Food Aggression

[r b m]

I wanted to share a few situations regarding my roommates' dog, Pandora(chow/husky mix). We have been dog sitting their friend's dog, Sam(shepherd mutt about 40lbs). Last night, one of my roommates took Pandora upstairs to the spare bathroom to feed her where she normally eats. Sam, being the goofy dog he is, curiously followed. Snarling shortly ensued, a cry for help from my roommate, then yelping. My roommate and I ran upstairs to the chaos where Pandora had Sam by the scruff, and refused to let go. My roommate had to pry Pandora's jaws open, receiving a few cuts in doing so. Finally after several attempts, he did so. Sam scurried away, but was not hurt. Pandora was scolded. Sienna was there, but I quickly grabbed her and closed her in a room.

 

Pandora has gone after Sienna before as well, always over a bone or food, but she has never latched on to her like she did Sam. When they were remodeling the spare bathroom, they kept her food and fed her in the living room. Pandora became increasingly aggressive in that room, and I finally pinpointed that was the reason.

 

Over the holiday weekend, we bbq'd at a park. Pandora instantly checked out her territory, while Sienna quickly figured out who would be the poor soul suckered into trowing the ball all day. We had been there for a while, and a lady came trough with her Jack Russell on lead. Pandora came up behind the dog to check it out. The lady tensed up, making her JR tense, causing Pandora to buck up. I think at this point, she sent some kind of signal to Sienna because previously uninterested, she now darted toward the scene. The lady started freaking out, Sienna went after the JR, a few snarls ensued, but we were able to quickly grab Sienna and Pandora to stop it. I honestly don't know who was in the wrong in this situation, but I'm leaning towards us because our dogs were off lead. However, I believe this points toward the bigger problem at hand.

 

We have avoided this unspoken issue by just making sure Pandora eats alone. I have seen her eat with another dog eating out of its bowl right next to hers with no issues. If Sienna were attacked like Sam was last night, I don't think she'd fair as well. She's smaller and doesn't have thick fur. I suppose my question is, how worried should I really be, and have any of you curbed this type of aggression?

[Beth G]

My male border has gone after our female like that in the past, but never hurt her. Plus when they are playing and he does nip her too hard, he stops pronto- because she lets him have it with a fierce snap and a yip.

Then he backs off looking very embarrased.

 

So we've been lucky. plus, we've been working on it and he is improving on not doing it now.

[Shetlander]

I'd be very concerned. I nearly lost a dog several years ago when he and my other dog got into a fight about a tiny biscuit. The first thing that needs to be done here is management, some of which is already being done. Feed her separately -- that includes handing out treats. Store her food in a place she will not be able to resource guard. I would not leave her off leash in a situation like the BBQ one. Simply put, Pandora can not be trusted around any kind of food. I've never known this type of behavior to get better on it's own. Generally it gets more ingrained over time and/or escalates.

 

IMO, the best approach for curbing the aggression is through a behavioral/clicker type approach. There are a number of books that address this type of behavior. Mine! Feisty Fido. Click to Calm. This type of approach will require a good amount of time, effort and discipline on your roommate's part. Failing that, management is your best bet. Do everything you can not to put Pandora in a situation where she feels she needs to resource guard.

 

As an aside, I'd double check to make sure that Sam doesn't have any puncture wounds. Sometimes they can be hard to find if the fur is thick. Punctures can become infected and turn into abscesses which make the dog very sick. Generally, if there is a puncture wound you will want to put the dog on antibiotics to head off problems.

[r b m]

So yeah, it happened again tonight, not over food this time. Supposedly Sam was trying to mount her, the dogs got excited and she grabbed ahold of him again. Same spot, other side of his head. This time, she punctured and tore behind his ear. My roommate also got bit again prying them apart. He's at the emergency vet and will be fine. Normally, she is a good dog and behaves around Sienna. Suddenly my greatest fear is for something like this to happen when someone is not around. I don't know if I should chalk this up as a "new dog dominance" thing or if I should seriously address this with my roommates. They are not oblivious to the possibility, but none of us are really sure how to curb it.

[Lunar]

I would definitely seriously address this, and not leave them together when they are not supervised, period. If it happened when you were there it COULD and probably WILL happen when you aren't there, as you fear. Whether or not it's new dog dominance I don't know, but it's a problem as it's escalating.

 

Definitely look for ways to address the problem - find a behaviorist, read books. And not just you.... the owner of the dog especially. I know that could get difficult though. But I definitely think you need to voice your concerns and not let this just drop, because your dog's safety is at risk, too.

[HarleyGirl]

We have to manage this with our pups too. Our Harley has had food agression issues since she was a four month old pup. In the begining she actually bit my fiance a few times. Then we realized it is mostly fear based because of where she came from. We got her a crate and started feeding her only in there with nothing around her to bother her. She now feels secure to eat and will only growl if the cat comes near her while shes eating. The one rule we have about her crate is that while she is in it we do not reach into it. We allow it to be her space. If for some reason we need to inspect something about the crate or in the crate we call her out of it and then go in while shes in a down stay.

 

We also occasionally hand feed her too. When we do that she works for each bite so that she is reminded that she does not control the food but we do.

 

We also keep the food container out of sight... she gets magic food that suddenly apears out of no where hehe.

 

I hope that you find something that works for yall. I know that food agression can be a really scary thing to deal with.... it's kinda like your normally sweet dog has something come over them and they turn into a monster for a minute. Good Luck

[AWQH]

Tango is the same way. She is a sweet, frightened dog, but as soon as the food comes out, if there is another dog near her, she snarls and snaps. She's never actually bitten yet, but we still have begun to feed the dogs seperately. She also gets a firm No when we find her growling over a left over bone.

 

Tango's "house" is her quiet space. When she become insecure, she always runs in. We do not ever reach in when she's in there. Often I can coax her out and I'll pet her. She then settles down. We may have to begin feeding her in her dog house though, because none of the other dogs like that dog house. They like the bigger one.

 

I figured it was due to abuse, that she would growl and snap when food was nearby.

 

(sigh) another thing to get her out of

 

Dianne

[AWQH]

Ohhh as an add on note..it is not just your dog who could get seriously injured by Pandora.If she is not breaking off when you tell her to, and hurting someone when they take the dogs apart, that too could escalate. The owner could have a future human biter on her hands.

 

On the occassion that the 2 male dogs go at each other. Which is often and why we are looking for a home for the Lab, we always give the "Drop it" command. It always works for the lab. He's always the instigator. He loves females, pups, kids, you name it, just not other male dogs.

 

 

Dianne

[r b m]

Thanks for all of your input. I'll definitely take steps to educate myself and help fix this problem. My roommates mentioned last night about seeing a trainer again.

 

She is definitely resource guarding, they have always just left the food out in the open. Pandora has never had an issue with "drop it" or "leave it." In fact, she usually gives things up easily.

 

On another note, when dogs latch on like this, is it further perpetuated by us humans freaking out. I can't help to think by grabbing and yelling at her, made her bite down even harder. When playtime escalates, I can always calmly step in and stop it. Sometimes, I don't even have to say anything. Keeping calm may work in this situation, but in a full-blown fight, does this still apply?

[Beth G]

Quick Q. You said that they get into it and not just over food and I had a thought. Who is the alpha dog? Do you think that they feel their status is threatened?

 

Sometimes this has alot to do with it too..especially if we humans favor the underdog more than the alpha thinks we should.

 

 

That can sometimes cause fighting too. As the alpha trys to reassert themselves harder.