. Follow-up sessions will be scheduled after completing the training program to ensure ongoing success in managing your puppy’s resource guarding.
Many insurance companies, including Trupanion, will cover behavior modification training for puppy resource guarding when the program is led by a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist or a Board-Certified Veterinary Behaviorist. We recommend that you check with your provider to learn if they cover resource guarding behavioral modification training.
Through two hours of virtual consultations, Dr. Echterling-Savage will meet with you to address your puppy’s resource guarding behaviors. This program includes virtual sessions, a personalized training plan and ongoing guidance for long term results.
As one of the few Board Certified Behavior Analysts specializing in Applied Animal Behavior and among only about 50 CAABs nationwide, Dr. Echterling-Savage brings extensive knowledge to each session. Her comprehensive background includes a doctorate in the field, published research on canine behavior modification, and 25 years of hands-on training. Dr. Echterling-Savage will deliver expert guidance to help your puppy make lasting improvements with their resource guarding behavior.
Our Puppy Resource Guarding Behavior Modification Package offers two hours of private virtual sessions with Dr. Echterling-Savage, our Co-founder and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB). During your virtual sessions, Dr. Echterling-Savage will evaluate your puppy’s resource-guarding behavior and design a personaized training plan to treat your puppy’s problem behaviors. Following the initial consultation, she will provide ongoing guidance, helping you with behavior scenarios that reinforce positive behavioral modification and ensure ongoing success.
The Puppy Resource Guarding Behavior Modification Package costs $750, including two hours of private virtual consultations and support.