Food Aggression in Puppy

[BaileyBear]

Could use some advice if anybody has some. Our now 15 week old puppy has begun to show food aggression. It only happens with raw pieces of food. He passes bones back and forth with Bailey and lets us take them. We can put our hands in his bowl with no problem. Give him a raw piece of chicken and he is a different dog. Downright scared me. I tried holding onto a piece while he ate it and he was fine until I let go. Want to stop this NOW, but don't really know how.

 

[Snowden]

I am by no means a professional trainer, however my corgi Pups did this.I think you have other dogs? If so start him off in a room by himself with no competition. The following is what I did to stop the behavior.

1. I fed by hand slowly making them 1st be relaxed before giving any food. You want him to work for the food.
Start step 2 when the pup is not extremly hungry, so maybe start with a few pieces by hand then work your way to step 2.
2. Once he is eating well (slowly/relaxed) by hand, put some of the food on the floor or bowl with your hand over it. I would let the pup have a little at a time ALAWYS with my hands near the food or on the pup. If there is any growling correct by giving him a little shake by the scruff of the neck, not hard but enough where he knows your boss. You can even lay him on his side.
Once you have the pup relaxed and eating with no aggression. start all over again with the other dogs in the room.
I did this every meal and with in a week there was no longer an issue. If there is going to be more than one person feeding the pup you want to have the person do this as well ( I had both my hubby and kids do this)... You should always be relaxed when feeding never correct in anger. I hope this helps!

Lindsey

 

[new_2_newf]

What lindsey says makes a lot of sense. However, if you are unsure, find a trainer and set up some personal appointments. this is something you want to nip in the but NOW. it leads to other things if not corrected, and in a 110+ lb dog, that is just down right scary.

 

[Alex]

I would NOT recommend physical corrections for resource guarding (or anything IMHO). He's guarding because he thinks you're a threat. If you put him on his side, scruff shake, etc., you just confirmed you are a threat. Feed him all of his food by hand for a while, maybe a week, and that will probably take care of it. Once you go to him eating on his own again, start with the lower value things that he's not guarding, walk by while he's eating and toss a high value food item to him (like the chicken). You do that for a few days, now you give him his high value items and walk by and toss more food to him. You are teaching him that you coming near means more good things, not the loss of good things.
Work on teaching leave it and drop it. He's got no reason to guard if he's willingly dropping food on command. Check out kikopup's videos on youtube for instruction. I can give my dog a whole chicken, tell him to drop it after he's started eating, and he will, and that was 100% without touching him or intimidating him.
For many dogs, physical corrections can work, but for some, they can create much worse problems and that risk doesn't merit their use, again, IMHO. You correct a growl, so the dog stops growling but still feels threatened, so now he goes straight to biting without warning. Corrections aren't going to change the state of mind, they're going to suppress the behaviors.

 

[Alex]

You can also get a copy of Mine! by Jean Donaldson if you'd like a more specific schedule, it's a short, cheap little book. Sound advice.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Alex is right..he's resource guarding. I usually find something that the pup considers even MORE valuable (ie if it's a piece of chicken he is guarding, I would use a small piece of liver or something) and work out a trade system. Physically disciplining may work on a few dogs, but in general, you are just confirming his suspicions..you can't be trusted around his food. Completely hand feeding the valued resource is not a bad idea either, so that he understands that it is OK for you to hold onto it, you do NOT want his food. But, while holding, I would take it away for a few seconds, give him something else, and then continue letting him work at it. He must understand that you removing it does NOT mean you are stealing it. Ian Dunbar has some great tips on how to deal with this.