Advice on Guarding/Aggression Situation

[SaddlePsych'D]

OH walked Ivy this morning, to their usual spot which is a fairly small enclosed space where he lets her off lead. Usually there's no other dogs there, she has a good sniff about, maybe a bit of a run around, and they practice recall.

This morning something had obviously been dumped in there which Ivy got hold of and ate. I need to get the details of what happened exactly but OH says she growled at him, ran away, and then continued barking and growling at him even after whatever it was had gone.

I think he did try to take it from her so wondering if that escalated things and then with adrenaline or whatever she carried on the argument/wanting to keep him away because of the negative experience.

I guess I'm just looking for some advice on how to make sense of it and how to support my OH. Aggression feels like a strong word for it but that's how he described it and I think it's upset him that it happened.

In the past I have had a job of trying to get across to him not to be too confrontational about getting things from her around the house but I do understand when it's out and about, not knowing what she had got hold of (he does check the area each time they go in there but sounds like the grass has been allowed to overgrow again), he probably panicked.

For now I think we'll be looking at using muzzle, not so much for aggression but to stop the risk of picking things up which she shouldn't have.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We don't do it as a matter of course but have trained a Rottweiler to swap something she had for something we had(orange segments were very high value for her).
Could you train Ivy to 'swap'?. The downside of that is that you have to have a high value treat to hand in the moment.
I think a muzzle is probably your best defence against picking up undesirable (to you) things on a walk. I wouldn't worry too much about the 'aggression' if it was a one off in that particular situation

 

[Jenko109]

Sounds like this was a one off to me. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

We don't do it as a matter of course but have trained a Rottweiler to swap something she had for something we had(orange segments were very high value for her).
Could you train Ivy to 'swap'?. The downside of that is that you have to have a high value treat to hand in the moment.
I think a muzzle is probably your best defence against picking up undesirable (to you) things on a walk. I wouldn't worry too much about the 'aggression' if it was a one off in that particular situation

I do swap/distract at home. To be honest at home she doesn't tend to take things like she did when we first had her. And there are a couple of things we have just learned to keep out of her way (if we ever decide to have children this will need further work as it's soft toys).

I understand why he was upset. She turns into a real gremlin that is so not her usual character and it's not nice to see. I remember 'bread-gate' when we first had her and she was in the crate with a whole loaf of sourdough, snarling away. I opted out of sticking my hand in the crate so let her crack on and then escorted her to the garden where she promptly threw the lot up. Not a high point for us!

The other thing we could try is putting one of her ex-toy squeakers in the treat pouch and perhaps pair that with a really high value food reward to make it an emergency recall type thing, the sound on it's own is usually enough for her to come. At home my go to is to walk away from her and chuck a handful of food in her bowl and she'll come running. Then whatever it is can be quietly retrieved while she's distracted.

He's clarified that she wasn't coming at him so I do think it sounds like she was just wanting to keep him away. Unpleasant as that was it doesn't sound like she has turned into demon dog!

 

[CorvusCorax]

I have a very feisty/guardy female with very high food drive and possession but I knew exactly what I was getting into as I have owned her father for some time

I take food out in my pockets every time I walk her, either in a training or clay pigeon shooting jacket or a cardigan with big pockets or whatever. As mentioned in other threads she does have a habit of snarfing things like tissues off the floor so I immediately give an ah-ah, then an out command and the minute she drops it she gets a handful of food (not one piece!!) and we go on our way, no conflict. It is also used for things like checking in, offering up nice behaviours or getting past other dogs. Sometimes I come home with all the food and it goes back into her allowance for the next day, sometimes half, sometimes none, depending on what we have encountered on the walk. Maybe one day I won't have enough food in my pockets but it's been conditioned over a long period of time, so she believes there might be.
She also wears quite a fine, light, snug slip collar if I ever do need to use that as a back-up but is very rarely deployed and when it is, she IMMEDIATELY gets a massive reward afterwards so that a positive follows the negative. My way of dealing with it is not for everyone, but the alternatives are create conflict/damage the relationship and risk getting bitten or the dog swallows something dangerous, so I am happy with my solution.

Your OH needs to think about the relationship and de-escalating things. Sure, you can get after some dogs for showing those sorts of behaviours, but it has to be such that the dog will never, ever attempt it again and not everyone wants or has the ability to go there.
If I recall correctly she came with some of these behaviours, mine has them genetically, and for me, with the insecure ones, it's best to work with the dog rather than create conflict.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I have a very feisty/guardy female with very high food drive and possession but I knew exactly what I was getting into as I have owned her father for some time

I take food out in my pockets every time I walk her, either in a training or clay pigeon shooting jacket or a cardigan with big pockets or whatever. As mentioned in other threads she does have a habit of snarfing things like tissues off the floor so I immediately give an ah-ah, then an out command and the minute she drops it she gets a handful of food (not one piece!!) and we go on our way, no conflict. It is also used for things like checking in, offering up nice behaviours or getting past other dogs. Sometimes I come home with all the food and it goes back into her allowance for the next day, sometimes half, sometimes none, depending on what we have encountered on the walk. Maybe one day I won't have enough food in my pockets but it's been conditioned over a long period of time, so she believes there might be.
She also wears quite a fine, light, snug slip collar if I ever do need to use that as a back-up but is very rarely deployed and when it is, she IMMEDIATELY gets a massive reward afterwards so that a positive follows the negative. My way of dealing with it is not for everyone, but the alternatives are create conflict/damage the relationship and risk getting bitten or the dog swallows something dangerous, so I am happy with my solution.

Your OH needs to think about the relationship and de-escalating things. Sure, you can get after some dogs for showing those sorts of behaviours, but it has to be such that the dog will never, ever attempt it again and not everyone wants or has the ability to go there.
If I recall correctly she came with some of these behaviours, mine has them genetically, and for me, with the insecure ones, it's best to work with the dog rather than create conflict.

Thank you, this is really appreciated

Yes she has had these behaviours since we got her. Never funny with her food bowl but more with 'things'. The scope of things this covers has reduced, she's less anxious so I think that's reduced the pinching of things generally and when she does pick things up like a shoe or ball of socks it's to chuck them about a bit (usually in protest of a a late dinner or wanting to go for a walk) rather than destroy the item. In the early days I think I posted here when I made the mistake of trying to play tug with her then realised it wasn't really a fun game but getting into an argument!

I recently got her a new chaser toy to help with recall and we have a successful 'drop' for that, possibly 'too' successful as when she realises the good treats are around she lets go of the toy to look for the food before being asked. I think we can do some further work on this. As said above I think we'll have to work on it if we ever plan to have children as we wouldn't want conflict over teddies!

I think we have enough security in our relationship that I can now 'ah-ah' for some things but agree working with rather than escalating the conflict will be best approach for this.

Eta - OH has worked on it less. He was nipped by her a while ago (I panic-posted about that here too!) when someone threw her an inappropriate toy without our knowledge and he went to retrieve it from her. Whereas I would have gone for her food bowl and a generous handful of food. On lead I have had a couple of times emergency holding her chops open to shake out something she has had. Not fun or ideal but we swiftly and brightly move on. I try to practice 'leave it' with her and other times if I can see something on the ground ahead she might want to pick up I'll get her to watch me while making a manoeuvre to dodge it.

 

[skinnydipper]

I don't know if it will work with Ivy but I teach Leave it/take it.

I start teaching it as one of our games. I have a treat on the palm of my hand, if she goes to take it, close my hand. When she backs off, tell her she can take it. A couple of times of this and she knows not to go for it and I will tell her to take it. This progresses to putting a treat on the floor, if she goes to take it, put a hand over it until she stands back or sits and waits then either pick it up and give it to her or tell her she can take it. Then I put a treat on the floor and add to it one by one, while she waits so she has a little pile of treats then either pick them up and give her them or tell she can take them.

When it is for real and not a game, say I drop something when cooking or when I'm getting her treat bag ready and drop one, I always say leave it. Depending what it is I then tell her she can take it or if it is something I don't want her to have I pick it up and give her something else.

It has come in handy when there has been something unsavoury when we are out and about. I must admit I have found myself saying leave it with a sharper tone if there is vomit or manky old pizza. She always gets something from me for leaving it.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I don't know if it will work with Ivy but I teach Leave it/take it.

I start teaching it as one of our games. I have a treat on the palm of my hand, if she goes to take it, close my hand. When she backs off, tell her she can take it. A couple of times of this and she knows not to go for it and I will tell her to take it. This progresses to putting a treat on the floor, if she goes to take it, put a hand over it until she stands back or sits and waits then either pick it up and give it to her or tell her she can take it. Then I put a treat on the floor and add to it one by one, while she waits so she has a little pile of treats then either pick them up and give her them or tell she can take them.

When it is for real and not a game, say I drop something when cooking or when I'm getting her treat bag ready and drop one, I always say leave it. Depending what it is I then tell her she can take it or if it is something I don't want her to have I pick it up and give her something else.

It has come in handy when there has been something unsavoury when we are out and about. I must admit I have found myself saying leave it with a sharper tone if there is vomit or manky old pizza. She always gets something from me for leaving it.

Ooh, we've done a bit of the 'leave it' part of that but not the 'take it' bit and I really like the idea of making it a game and increasing the reward for waiting until the 'take it'. I will give this a try and report back! She usually gets into it when we make a game so I am sure she will be up for working out the puzzle with me.

 

[skinnydipper]

Ooh, we've done a bit of the 'leave it' part of that but not the 'take it' bit and I really like the idea of making it a game and increasing the reward for waiting until the 'take it'. I will give this a try and report back! She usually gets into it when we make a game so I am sure she will be up for working out the puzzle with me.

I probably didn't explain it very well. You don't have to go through all the stages every time, she will soon pick it up so when you play the game you won't go through the early stages just straight to putting them on the floor and asking her to leave. The big girl makes me laugh, she turns her head and pretends she is not looking as I'm putting them on the floor.

 

[paisley]

Could I also suggest seeing if you can teach a ‘wait’ so they stop followed by a release command of your choose. I use ‘all done’ in a brisk tone which has been super useful in situations like the vets. I find the ‘wait’ gives a pause and focuses their attention to you, and I’ve been able to follow it up with ‘not your business’ for things to be left alone.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Could I also suggest seeing if you can teach a ‘wait’ so they stop followed by a release command of your choose. I use ‘all done’ in a brisk tone which has been super useful in situations like the vets. I find the ‘wait’ gives a pause and focuses their attention to you, and I’ve been able to follow it up with ‘not your business’ for things to be left alone.

Yes this is a good reminder as I have been meaning to get on this for a while. Most of our walking is on lead but when on long line I want to be able to emulate off-lead so getting her to stop and wait would be a useful skill to have in our toolkit.

 

[SusieT]

I think your OH needs to take responsibility for his own part in it- if he's already been nipped he's not learning from his own past mistakes - would it be worth getting him a session with a trainer so HE learns? Once you get your head around ( as you seem to have) the concept of not expecting/fighting them for the item, but swapping it out life becomes much simpler and less likely to escalate. Otherwise, if he isn't reading the cues and insists on chasing items he will get a bad bite..

 

[CorvusCorax]

Also, another thing, when I want to take something from an insecure dog I would always do it from the side, never facing or 'over' the dog, they can find it very confrontational.

 

[Dobiegirl]

All my dogs have learnt the leave it command but I always muzzle my Dobe girl when out walking as there is so much rabbit poo around that keeping an eye on all the dogs in the very long grass is impossible. Tbf none of my dogs have shown any aggression when I have had to remove something from them if I had missed them picking something up that they shouldnt.

 

[SkylarkAscending]

She is a greyhound….. they quite often have strong prey drive….. I wouldn’t think twice about this situation personally, it is not what I’d call “aggression” in any way, but your OH handled it badly by getting into a confrontational situation with her and taking it personally. He is inexperienced, and I know it happens

As an example, in the past I’ve had to wrestle cooked pork bones from my lurcher’s clamped jaws before now because I wouldn’t risk him chewing the bones, I didn’t blame him for his reaction in any way and I’d got bitten I wouldn’t have reacted. It would have hurt a lot, but I’d know why he did it. So also this was also a confrontational situation - I was very clear he wasn’t having what he wanted, as it posed a risk to his health - but I didn’t ever feel scared/intimidated/at risk.

Dogs don’t do it personally - they react, they don’t have the logic and calculation of humans - recognition of that makes them a lot easier to manage in my experience.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

She is a greyhound….. they quite often have strong prey drive….. I wouldn’t think twice about this situation personally, it is not what I’d call “aggression” in any way, but your OH handled it badly by getting into a confrontational situation with her and taking it personally. He is inexperienced, and I know it happens

As an example, in the past I’ve had to wrestle cooked pork bones from my lurcher’s clamped jaws before now because I wouldn’t risk him chewing the bones, I didn’t blame him for his reaction in any way and I’d got bitten I wouldn’t have reacted. It would have hurt a lot, but I’d know why he did it. So also this was also a confrontational situation - I was very clear he wasn’t having what he wanted, as it posed a risk to his health - but I didn’t ever feel scared/intimidated/at risk.

Dogs don’t do it personally - they react, they don’t have the logic and calculation of humans - recognition of that makes them a lot easier to manage in my experience.

I agree re: "aggression". It was his word when he text me about what happened initially but with some questioning it really did sound like her telling him to stay away rather than her going for him.

It was a tricky situation which he didn't handle too well, I don't know if I would have done much better in the circumstances although I did speak to him about not taking it personally. For now I think the muzzle is going on until the grass in that space has been mown again. Then we've got a few training bits to be working on. She actually did some quite good 'leave it' on lead during yesterday's evening walk so we've got something to build on at least.

 

[SkylarkAscending]

I really do apologise to you and your OH @SaddlePsych'D - it’s been a busy week at work and I’m on Friday evening wind down, I’m very sorry I was judgemental, it was really out of order of me. I need to think first and post after reflection as usual!

I agree that the muzzle seems an excellent idea, greyhounds are so used to them that I’ve never found it to be remotely punitive for them, and it saves a lot of possible difficulties. You sound to be doing a lot of good training with Ivy!

My greyhounds weirdly have always been laid back over the years, the lurchers definitely less so, and this sort of training pays huge dividends

I apologise again for being an idiot, sounds like you have it all sorted

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I really do apologise to you and your OH @SaddlePsych'D - it’s been a busy week at work and I’m on Friday evening wind down, I’m very sorry I was judgemental, it was really out of order of me. I need to think first and post after reflection as usual!

I agree that the muzzle seems an excellent idea, greyhounds are so used to them that I’ve never found it to be remotely punitive for them, and it saves a lot of possible difficulties. You sound to be doing a lot of good training with Ivy!

My greyhounds weirdly have always been laid back over the years, the lurchers definitely less so, and this sort of training pays huge dividends

I apologise again for being an idiot, sounds like you have it all sorted

Oh no that didn't come across at all in your post! Apologies if there was something in mine which made you think that. I really hadn't picked up any judgement or idiocy from you

 

[SkylarkAscending]

Oh no that didn't come across at all in your post! Apologies if there was something in mine which made you think that. I really hadn't picked up any judgement or idiocy from you

Thank you - I’m probably paranoid/tired this evening, I know I can come across as very “preachy” about greyhounds because I love them and want the best for them

There was absolutely nothing in your post, I’m just over sensitive

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Quick update on this - we've had a go with @skinnydipper suggestion of the leave it/take it game, it was quite funny watching Ivy look longingly at the treat then pretend to not be looking at it. She got quite excited when the treat pile got bigger so after a few rounds we left it there because she got too excited and then I was too slow to cover the treat before she could nab it! Ideally I'd like to shape it a bit so she moves away from the thing she is being asked to leave because at the moment we have 'plop myself into a down as close as possible to pretend not to want it but also be within striking distance'

I'm getting our lead walking back up to scratch, having realised we have really let bad habits set in and getting quite fed up of stopping every few seconds for sniffing. This is fine when we're in the sniffing places but not to just walk down the street. I think this will reduce our risk of her spotting things on the ground before we do.

Then I have also just remembered that part of the reason we haven't done much 'drop' training is that Ivy doesn't pick much up unless she REALLY wants it, in which case it's not the easiest thing to persuade her to drop. Fine for the bungee toy but for other items she will likely just run off with them. Tips/ideas welcome as I'm just not sure how else to practice it. I did do some training to persuade her to pick up and bring on of her (old and unloved) toys but she kind of just throws that at me because she definitely wants the food more than the toy. Tagging @CorvusCorax as thought you may know and realised I forgot to mention this before.

 

[CorvusCorax]

It's really hard to advise without seeing the dog/what you're doing. With my young dog I simply don't let her dick off with toys, she's either on a line, (a light line in the house if we're doing that sort of thing), or the toy itself is on a rope, bungee or flirt pole.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

It's really hard to advise without seeing the dog/what you're doing. With my young dog I simply don't let her dick off with toys, she's either on a line, (a light line in the house if we're doing that sort of thing), or the toy itself is on a rope, bungee or flirt pole.

I suppose my dilemma is I'd like to practice 'drop' but I'm not sure how to practice other than with the bungee toy. Although I could try the other way round and put her on a line to work with loose items (there's a toy bear I bought her in the early days before I realised she just likes to kill soft toys) and she absolutely has it in for this poor bear! I guess if we have the line on she can't just bog off with it and we can still practice the 'drop' bit.

Obviously we manage this by keeping stuffed toys out of her way but it would be nice if we could work on the training a bit more so if we're elsewhere and she happens to find something she isn't supposed to have (or someone throws her a toy we don't know about ) we can get those items back without stress/conflict/drama.

 

[stangs]

Then I have also just remembered that part of the reason we haven't done much 'drop' training is that Ivy doesn't pick much up unless she REALLY wants it, in which case it's not the easiest thing to persuade her to drop. Fine for the bungee toy but for other items she will likely just run off with them. Tips/ideas welcome as I'm just not sure how else to practice it. I did do some training to persuade her to pick up and bring on of her (old and unloved) toys but she kind of just throws that at me because she definitely wants the food more than the toy.

Alongside drop training, one thing to consider would be practising recalls while she's got a toy she likes, but not always asking for a drop it/leave it/etc. Just praising her from bringing it to you, and then letting her go away to play with it again, so she doesn't get into the mindset that if she brings you/the OH something interesting, it will get taken away (or, in fancy words, using the high probability run-off-with-toy to reinforce the low probability recall-with-toy).

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Alongside drop training, one thing to consider would be practising recalls while she's got a toy she likes, but not always asking for a drop it/leave it/etc. Just praising her from bringing it to you, and then letting her go away to play with it again, so she doesn't get into the mindset that if she brings you/the OH something interesting, it will get taken away (or, in fancy words, using the high probability run-off-with-toy to reinforce the low probability recall-with-toy).

Ooh I like this idea! We can give that a try. Probably on long line first to avoid the running off too far - I'm having mental images of us chasing her round the secure field at dusk trying to retrieve her and/or the toy long after our booking has ended. It's a very big field

 

[CorvusCorax]

I suppose my dilemma is I'd like to practice 'drop' but I'm not sure how to practice other than with the bungee toy. Although I could try the other way round and put her on a line to work with loose items (there's a toy bear I bought her in the early days before I realised she just likes to kill soft toys) and she absolutely has it in for this poor bear! I guess if we have the line on she can't just bog off with it and we can still practice the 'drop' bit.

Obviously we manage this by keeping stuffed toys out of her way but it would be nice if we could work on the training a bit more so if we're elsewhere and she happens to find something she isn't supposed to have (or someone throws her a toy we don't know about ) we can get those items back without stress/conflict/drama.

Do only have the one bungee toy? I have two of everything

 

[CorvusCorax]

Alongside drop training, one thing to consider would be practising recalls while she's got a toy she likes, but not always asking for a drop it/leave it/etc. Just praising her from bringing it to you, and then letting her go away to play with it again, so she doesn't get into the mindset that if she brings you/the OH something interesting, it will get taken away (or, in fancy words, using the high probability run-off-with-toy to reinforce the low probability recall-with-toy).

Personally speaking I don't want the dog to run off and play with the toy on their own as that can create more possession IME, I want them to play with it **with me** so the toy/ball with the rope or bungee, if I have two items of the same value, when the dog comes back I either out the dog and throw the other one immediately or grab the rope and we have a game and the dog can carry it but always around my person, not away from me, I have to be part of the game.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Do only have the one bungee toy? I have two of everything

The old one is stilll around, lurking in the back of the cupboard. Less appealing than it was sans squeaker but it's a rabbit skin one so she does still really like it.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Further progress report, I tried the leave it/take it thing in the kitchen. Dropping a kibble on the floor as if I'd been preparing food on the side, then asking her to leave it, adding a few more to the pile and then telling her to take it. Overall it turned out it worked better to practice in there as she won't do a down on the kitchen floor; this was helpful because I want to shape the behaviour for her to move away from the thing she is being asked to leave rather than just look away from it. She did a grand job given her novice trainer!

We did some drop practice on the line indoors with the bear. Again seemed to work okay. Last one failed a bit so rather than up the conflict I recalled her (she knew I had The Good Treats) so OH could quietly rescue bear. It made me realise maybe one of the skills we could work on to help with this problem is proofing our recall so if we did spot potential for her to head towards something interesting we could get her back. Anyway this needs work because our main source of recall failure is distraction by sniffing.

We have also been playing the 'duck' game, which I think is unlikely to be as useful for thing she really really likes (duck is just a husk of a former toy she lost interest in once it was de-squeaked) but is a fun game to play and we have progressed to me being able to (badly) hide duck and for her to go and pull him out from behind the curtain/cushion/sofa and bring him (to my hand as well!) Clever noodle

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Ooh and another update (we're on a roll this week!) - we had a really great time at the secure field. First one in a good while because of vet physio. We were supposed to have a follow up and I was holding off for that but it got cancelled and physio hasn't got back in touch to reschedule so I thought this is silly, Ivy really benefits from a good run and some proper free time.

She did have her good run and boy could you tell it was overdue! We managed to engage her in the 'duck' game outside and she really got into it which I'm so pleased with because there is so much there for her to sniff instead but even off the long line she kept the game going with us and brought duck back each time.

We did a little bit of 'drop' with the bungee toy. Annoyingly I forgot to dig out the other one but it worked well enough with having the special treats and giving plenty of them. There was a bit of a growl at OH when he took the handle end of the toy, so this has highlighted how she is feeling about him and 'her' stuff. Understandable given their recent situation. I encouraged him to just walk along side her holding the lead end so not pulling it away and just going where she wanted to go so it didn't turn into tug. He did a couple of successful 'drop's and I said just don't pick it up for now, let her know she can let go of it to get her treat from you and it's no biggie. I did the final 'drop' and she got a jackpot of treats for that.

We also played a new game (unrelated to the guarding) called 'hide from Ivy until she works out we've gone' - it took her a couple of minutes but it was quite funny when you could see she'd gone 'wait...where'd they go?!' and then when she found us she came really running! Not relevant to the thread, it was just a nice thing to share. We had fun

I have identified a possible trainer to approach for a session to have a look at the guarding. Someone who previously worked with police dogs and police puppy training. As far as I can tell they use positive reinforcement and I like that they have a professional background in working with dogs, though I am not sure how I would verify those credentials. They seem to have good reviews. Any tips or questions to ask before going ahead with a trainer?

 

[Clodagh]

Ooh and another update (we're on a roll this week!) - we had a really great time at the secure field. First one in a good while because of vet physio. We were supposed to have a follow up and I was holding off for that but it got cancelled and physio hasn't got back in touch to reschedule so I thought this is silly, Ivy really benefits from a good run and some proper free time.

She did have her good run and boy could you tell it was overdue! We managed to engage her in the 'duck' game outside and she really got into it which I'm so pleased with because there is so much there for her to sniff instead but even off the long line she kept the game going with us and brought duck back each time.

We did a little bit of 'drop' with the bungee toy. Annoyingly I forgot to dig out the other one but it worked well enough with having the special treats and giving plenty of them. There was a bit of a growl at OH when he took the handle end of the toy, so this has highlighted how she is feeling about him and 'her' stuff. Understandable given their recent situation. I encouraged him to just walk along side her holding the lead end so not pulling it away and just going where she wanted to go so it didn't turn into tug. He did a couple of successful 'drop's and I said just don't pick it up for now, let her know she can let go of it to get her treat from you and it's no biggie. I did the final 'drop' and she got a jackpot of treats for that.

We also played a new game (unrelated to the guarding) called 'hide from Ivy until she works out we've gone' - it took her a couple of minutes but it was quite funny when you could see she'd gone 'wait...where'd they go?!' and then when she found us she came really running! Not relevant to the thread, it was just a nice thing to share. We had fun

I have identified a possible trainer to approach for a session to have a look at the guarding. Someone who previously worked with police dogs and police puppy training. As far as I can tell they use positive reinforcement and I like that they have a professional background in working with dogs, though I am not sure how I would verify those credentials. They seem to have good reviews. Any tips or questions to ask before going ahead with a trainer?

Do they have any videos you can watch?