Training Advice for Positively Good Dogs by Kelly Spring How do I Prevent Resource Guarding? When dogs guard their “good stuff” (bones, toys, food, crates, people, socks, dirty Kleenex – the dog decides what’s valuable) it is often caused by anxiety. They’re worried that another animal or a person is going to take it away. They use growls, snaps, body freezing/tensing and other “aggressive” body language, including biting, to try to warn the person or animal away from something he or she finds valuable and doesn’t want to lose. It’s important to understand that this is a very normal and adaptive behavior in canine culture. If a dog is out in the world fending for himself, guarding his “good stuff” is going to keep him alive and well-fed. Because it’s so useful for survival, this is a behavioral tendency that is very difficult to breed out and most dogs have