Dog Training Community

My new Boxer; who I addopted at one year old; aggressivley guards his food, treats, and now me against my 12 year old Cocker Spaniel. I have taught him that guarding me is not as fun as getting treats when my Cocker is getting my attention but teaching him the same idea with his food is prooving to be trickier. I need a few step by step recomendations on helping the situaton.

You need to do two things with your boxer:

1. Prevent the rehearsal of the aggression
2. Change the behavior pattern from aggression to being calm

Try this:

• Use a clicker, preferably or say, "Yes" if you don't have a clicker
  
• Use one of the triggers that you have identified such as food or treats
• Tether your boxer with a leash
• Put the food 5 feet away from your boxer
• With your Cocker on leash, start 10 feet away and walk him towards your boxer, stopping 8 feet away (so the cocker is 3 feet away from the food)
• Click and toss a treat to your boxer
• Reset to the starting point and walk until you are 7 feet away and click and treat
• Continue working moving closer to your boxer
• Move the food closer to your boxer and continue the exercise, starting far away and moving closer each time

Points to keep in mind:

• Your boxer should be COMPLETELY calm at each stage
• If he is anxious, you are going way too fast
• This could take days, weeks or months to change his behavior
• The sessions should feel uneventful and even boring. If there is stress, you are doing it wrong and moving too quickly
• You have to pay attention to all of the variables including speed of approach, angle of approach, what resource your are using, etc.

You can also work on the behavior whenever these events happen naturally. If your boxer is eating and yoru cocker walks in the room, you can click and treat as well.

Let me know if you have questions.