Episode #157 - Haylee Heisel: Why Giving More Doesn’t Fix Resource Guarding

Guarding Is a Symptom, Not a Personality Trait

March 9, 2026

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

1️⃣ “Guarding” is a label, not a diagnosis – Many different behaviors get lumped under resource guarding, and they can happen for completely different reasons. If you treat them all the same, you’ll miss the actual unmet need driving the behavior.

2️⃣ Abundance is not the same thing as security – Meeting needs absolutely matters. But more stuff doesn’t automatically equal safety. Pain, stress, attachment history, hormones, environment, and neurochemistry can all fuel guarding in ways that extra resources won’t fix.

3️⃣ Prescriptive formulas break down while descriptive thinking holds up – Instead of “if guarding, then do X,” ask: What’s driving this? What changed? What does this individual need right now? When you treat the root cause, guarding often shifts.

Episode Overview:

Resource guarding is one of those behaviors that gets treated like it’s one simple problem with one simple fix.

Just add abundance.

Just countercondition it.

Just follow this protocol.

Except… it’s not that simple.

In this episode of Enrichment for the Real World, Emily is joined by Haylee Heisel to unpack why “guarding” is a label, and why treating it like a one-size-fits-all issue can make things worse.

We talk about:

Why dumping a trash bag of tennis balls into a yard is not the same thing as creating security
How pain, stress, attachment, hormones, neurochemistry, and environment all influence guarding behavior
Why prescriptive formulas fall apart in real life
And what it actually looks like to take a descriptive, needs-based approach instead

From sanctuary dogs guarding light switches and metal buckets… to puppies guarding during heat cycles… to cases where angry voices were the real trigger, this episode is a deep dive into the messy, nuanced reality of behavior.

Because treating guarding isn’t about “the thing”, it’s about the why. When we slow down enough to find the why, the path forward gets clearer.

Links & Resources from the Episode

🧾 For full episode transcripts: Arial l OpenDyslexic

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Meet the Hosts

Allie Bender, CDBC, CPDT-KA, SBA

Allie Bender is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assessed, and a Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 2006 and professionally training since 2012. She is the founder and co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

While in the animal sheltering industry, Allie realized that her passion lied in helping pets with maladaptive behaviors. Specifically, she wanted to help prevent animals with rehabilitatable problems from being euthanized. She loves working with dogs and cats displaying stranger danger, resource guarding, and leash reactivity. Her favorite thing about working with pets and their people is seeing relationships grow and seeing harmonious households develop.

EMIly strong

Emily Strong is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 1990 and has been a behavior consultant since 2008. She is the co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

Emily started working with animals at a young age and struggled with the notion that you have to hurt, scare, or intimidate animals to help them. When she discovered the behavior sciences and learned that it wasn’t necessary to do so– that we can care for emotional, mental, and physical health simultaneously– she plunged headfirst into animal behavior. Emily loves helping current and prospective behavior professionals and working with pet parents through our in-depth services. She enjoys working with all species.

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Episode #157 - Haylee Heisel: Why Giving More Doesn’t Fix Resource Guarding

Guarding Is a Symptom, Not a Personality Trait

March 9, 2026

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

Episode Overview: