Reddit mentions of Mine! - A Pratical Guide To Resource Guarding In Dogs

He's resource guarding, and it looks like he's far more concerned about his toys getting taken away than food. As inappropriate as the behavior is in our human world, please understand that resource guarding is quite natural for dogs. A predator that doesn't have a predisposition to guard its resources probably doesn't last long in the wild.

I second the recommendation for "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson. She explains the concept of resource guarding, the whys and the hows, and outlines some practical exercises that you can use to help your dog understand that you're not a threat to his precious resources.

> She won’t even touch the Nutro. I’m not sure whats wrong, but it could be that I’ve been spoiling her.

Time for some tough love. Just let her figure out nothing else is on offer.

> I’m trying to do things she likes but, she doesn’t care for treats. Or playing with dogs. Or going out. I’ve taken her to the beach few times and she wanted to go back into the car the second I got her there.

These things are totally overwhelming for a dog that has never gone beyond the four walls of their previous home. In my opinion, I'd say you're flooding her with these things, and, likely trigger stacking. You're pushing too hard, too fast. Slow it down, and break it down. First get her okay with being out of your house and yard, nearby, then move to a little further away, then change the environment a little more, etc. Undoing poor socialization is a slow process.

To go with this, you need to work on general confidence building. This means exposing her to things in a calm, and positive way. Use household items. Let her interact with random things ... egg cartons, new surfaces, jumping on things, going under things, etc. It's about learning to be around interesting, and new things in a positive manner. You might be interested in this book, but overall you're going to want to get super familiar with counter conditioning, densensatization, calming signals, competing motivation, trigger stacking, etc.

> she resource guards with her food. I have a lot of work cut out for me.

Mine!

> That’s besides the point, should I take her on multiple walks everyday and hope she’ll eventually like to exercise?

I'd do two walks a day, but keep them super low key, and close to home. You're going to have to figure out if she doesn't like walking, or if the stress of being away from a 'known' environment is the problem.

> Should I put her with my other dog and hope she’ll eventually start to like them and learn how to play?

I'd work on them being in the same room and ignoring each other first. Tether on opposite sides of the room and reward for staying on a mat. Over time, bring the mats closer so that eventually they can be near each other and be 'neutral' or better. I wouldn't necessarily let your other dog just romp on it. It really depends on the other dog there.

> I already have one dog and he’s crazy hyper and energetic and loves to play and get treats. When I see the difference between them, it makes my heart ache.

Not all dogs have that personality. I've had a foster labmix, who literally only ever wanted to play fetch, eat or sleep, and he was perfectly happy. It's the same as people - some people love life at 100 miles an hour, some people prefer 1 mile an hour, that doesn't make the other 'unhappy'. :)

I would also recommend the book Mine:A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs


https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Pratical-Guide-Resource-Guarding-ebook/dp/B06Y2GXSX3/ref=nodl_

It sounds to me like she is guarding those places. You should try reading Mine and check out the wiki for information on Resource Guarding. In the meantime, she should not have access to these things until she is polite about it. That said, you should not ignore your dog's growling. Growling is important communication and you don't want to dissuade her from doing it as dogs that are trained to stop growling as a warning go straight to biting. I would also refrain from picking her up. Dog's don't really like getting picked up anyway, but you can give them a better sense of control by teach limits or the 'off' command.

So the food aggression is called resource guarding. It is an extremely common issue and with some training can be quite manageable, some dogs guard food, toys, beds or other places, and sometimes people or other dogs.

My favorite book on this subject is Mine! I've used it to train not one but two of my dogs that it's okay for me to remove items or food from them since they'll always get it back or get a better treat in return. The book covers everything from misconceptions to how to train and manage then for extreme cases or preventative, how to properly utilize a muzzle safely and effectively.