In this video I’m working with Wallace (a Malinois/German Shepherd mix) on a really common issue that shows up around resource guarding: the urge people have to be “in control.” When your dog can’t look away, can’t disengage, or feels the need to freeze and hover over an item, that’s critical feedback. The answer isn’t to push, rush, or “prove a point” by taking stuff—because that creates pressure, not cooperation, and it can absolutely backfire. Instead, I keep Wallace under threshold and change the picture so disengaging actually makes sense to him. I’m not reaching in for the bone, I’m not flooding him, and I’m not trying to teach him that I control all of his stuff. I’m reinforcing the behavior I want—coming to me—by tossing high-value chicken, because coming to you is incompatible with guarding. And when he’s done well, I don’t drill it endlessly; I let him enjoy the bone while also reinforcing the other dogs for giving him space.