Meanings
- uncountableIn various sports, playground games, etc.: spending the entire game defending a certain objective and thus preventing the normal progression of play.
In capture the flag, a player might get accused of puppy guarding if they are constantly standing on top of their own flag.
3 more examples
I really like this idea. It would also help in DM by making it harder for people to sit in one spot the whole time. No puppy guarding...
1996 July 16, Arthur Sankey, quoting JRo...@idsoftware.com, “11 Quake Monster Ideas!!”, in rec.games.computer.quake.editing (Usenet)Once play begins there will be no re-calls, no re-re- calls, no replays, no redos, no puppy guarding, and no time-outs—unless authorized by me.
2003, Allen Kurzweil, Leon and the Spitting Image, New York, N.Y.: Greenwillow Books, →ISBN, page 34"No puppy guarding," Ryder complained. "Go back to the slide." / Brayden burst out laughing. "I haven't heard 'puppy guarding' in years. I can't believe kids still use it."
2015, Stacy Claflin, Seaside Heartbeats, →ISBN, page 149Synonyms: monkey guarding, babysitting
Synonyms & antonyms
nounIn various sports, playground games, etc.: spending the entire game defending a certain objective and thus preventing the normal progression of play.
Cite this entry
puppy guarding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puppy%20guarding
“puppy guarding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puppy%20guarding. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “puppy guarding,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puppy%20guarding.
Source: puppy guarding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.