3 or 4 times a day is plenty. I agree with you that it's a resource guarding issue. I'm dead tired and I still have to pack and do dishes before I can go to bed, so here's how you fix it:
Introduction
In the wild, wolves and dogs form social packs of individuals who live, hunt, sleep, and eat together. Every individual’s success is dependant on the success of the pack as a whole. Social instincts and experience dictate how an individual will behave within the pack, and make it possible for a pack to maintain a structure in which each animal has its place. The most fit canines - the strongest, fastest, and most intelligent - may become leaders in the pack, affording them the opportunity to eat first and mate first and so pass on superior genes to another generation. In return for the special social privileges enjoyed by an alpha male, female, or mated pair, the alpha must demonstrate her/his fitness as a leader. She/he must act for the good of the pack as a whole, because the success of the pack rests on her/his decisions and abilities. An unfit alpha - one who is weak, selfish, or incompetent - will be removed from her/his status to ensure survival of the pack.
Contrary to what we’ve been brought up to believe, our dogs are not ceaselessly seeking to overthrow our leadership. An individual canine in a well organized pack doesn’t attempt to usurp the alpha just for fun; even lower status individuals get enough to eat (and the occasional chance to mate). Life is good in a healthy pack. Periods of social change in a pack can be dangerous until each individual again understands his place, and so dogs have an innate desire to live in a stable pack and will seldom make waves if they understand the way their pack is organized and believe in the leadership they’re given.
Traditional trainers, either through ignorance or apathy, will frequently misdiagnose a dog as “dominant” when in fact that dog is only confused about his place in the family pack. These trainers will go on to explain how you should go about establishing your rightful alpha position over your dog by performing any number of cruel and unnecessary attacks on the dog. An unfortunately large number of dog owners are familiar with techniques such as the “alpha roll” in which the dog is thrown to the ground and forcefully held there by the neck. Traditional trainers point to the behavior of wild dogs to justify this cruelty, and you can witness a similar move performed by one dog on another. What these trainers don’t understand, and what any behaviorist worth his salt can tell you, is that the “alpha roll” seen between two animals of a pack is not the wrestling maneuver they’re asking you to inflict upon your dog, but is typically a ritualistic behavior aimed at solidifying an established hierarchy between two individuals in which both are willing participants. Humans perform many ritualistic social behaviors such as slapping one another on the back and shaking hands. These are social gestures between individual humans, not forced abuses.
Imagine a stranger strolling up to you and seizing your hand out of your pocket, then pumping it violently up and down in his own. You might pull back and yell at the stranger, or you may run away from him. The stranger may later explain (hopefully to the police) that in his understanding, shaking someone’s hand was a demonstration of camaraderie and trust. But because of the manner in which this behavior was performed, I would guess you would not be this stranger’s new best buddy. This is an allegory that may help us understand how our dogs experience our clumsy attempts at approximating their natural interspecies behavior. Humans can’t replicate with their dogs the social “conversations” that dogs have with one another. We tend to come across as complete maniacs in our dogs’ eyes when we try. As the more mentally flexible species in the human/dog relationship, it is our responsibility to learn to communicate socially with our dogs and to cultivate an environment in which they feel secure. To establish successful communication, we have to find a common language. And until I discover my pooch reading Moby Dick, we’ll have to learn to negotiate a social order in Dogese.
The misunderstanding
A social problem arises in a dog’s family pack when he fails to understand his place in the “pecking order” (see definitions). This misunderstanding develops from the dog’s innate comprehension of canine social behavior. A gesture that we as humans may perceive as “nice” or “generous” may come across to the dog as a gesture of reverence and servitude. A normal, healthy dog will not make waves in his family pack unless he either perceives devastating weakness in the members above him or receives signals that those members wish him to climb the social ladder. A large number of dog owners send their dogs the latter without ever meaning to. The dog nudges a hand when he wants petting, and he gets petting. The dog barks to be let out in the yard, and he is let out. The dog jumps for his dinner, and he is given dinner. It’s easy to see a trend.
There’s an old joke about the difference between dogs and cats. The dog says, “These people feed me, house me, and play with me. They must be gods!” And the cat says, “These people feed me, house me, and play with me. I must be a god!” Even the best behaved dog can’t help but lean toward the cat’s idea when he’s given clear evidence, over and over, that his family will get him what he wants when he wants it. In his mind, his pack is demonstrating their willingness to submit to his leadership. And any dog who loves his family would lead them when asked to do so.
Our dogs rely on us to keep them safe in a human world. If we let them be in charge, they would probably gleefully tear down our society in about a week. Dogs have to live in our world - not the other way around - so it is necessary and desirable to have them look to us for leadership. For their safety and our own, and for everyone’s happiness, we need to show our dogs that we are competent, confident leaders worthy of their respect.
(continued...)
