dog/toy aggression

Question
I have two English Bulldogs 1 male and 1 female, same age. When playing with toys they want the same toy even if there are two identical toys. When I have to have them go to day camp the male becomes toy aggressive with other dogs at the center. Can you give me some advice on how to break this behavior. He never shows aggression towards any humans. Anyone can take food or a toy from him and he doesn't react. You can take food or a toy from his mouth and he will not react in an aggressive manor.

Answer
Hi, Dominick,

Thanks for the question.

As far as I'm concerned this kind of behavior, which is usually labeled "resource guarding," is a manifestation of some kind of underlying anxiety, a fear that he's not going to be able to have control of or hang on to the things he needs to calm himself down, to settle his nerves, in this case his toys.

For dogs a toy can be the same thing as a pacifier for an infant. Take it away and they go "Waahh!" because their nerves get suddenly jangled. And they really want to bite, or at least growl and lunge at the dog who interfered with their "peaceful" state of mind.

If that's the case with your bulldog male, I think the correct approach, and even the correct mindset, is to see this as a matter of teaching him how to be calm on his own, with or without the toys.

How do you do that?

The reason dogs like toys is because it satisfies, at least partially, their innate urge to bite, which is part of their prey drive. Which brings me to an important question: does he like to play tug-of-war? And if so, do you play with him and let him win, and praise him for winning? Because in my view that's one of the quickest ways to get at, and resolve, the underlying feelings of anxiety that are causing his resource guarding, particularly if you also teach him to drop (or "out") the tug toy on command, and do so in a way that makes him feel more, not less, emotionally stable when he does it.

Does any of this make sense to you?

Here's a link on how to play tug: http://www.tiny.cc/tug

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

LCK