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What happens when you discover your dog is chewing something?

Usually our reaction depends on what it is the dog has in his mouth. Chances are, if it’s something we don’t care about and that isn’t dangerous, we’ll ignore it. But if it’s valuable or dangerous, we’ll want to take it away from the dog as soon as possible.

How you approach this situation the first time, and every time thereafter, can make a difference in how your dog behaves whenever he has something in his mouth. You want to avoid teaching your dog to “resource guard”— to protect something he considers valuable, that is, the “resource”—from being taken away.

Resource guarding can range from a dog turning her back to you as if to hide what she has from you, all the way up to growling, snarling and even biting if someone threatens a resource.

For most dogs, resource guarding is a learned behavior. How does a dog learn to resource guard? Consider this scenario: The dog has something you love—like one of your favorite shoes. You take it from the dog, see that it’s ruined, and holler, “What did you do?!? Bad dog! Shame on you! Get out of my sight!”

What exactly did the dog do? I’m not referring to chewing the shoe. What was the very last thing the dog did before he got hollered at? He let you take the shoe. And you yelled at him. So in the dog’s mind, he got hollered at for letting you take the shoe.

The next time you want to take something from him, he may growl as if to say, “Please don’t yell at me.” But you do anyway, because you’re angry about what he chewed. Repeat this lesson a few times and you create a full-blown “resource-guarding dog.” But you can do it the right way and avoid that.

We teach “Trade/Give” in our Puppy Essentials class for puppies eight to 16 weeks of age. Ideally, this is the best time to teach a puppy to trust that giving something up is a good thing but you can start at any age.

To start these lessons, you need to know the rules—just four of them:

Rule #1: Approach every object calmly, without emotion. If you appear anxious or angry, it will likely frighten your dog, making him protective of both the object and himself. In other words, approach a chicken bone that can potentially harm your dog the same as you would a tennis ball. And never, every chastise the dog for giving you something—no matter how upset you may be.

Rule #2: Train your dog to “give” or “drop it” on cue. This training is done separately, apart from a time when you’ll want to take something from him. The object is to teach your dog to give things to you when there’s nothing at stake.

Start with a low-value object such as a toy your dog likes but doesn’t mind giving up. Exchange what he has (the toy) for what you have (a high value treat). Ask for the toy, and if necessary, throw the treat away from the toy. When your dog gets the treat and you have the toy, give him another treat, and return the toy to him. Win-win!

Over time, when you ask for something he should give it to you before you give the treat. Do this training with your dog, teaching him to give you things when the stakes are low, so you can teach this behavior unemotionally, objectively and calmly. This teaches your dog that there’s something good in it for him to make the trade.

Rule #3: Giving something up means getting something in return. Sometimes this will be a treat, and sometimes it should be what your dog just gave up. You don’t want your dog to think that giving up the prize means you always keep it or he’ll be less willing to let go in the future. When you’re training, have your dog give you his toy, then immediately give it back to him. Or trade for a treat.

Rule #4: And finally, when you ask for an object, get it. Not sometimes; all the time. If you win only some of the time, you inadvertently teach your dog to test your resolve. By you not winning, your dog learns to persevere – after all, this may be one of the times you’ll quit and leave the prize with him. Not a good lesson for a dog to learn.

In my next column, I’ll write more about using games to teach a dog to give things up on cue.

Gail Fisher, author of “The Thinking Dog” and a dog behavior consultant, runs All Dogs Gym & Inn in Manchester. To suggest a topic for this column, which appears every other Sunday, email gail@alldogsgym. com or write c/o All Dogs Gym, 505 Sheffield Road, Manchester, NH 03103. Past columns are on her website.

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