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Preventing Possessive Aggression in Dogs
All dogs are capable of showing possession. It is ingrained in their DNA as canines and part of their base instinct behaviors as predatory creatures. So how do we work through this instinct to ensure our dogs don’t think they need to turn teeth towards us if we wander into their space while they have an item of value?
A young dog’s possession instincts are often nurtured in the ‘whelping box’ as they grow and learn from their litter-mates. Observe a litter of puppies and you’ll see them learning all about life skills through play and interaction with each other. These behaviors are actually practice for their future survival. Since adequate food is part of survival for all creatures, possession of food items in the form of aggression will often start to show as a dog matures.
That makes it our job, and part of our responsibility in raising a 4-legged family member, to ensure that their is an adequate level of trust when it comes to the humans in the home. Not all dogs will show possession. Since our dogs are quite far removed from their ancestors through decades of domestication, you’ll often get dogs who are not naturally inclined to show possession, however it’s still something that you want to work on proactively.
