Resource guarding is a common behaviour seen in dogs entering rescue and shelter environments, often arising from stress, uncertainty, and past experiences around scarce or valuable resources. This presentation explores the current research on resource guarding and how it applies to real-world rescue settings.
Participants will learn how to recognize and assess resource guarding safely, understand the factors that contribute to the behaviour, and interpret guarding signals in a shelter context. The session will also cover practical management strategies to reduce risk for both dogs and handlers, alongside evidence-based behaviour modification approaches that can help improve welfare and adoptability.
Designed for animal rescue workers and shelter staff, this presentation aims to provide the knowledge and tools needed to support dogs in shelter environments more effectively.
Guest Speaker: Tom Candy, Dogs Trust
About the series
Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior – supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats.
Who should join: Animal welfare staff and volunteers who are interested in dog and cat behavior, and everyone who works to keep pets out of shelters and in homes.
You only need to register once for all meetings: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration
Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording within a day or two after each meeting.
All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available in the Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection group on Maddie’s Pet Forum – https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF
Maddie’s Fund does not share registration information.
The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.
