[feinwerkbau]

Contrararily, I do have an open mind and despite my almost omni-belief in e-collars, I will eagerly practise positive reinforcement.

I am taking care of a very timid mongrel who has been on treats training.

She's very timid, and has generally been given the run of everything at home.

After spending a few hours with her, I realise that she has either fear aggression (warnings and snapping at this stage) tendencies - she will growl or snap or possession protection tendencies when it comes to 'defending' a space she has gotten comfortable with (on top of sofa, couch, a certain corner etc).

Now, my logic tells me to lure her out of such a situation, but that is not always possible with 4 or 5 other non-aggressive and a once timid now more assertive dog around. And one of the things I have to factor in is that the owners may not have set any boundaries where acceptable or unacceptable behavior is concerned.

She is relatively responsive to treats, except when she is afraid, then no amount of praise, reassurance nor bacon fat would make a difference.

My question is: To avoid a scenario where she gets into a fight for reasons mentioned earlier, what methods of treat-ing / positive reinforcement should I apply?