Crating the dog during meals and while he's enjoying chews accomplishes two things. First, it reduces the risk that someone will accidentally provoke the dog into snapping or biting when he's guarding one of his treasures. Second, it gives the dog no opportunity to practice his misbehavior and develop it into a habit. If the foster dog learns that growling makes people back away from the things he wants, he has an incentive to growl more often and start guarding more objects. It's safer to keep him in the crate and just totally ignore any stray growls he makes while in there. Don't punish them, don't move away in response to them, just ignore them as if you didn't hear a thing and continue your normal daily routine.

Crating the dog during meals and while he's enjoying chews accomplishes two things. First, it reduces the risk that someone will accidentally provoke the dog into snapping or biting when he's guarding one of his treasures. Second, it gives the dog no opportunity to practice his misbehavior and develop it into a habit. If the foster dog learns that growling makes people back away from the things he wants, he has an incentive to growl more often and start guarding more objects. It's safer to keep him in the crate and just totally ignore any stray growls he makes while in there. Don't punish them, don't move away in response to them, just ignore them as if you didn't hear a thing and continue your normal daily routine.