Excited Biting and Resource Guarding

MyDogBitz said:

There's a lot to unpack here. I'm no expert on behavioral stuff but I have some success with resource guarding. It's late for me but I'll add something later that might be helpful for you and get you to the other side of this.

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e.xochipa said:

This is a repost from my Reddit account.

I have a 9 month old Germans shepherd mix (we got her at 3 months). Right now the biggest problems behavior are excited biting and resource guarding.

Her first sign of resource guarding was the day we got her. I poured her food and petted her and she growled for a brief moment. Thankfully this behavior went away and I can pet her while she eats (Not sure what changed). Sometimes I literally have to touch her food to get her to eat it on the rare occasion. However as puppies do sometimes they like to grab the most random things and so mistakenly I would just take it out of her mouth which I recognized contributed to this behavior. So then I tried trading with reward treats and practicing her leave it. So far both have 50/50 success rate. Sometimes she will take the treat and sometimes she will leave it (which I reward with a treat). Sometimes she does still chew on things no matter my efforts and so I have to pick and choose my battles. I also try to keep a tidy house to prevent this. I throw/put away anything on the counter or table that doesn’t need to be there such as food or trash (my dad literally leave trash on the table and counter). However despite me best efforts to keep a tidy house someone manages to leave something for her to drab and so she gets a hand on it when we happen to not be paying attention. It’s almost what’s something belonging to my dad or sister (they leave their stuff out the most, especially when it comes to my sister socks). I try to rather trade or tell them to leave it and when it doesn’t work I tell them their object is a lost cause. She has already bitten my twice in resources guarding incidents where I needed to take it out because it was dangerous. There have been several close calls but only 2 that have results in blood. She doesn’t really growl as a warning if I were to take something. She just goes immediately for the bite once my hand has touched the object. Sometimes she has let me grab it without problem but because she doesn’t growl until contact I’m not sure when she’s particularly decisive about the object. She has also bitten my sister once (that’s resulted in blood) trying to get something back. My mom and dad won’t even try. My mom is basically scared of the dog just because her size (like 57 pounds) and she always approached the dog with visible caution and mostly spends time in her room.

As for the excited biting that is a problem that occurs mainly with my family and guests. It happened with me too but it stopped a while ago. Essentially I would stand still or walk as if nothing was in front of me and completely ignore her. I would ‘tolerate the bite/nibble’ and act unbothered until she settled. She would occasionally bark when she wouldn’t get a reaction but again just ignore her. Eventually after repeating this she would just give up pretty quickly. She will try to do it occasionally but again gives up quickly cuz she knows I have the patience of a saint. Once she gives up I say good girl and pet her gently and try to engage with play with a toy or practice training commands. I don’t like super rough/excited petting with the baby voice. As for my family they get super irritated with this stuff. My mom and sister and dad in particular use their legs and arms to move her way which seems to only encourage it. My dad does this thing where he holds his arm up (I assume to avoid biting the arm) but she then tries to jump for it. And then when he tries to use his legs to move her and so she tries to bite the legs. He then raises his voice yellowing STOP which prompts her to bark, bite/nibble and jump. The way I see it is that she is sees it as engaging and play so that’s what continues it. I try to tell him that but he gets pissed off with her easily and doesn’t really like her near him. Even when she licks him he moves her way with his leg and yells stop which prompts up the behavior again (just the nibbling and barking). When I brought it up with the trainer she said to just cross arms, disengage and say no. I told her I will literally stand in a spot for as long as I needed to until she relaxed then I marked it with a “good girl” and gentle pet. The thing is my family (at least my dad) has little patience and often uses physical means to move her away and raises his voice. His movements and raising the voice seems to be what’s making the behavior especially apparent with him. Those are the things that usually cause her to bark and nibble (she seems really reactive with that).

Other than that she is a pretty decently behaved dog (at least with me). I’m currently injured (knee fracture/dislocation) and so right now it’s my dad and sister take her to her trainings. I think these can be solved but I’m not sure how. So far my method has worked for me individually, but I know it’s not working for everyone else which to me is because it requires you to be patient and calm (don’t show frustration since that just seems to agitate the behavior) but these are traits that don’t really come easy for my family especially my dad who snap pretty easily.

I know at least with the mouthing stuff in the second paragraph it is quite common but it really frustrates my dad and since he snaps pretty easily and she seems to respond badly to that which makes me worry that she might hurt him. My corrections don’t seem to work, redirecting doesn’t work, and while she hasn’t violently bitten them (mostly dad) because they raised their voice or moved them her reactions make me think she could get to that point in the future. Right now it’s just barking, some growling, and laying her teeth on you (doesn’t sink them in).

Any advice on how improve these behaviors? What am I doing right and what am I doing wrong?

LITTLE UPDATE: She tried bitting me just now again. I went to the restroom quickly and she had my mother’s personal chopsticks in her mouth (not sure how). Tried trading with some meat and toys but she was adamant on chewing on the chopsticks. Tried commanding her leave it but nothing. She let me put my hand near her face but the moment I touched the harness she bit my hand which allowed me to grab the chopsticks. Thankfully it’s was only a REALLY TINY nip with the tiniest amount of blood becasue I moved my hand fast enough. Not my worst injury but still concerning . Once again rare but when it happens it makes me worry it may happen to my parents.

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Sasha_GSD_Rescue said:

Tough challenges for sure. Right now I'm using treats when trading resources. My pup is 9 weeks old and will get random bursts of energy and get over excited with her biting (kennel cushion, floor cushion, to town on her stuffie, or go after pee pad). So, I try to keep treats accessible to get her attention. One other thing I learned from a random YT video was to use a weird call like, babababababababa but in somewhat of a high pitch to get her attention and then I'll reward her with treats. Once she comes over, she will either drop the object because I show her the treat or she will wait for next command. I'll give her several treats at first for listening. Then get into a quick 30 second training set of sit, down, stay. So, that's been my routine for the last 48 hours. Seeing some improvement. It's tough for me cause I have little ones around that are loud and makes it hard on the pup to focus. But, gonna stick with it to see if it sticks. But, I'm always looking for ways to keep my GSD pup working. Get her tired and feeling fulfilled kinda thing.

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e.xochipa said:

This is a repost from my Reddit account.

I have a 9 month old Germans shepherd mix (we got her at 3 months). Right now the biggest problems behavior are excited biting and resource guarding.....

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MyDogBitz said:

I was in the process of writing something long-winded but I do have a question,

Have you tried telling the dog NO and punishing her? With a young dog, sometimes a simple punishment event is all it takes to stop some bad behavior before it becomes a habit.

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MyDogBitz said:

You have a lot going on with this dog.

I mean this in the most constructive and helpful way possible but your approach is all wrong. This isn't a slight in anyway. You just need some guidance.

I would definitely consider professional help.

These aren't terribly difficult issues to fix but you definitely need an understanding on how to go about it.

Maybe we can help you find someone reputable. Where about are you located? Without doxing yourself, obviously.

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MyDogBitz said:

The PetSmart trainer knows nothing. Stop wasting your time and money there. Most Vets know next to nothing in regards to dog behavior.

Are any of these trainers near you? (Click for links)

TWC Certified Trainers.

Shield K9 Trainers

Oscar Mora

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e.xochipa said:

I have looked into Oscar mora and his training organization but for leash walking and. They recommended boarding which I can’t afford (not only based on my salary but because I haven’t been working since August after my injury). But maybe I’ll try to ask about the resource guarding. Also when it comes to seeing a vet I just wanted to see if they can refer me to a verified/certified behaviorist which I know they have do. Is that something you think may work?

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• No one grabs items directly anymore, ever. Every time someone does, it rehearses the bite response. Use management (closed doors, baby gates, tethers) to control access until habits improve.
• Keep trades boring and predictable. No excitement, no rush. Calmly present the treat, mark the moment she disengages, reward, then remove the item yourself only after she’s relaxed.
• When possible, have only you handle all resource situations until her trust and pattern reset. Once that’s solid, you can slowly transfer those interactions to family members.
• For your dad especially, volume and movement fuel her. If he can learn to freeze and disengage (no talking, no leg pushing), the behavior will lose power over time.

Malakai The Great said:

That’s a lot to juggle, especially with school, work, and recovering from an injury, credit to you for staying patient and trying to understand why these things are happening instead of just reacting to them. That mindset is half the battle.

From what you’ve described, you’re absolutely right that both the resource guarding and the mouthing are tied to arousal and emotion, not dominance or defiance. She’s not trying to challenge anyone, she’s overwhelmed, uncertain, and testing what works to control her environment.

You’ve already made some smart moves: using trade-offs instead of force, reinforcing “leave it,” and rewarding calm. The missing piece now is structure and consistency across the household, she’s learning that calm works with you but that chaos “works” with others. Dogs don’t generalize easily, so she’s reading each person as a separate situation.

A few things that might help:

• No one grabs items directly anymore, ever. Every time someone does, it rehearses the bite response. Use management (closed doors, baby gates, tethers) to control access until habits improve.
• Keep trades boring and predictable. No excitement, no rush. Calmly present the treat, mark the moment she disengages, reward, then remove the item yourself only after she’s relaxed.
• When possible, have only you handle all resource situations until her trust and pattern reset. Once that’s solid, you can slowly transfer those interactions to family members.
• For your dad especially, volume and movement fuel her. If he can learn to freeze and disengage (no talking, no leg pushing), the behavior will lose power over time.

The good news is, this isn’t permanent. Dogs who guard can absolutely unlearn it once they realize they won’t lose what they value, that you’re part of the process, not a threat.

And you’re 100% right to be cautious, it’s not about fear, it’s about safety and setting her up to succeed. You’ve got great instincts. Keep advocating for her, keep that patience you’ve shown, and she’ll come around.

You’re doing more right than wrong here, you’re just up against mixed signals and a young, smart dog who’s still figuring out trust.

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e.xochipa said:

Thanks I just had a talk about this with my mom. It turns out she had been bitten like me a month ago. Tiny nips w/ little blood on her fingers but her hand was so SOOOOO SWOLLEN. I remember seeing it and she was crying because of how much it hurt trying to bend her hand (didn’t know it was because of the dog). Still hurts in certain spot even a month later every time she bends it apparently.

We were talking about my dad and she feels that he is just annoyed with the dog at this point. He never wanted a dog to begin with and only agreed because he thought it would make up for a “mistake” he made a few months before that hurt the whole family. Also she thinks he is just nervous of any bite because he is diabetic and is worried of a puncture wound if the dog can’t control the bite. It turns out several people in my family (who are also diabetic) have a similar worry and that’s why they don’t come around as often. Just the fact that she is a German shepherd deters them. Even my mom is afraid. Just her puppy nibbles frighten her because she bruises easily and every time the dog comes close my mom tenses up especially when she is chewing something because she worries if she makes a wrong move she’ll bite.

When it comes to consistency around the household that’s hard because my sister is super rough with her when taking things out of her mouth. Though oddly enough she hasn’t been bitten her (At least not to the point that results in blood). She even tries to turn it into rough playing which seems to work at least for her? I try to tell her to ease up on the interactions so that the rough bitting doesn’t become an occurrence with everyone else but she straight up disregards it most of the time.

Any way thanks for the advice, I’ll admit it’s hard not to be fearful. My grandma has a pretty aggressive dog (my dog is nothing compared to him) and I have been bitten but the damage between the two is significant (mine has caused worse wounds). But I’m always reminded of how clam she is when she doesn’t have a random objects from the house in her mouth. She likes to play. Loves being rubbed, petted, and loves meeting new people. I think if she just learns to control her puppy biting and trying to teach her that I’m not trying to just take something then she can be a pretty well behaved dog.

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• Keep physical prevention first, management tools like gates, tethers, or a crate during meals or high-risk moments aren’t “punishment.” They’re structure.
• Avoid testing or pushing her limits around valued items, the goal isn’t to prove trust right now, it’s to build it slowly.
• Praise and reward neutrality, not just obedience. Calm around people, calm around food, calm with hands nearby, that’s what will change things long-term.