FOSTER NEEDED. MEET GUNNAR
Purebred Yellow Lab puppy impulsively purchased from a pet store following a heartbreaking family loss.
Admittedly, in retrospect, this was not a wise decision for this family with a toddler in the house. Puppy is profoundly loved, but not a good fit with their toddler constantly trying to take prized possessions from the dog.
You know where this story is headed. He is beginning to guard his bones from the 2-year-old toddler and the family is no longer comfortable. He does not guard with the adults in the house, only their grabby toddler.
➡️ I recommended no bones, or only give them in a locked crate. They still feel (along with their trainer) that a home with a free-roaming toddler is setting him up for failure. Their trainer feels Gunnar will thrive in a better environment.
▪︎ No bite history.
▪︎ 18 weeks.
▪︎ Housebroken.
▪︎ Leash trained.
▪︎ Obedience trained.
▪︎ Vaccinated.
▪︎ Not yet neutered (too young).
▪︎ Loves other dogs.
▪︎ Current Pics.
▪︎ Obedience School Graduate.
▪︎ Non-Destructive, No Accidents in the Home.
Full transparency: Here's what else the family shared with me:
"Gunnar is an absolutely wonderful dog. He is highly intelligent, loves to train, and is very adaptable. Very little bothers him! He is great with other dogs, loves people and children. He is eager to make you happy and all he asks for in return is a cuddle.
He has graduated from obedience school, is crate trained and is housebroken. He walks well on a leash. He is mellow for a lab, playing when you want but content to relax if needed. He is not destructive and never has accidents in the house. He is truly near perfect.
His only flaw is that he has shown signs of resource guarding. Out of the one thousand times he has had something in his mouth, we have seen this behavior a handful of times; always involving new bones. He has never resource guarded an object that isn’t “his” or his many toys. My husband and I would be less concerned with this behavior if we did not have an active two year old in our home, with plans for more children in the near future.
We have worked with our trainer on ways to improve this behavior, with positive reinforcement. Although Gunnar has responded well to this, the collective decision was that it would be best to re-home him.
Gunnar deserves an environment that sets him up for success and allows him to be the great dog that he is. The environment that we are able to offer him at this time does not provide the type of predictability Gunnar needs to thrive.
Our trainer even believes that with continued training, in a more predictable environment, Gunnar will work through this behavior. It is mild at this time, and we do not want it to become more prominent by keeping him with us."
UPDATE: No guarding when the toddler is out of the home or not in sight.
▪︎ Just a quick update on our end - he has stopped resource guarding when my son isn’t home. We have been working on it extensively. He does sometimes try to take a bone into his cage, but he is overall very relaxed about it.
▪︎ When my toddler is NOT home, we have been working on managing the behavior with other high value items. Trade techniques, positive reinforcement, leave/drop it. He doesn’t resource guard at all in these trainings or environment.
▪︎ He continues to be completely fine with all toys and engages in very appropriate play.
All supplies and a loaner crate provided plus 24/7 support by an assigned RRR Foster Liaison volunteer. Please fill out a Foster Application on our website below.
▪︎ Dibs if it's a love story.
www.rosemariesrescueranch.com
A compassionate all-foster all-volunteer 501c3 rescue
