Malli wrote:so, what is the difference between resource guarding and dominance related aggression? Is it the same definition for different terms?
I find "dominance guarding" to be more of a correction from one dog to another than actual guarding (it should NEVER be from dog to human as they should not be challenging you for dominance). There are some dogs that can walk past Wally when he's eating, even sniff his face, and he will not react, will just continue on eating. Even though it is a high value meal (raw chicken quarters) he will not react because he does not find the dog a threat to his dominance (this has only been tested with dogs who have been fed raw from 8 weeks up, and who have no food aggression themselves, with two people present just in case). But any dog who either threatens Wally's dominance or who is a pushy puppy who doesn't know their place, he WILL correct. He will correct over little things (stuffed toy, couch) and I would assume over high value items (though this has not been tested). He has never, and will never, put a hole in a dog, but he does correct heavily. He is an amazing example of a truly dominant dog who is not aggressive. His dominance has actually put a dog aggressive male Rottie at ease because he walks in and says "I'm in charge, deal with it and I won't bother you." It is an absolutely amazing thing to watch.
So I do believe that dominance guarding is very different from actual resource guarding. It's the difference between the dog saying "Listen, you rude dog, get out of my face while I eat" and "THIS IS MINE GET THE EF AWAY BEFORE I EAT YOU ALIVE!"
It takes knowing your dog very well and knowing the basics of canine behavior, or being an experience trainer, to be able to distinguish between the two, IMHO.
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France