[Lilly2011]

I have a 1 year old ESS that just started to get possessive over me. About a month ago i brought her into the vet. The vet was trying to pet her head and she started to growling at her and snap at her. This was the first time she has done this. The vet took my dog in the back and the vet said she was fine back there. So i thought she was trying to protect me. The next time she did it to my friend. But she lets him pet her head for a few second then growls and snaps. She also has a problem if i hug someone or someone is touching me.

What can be done to fix this?

 

[Amaryllis]

This is called resource guarding (you are the resource). It is very common and normal dog behavior, but you do absolutely need to deal with it. Fortunately, resource guarding isn't that hard to handle. Karen Pryor has a great book on called Mine! Here is a good article on it as well. In your case, you will need a friend to help you train this, because your dog isn't guarding from you, she's guarding you. Otherwise, the principle is the same.