Client - My dog growls & resource guards

Stats: 1 Online Behavioural Session & 6 Weeks in the Dog Club

Daisy was a new member of the Raising My Rescue Dog Club and asked to see me for an Online 1-1 Session. As a member, she got a discount on her session so it was a win-win.

Her dog, Asher, is a Romanian rescue who was also training to be a service dog. He had some unusual habits though – while a loving and engaged dog 90% of the time, he had a certain level of hyperarousal and would also resource guard.

His other unusual behaviour was growling at night. He would growl at Daisy, the person he was usually thrilled to see and happy to be with. She often couldn’t sleep because of how he sounded, and it was becoming really upsetting.

What is hyperarousal in dogs?

Hyperarousal refers to dogs who are over-excited, excessively bouncy, or easily frustrated and tense.

Common symptoms include:

• Humping

• Getting the “zoomies” all the time

• Pulling on the lead

• Jumping up at guests

• Nipping and pulling clothes or your arms

• Tugging on the lead or biting your boots

Hyperarousal is almost always a sign of an underlying problem, either behaviourally or physically. As soon as I see this type of behaviour in dogs, I begin analysing the dog closely to try to establish the exact cause.

Asher’s Diet

Daisy was feeding Asher a really high quality biscuit (kibble) and raw food. I noticed the food contained a very common, but indigestible, ingredient.

Because this ingredient is so common, I wasn’t immediately worried, but I do know it can cause discomfort in the gut. And we know discomfort can cause hyperarousal in dogs.

Joining the dots

I realised Asher’s resource-guarding behaviour didn’t seem like classic resource-guarding, from Daisy’s description. There was one key piece of information she gave me that made it different, which is that Asher would resource-guard his vomit, but never eat it. He would growl after being sick and not allow anyone near it or him.

Being sick means the dog a in some level of discomfort or feeling poorly. So now we know Asher growls when he feels poorly – this is really important.

I asked Daisy when these behaviours started, because Asher hadn’t always been this way. She said around June.

I asked when she started feeding him the diet he’s on now – also June.

Bingo!!!

By opting for a diet that didn’t include that key, common dog food ingredient moving forward, Asher is back to his old happy self, and Daisy sent me this message:

“Asher has been a completely different dog since changing his food, so you were spot on there! So much more relaxed and settled. He’s much less reactive to dogs now! So thank you so much, I feel so hopeful about his future now that we’re back on track”.