Help food aggression!

Hi sometime ago (cant find the post) I posted an issue with our puppy and his growls (showing teeth) when we try to take a bone or treat away from him. Today he continued to show aggression when we tried to remove a bone from him and growled loudly with all teeth showing.

We continued to take it away from him and give it back to him to show that there was no need for his actions, unfortunately he continues to do it each time we reach for it or go near it. Other than this behavior he is excellent all round. My concern is that I have a two year old who is always giving him treats albeit she has not really taken it away from him.

I have read that one school of thought is to remove the item completely and not to return it, on the other hand I have been told to take it away and let him have it again?

He does not show any aggression with his meals we make sure he sits down before he is given it and can be removed without any issue. Not sure what else to do so any advice would be great fully received. My concern is if I cant remove this at this early stage it could get worse! Cheers!

Hi - see this link https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t28681-bones coicidentally posted today.

How old is Blue now?

Dogs can get really possessive over bones.

The first thing you should do is make sure that you supervise your child at all times when in the same room as your dog. I'm sure you do, but it's always worth a mention.

What you could try is always have some of his absolute favourite treats in your pocket, and only ever give one on special occasions. If you want to take some food away from him, show him the treat and say "Leave" firmly, but quietly. Hopefully he'll want the treat enough to drop whatever he has and you can pick it up.

Does it happen all the time, or just with certain things or at certain times?

Loki used to be like this over bones and new toys. He isn't possessive over anything now except bones, and he doesn't growl anymore, he just turns away, which still needs work on. I worked on it by teaching him 'drop it' properly, and then at first, showing him a REALLY good treat and telling him drop it, giving him the treat, and then giving him the bone back (or taking it off him and playing with him or something). That way, we're not just snatching things off him for nothing in return. Like I said, it's not 100% gone, but there's no growling or anything anymore, so it's a step in the right direction.

No he is normally good when I tell him to leave something he does, I even throw food in front of him and he wont touch it until I tell him to get it! Today we bought a wind pipe or whatever its called and tried to get it from him but he growled loudly and showed his teeth but I will try with food treats and with toys (albeit he is not always interested in them anyway) to see what happens.

We never let our youngest alone with him at anytime to be honest we dont trust her ....menace!

I know it is very important to be able to take things away from your dog, but also a dog should be able to have a bone or his food without being disturbed. Why do you want to take his bone or food away from him? He cannot eat in a relaxed manner if he knows the food may be taken away, hence the growling. Enough surely to tell him to sit , then place his bone or food on the floor, tell him to leave and then give him the command to take it, then leave him alone to enjoy it. I am a firm believer in leaving dogs alone when they are feeding .

Panda wrote:I know it is very important to be able to take things away from your dog, but also a dog should be able to have a bone or his food without being disturbed. Why do you want to take his bone or food away from him? He cannot eat in a relaxed manner if he knows the food may be taken away, hence the growling. Enough surely to tell him to sit , then place his bone or food on the floor, tell him to leave and then give him the command to take it, then leave him alone to enjoy it. I am a firm believer in leaving dogs alone when they are feeding .

A scenario I always mention at times like this....

Your dog is out on a walk with you in the park. He's friendly so he's off lead. A child walks past him & drops a sweet on the floor. The child & the dog go to pick the sweet up at the same time. If you cannot take food away from your dog, he is likely to severely bite the child!

A dog should always be ok with anybody taKing food away from it! If not, then you should consider muzzling your dog in public or at least never letting it off lead.

I have seen, first hand, what happens when a food aggressive dog meets a young child when there is food around.

Yes Caryll,
I could not agree with you more, especially where children are concerned, and of course you should be able to take your dogs food/bone away from him at any time. I just dont know why an adult would wish to disturb a dog when he is eating when there is no necessity to do so. To know that you can is enough surely?

Hi whilst I agree with your rationale I have to also agree with the fact that I should be able to remove (control) what my dog has at anytime. I appreciate if I constantly moved my childrens food from them then that would result in them being frustrated.

But like Caryll says its important for me to ensure that my youngest who is 2 is able to drop her food and be able to retrieve it without the fear of being bitten. Or importantly as children do if she tries to remove toy/bone from our dog she can do without being growled at or bitten!

What I am struggling with is how to control this issue. He is a great pup and this is the only compliant I have but its a big issue!

Panda wrote:Yes Caryll,
I could not agree with you more, especially where children are concerned, and of course you should be able to take your dogs food/bone away from him at any time. I just dont know why an adult would wish to disturb a dog when he is eating when there is no necessity to do so. To know that you can is enough surely?

But you can't know that you can unless you try it. That's why, from an early age, I make sure that whatever hand goes near his food/treats/bone he doesn't react badly. I make sure that he is completely comfortable with food being taken away as long as he gets it back, or gets an even better reward.

What you seem to be saying is that you should never even try to take a dog's food away, because he should be left in peace to eat (and possibly to guard)?

Tiny, the thing you have to realise is that most dogs 'guard' their food because they are worried about it being taken away. That sounds quite understandable, doesn't it? What you have to do is prove to your dog that no matter what gets taken away, he'll either get it straight back, or he'll get something even better in return.

So a gradual programme of "leave" and offer something really good in exchange for whatever he's got will work wonders in the long run. Once you're certain that he trusts that he won't lose out, you won't need to do it all the time, just every so often is enough.

Dempsey is now 3.5 years old, and I started training him in this way when he was 8 weeks. At first I would often say "leave", pick up his food bowl/chew/bone and then put it straight back down again (as long as he didn't growl or show teeth - which he didn't). Once he accepted what was happening & didn't worry about it, I reduced the frequency of the exercise, and now I only occasionally put my hand by his mouth or stroke his head while he's eating, and he'll carry on as though nothing has happened - totally confident that he won't lose his food.

Caryll is spot on - it is very necessary to teach a dog that food, bone or whatever CAN be taken away from the dog without that dog reacting aggressively.

I don't think any of us are recommending that EVERY meal time and EVERY bone time should be interrupted to ram home the point, just sometimes to establish the ground rules.

Thanks all will give it ago....small steps i suppose.

Good luck - with a bit of patience & careful training he'll be fine.

Don't forget that at his age this isn't true aggression. I'm willing to bet that he & his litter mates were fed from one large bowl, and he was probably bullied off the food by the others. Now, he's got it all to himself, & he doesn't want anyone else to have it.

As soon as he realises that you're not a threat to his food, he'll start to calm down & relax, and the problem should go away!

Cheers I lifted his food toady not a whisper from him...made him sit praised him and put his food down....he is an eating machine finishes his food within seconds....not sure its normal x

Brill!

here he is so innocent, he is just over 4 months now...butter wouldnt melt in his mouth!

good news , he's looking very proud

Tiny wrote:Cheers I lifted his food toady not a whisper from him...made him sit praised him and put his food down....he is an eating machine finishes his food within seconds....not sure its normal x

Yes, it's normal! If you think he's eating too quickly, just add a bit at a time, or put something like a tennis ball in the bowl so he has to eat around it!

haha good idea with the tennis ball! cheers Caryll