WEBINAR PROGRAM 

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• Each segment starts with a presentation of about 90 minutes, followed by a 15 minute “coffee break” and ends with 45 minute Q/A session during which Sue & Trish will respond to questions posed by attendees of the live sessions.

• Whether you make the live sessions or not, you will be able to access a complete recording of each session for 1 year.

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 Session One (Saturday, December 12, 2020): Assess-A-Pet & Ethogram  

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ASSESS-A-PET (AAP) Protocols to evaluate resource guarding (RG) & aggression thresholds. Practical, detailed, step-by-step procedures that evaluators can utilize in a home or at shelters and rescues to assess the tendency for RG, the prospect of a high threshold for RG vs. a low threshold for RG, quite possibly the degree of intensity, and how we interpret what we are seeing.

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Ethogram: An extensive catalog of seemingly endless, often very subtle behaviors that tell us if a dog is feeling competitive, or at risk of escalating into aggression. Focus on the AAP procedures and the subtle or not-so-subtle behaviors associated with competitiveness and/or a low threshold for RG.

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 Session Two (Saturday, December 19, 2020): Low Threshold RG   ​

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​Some of the science of RG and assessing it in shelter dogs. The low threshold resource guarder's behavior in the home and community. Defining low aggression thresholds and what dogs usually guard:

• Not just the food bowl.

• Manifestation in the home & neighborhood.

• Implications for other behavioral issues like separation anxiety.

• Pica etc.

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Recognizing these small behaviors in real life:​

• Will the dog guard an owner?

• Is the dog likely to bite a stranger or neighbor?

• What behaviors to look for when meeting a new client and their dog.

• How RG can affect dog-dog interactions generally.

 

  Session Three (Saturday, January 9, 2021): RG Management & Behavior Modification  

 

Resource Guarding is a natural behavior in all species. Management & modification protocols depend on-

 

Helping clients identify problem areas including differing types of guarding & degree of risk associated with each, such as: guarding, food, objects, places, people etc., and against whom the dog is guarding: other dogs, children, adults, a single adult etc.

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Identifying skill level & time availability of owners to ascertain what management or modification protocols are possible. Many people cannot maintain complex resource guarding protocols. Even when one person can, others cannot. Safeguards are important for each family, plus assessment of each dog’s degree of aggression potential and providing alternatives or resources for the family if the risk is deemed too high.

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Protocols: 

• Management: Identify & remove high value items - give potentially valuable objects & food in private area.

• General guidelines: Teach dog that there are unlimited resources & that owner always has better resources ready to share; Teach “drop”.

• Cognitive method : Teach dog to look up & away from item when asked or whenever owner passes by; Teach dog to leave item when asked.

• Dog to Dog: Make sure management protocols are adhered to; Status adjustment as needed. 

• Outcomes: Progress reports  ·Reality based decisions (some resource guarding is persistent, no matter what we do) ·Rehoming if appropriate.

 

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