@1s4b3ll4 Like i said. I agree the dog needs to learn how to access things appropriately. All I’m suggesting is a shift in language.
I prefer not to say “earn” or “work” for things. I prefer to say teach the dog how to ask for things. Teach them start button behaviors. Using deprivation is not the way to go about it though. Especially for aggressive dogs. Aggressive dogs are insecure. It’s very rare a dog is truly aggressive. Most times is over arousal manifesting in the way the dog was bred to react to stress, and the emotional reaction has been strengthened and rehearsed over and over again. The more it’s rehearsed, the quicker the dogs nervous system kicks them into a higher and higher arousal state. The baseline threshold is significantly lessened and the starting point of their arousal is higher.
A dog cannot truly relax, well, even humans, any animal for that matter, cannot truly relax and learning cannot occur until their physiological needs have been met consistently enough for their parasympathetic nervous system to activate and begin to complete the stress cycle.
https://journal.iaabcfoundation.org/the-resilience-rainbow/#:~:text=Hypothalamic%2Dpituitary%2Dadrenal%20(HPA,baseline%20levels%2C%20completing%20the%20cycle.
I’m all for teaching dogs how to access things, preventing access, when needed, etc. but, the dog needs to be fulfilled in other areas so there is no deprivation.
Example: the dog should have a meal before hand feeding or other training activities. If the dog is “extra motivated” to access the food because they’re hungry, we miss vital information about that dogs mental state. They will often push past things they’re uncomfortable with because they are hungry, not because they truly want to. This can make dogs more uncomfortable and reactive. It can bring resource guarding to the surface.