Possessiveness: It's My Pillow!

Why is Mollie the border collie protecting her pillow and showing obvious signs of fear and maybe even aggression? Would you dare to try to take her pillow away from her?!

We don't know when this odd behavior first began, but the owners made it much worse when they began to reward it.

Every time Mollie would guard something and growl at her human owners, they would throw her a dog cookie to bribe her away. Being no fool, Mollie soon figured out that all she had to do for another cookie was to find something, (anything!) to guard, growl a couple of times and show her teeth. Soon a cookie would arive.

The best thing to do when behavior of this sort occurs is to ignore it until she gets up and walks away from the pillow or whatever is being guarded. Next, make sure the dog knows that this behavior is appropriate by rewarding her with attention. Pet the dog and tell her how good she has been. Maybe even consider giving a yummy food treat as a special reward for appropriate behavior.

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