#1. Practice Food Bowl Exercises & Object Exchanges
Growling, snapping and/or stiffening up when someone approaches your dog’s food bowl or toys is a serious issue. Help train your dog against resource-guarding by dropping extra special goodies into his bowl while he’s eating. Repeat this often to associate a positive outcome with people approaching and putting their hands into his food bowl while he eats.
Also, practice exchanging things that your dog has for other stuff he finds equally or more valuable. For example, offer your dog a treat when he drops his tennis ball for you. Or offer a second tennis ball in exchange if your dog finds balls more valuable than food. If your dog is reluctant, give the reward when he drops his item but does not take it away.
Remember, allowing a trainer to come in and observe your dog interacting with you and others is not a failure on your part! Professionals can help expose behavior problems, teach you how to fix them, and save you lots of frustration.
