I have an 8 month old Beagle puppy with a resource guarding problem...no problem with toys or food, but rather with dirty socks or underwear.."stolen items" that she knows we don't want her to have. Sometimes when she is in a deep sleep she will growl if you open her crate and pet her...but other times she welcomes you in her crate.  She's also done it with the blanket on our bed.  She grwls and snaps.  I've contacted some training pros and have been reading on-line. I plan on getting the Donaldson book "Mine" but my question is do I necessarily need a pro trainer?  Can they actually cure this?  Is my dog defective?  I'm usually able to disarm the situation with a good treat offering and a lot of calm petting, but am I doing more harm or doing it right?  Episodes are down a bit to about twice a month.