Food & agressiveness

[Zap-n-Jo]

Jake, our 3-month old puppy, has lately been getting possessive when he eats his food. It started last weekend when we were babysitting our son's Sheltie, Stella. While all three dogs (including our other BC, Jo) seemed to be occupied with eating, Jake would suddenly dart over to Stella's bowl, snapping at her and stealing some of her food. Despite my reprimands, this happened several times over the weekend, and I had to watch Jake like a hawk when he was eating.

 

Stella is back at her home now. But Jake has started doing this with our two cats... And the cats aren't even eating; they just happen to be cruising by in the kitchen! If they are within 10 feet of Jake when he's eating, he'll dart after them, snapping and growling. By the way, the Sheltie and two cats are roughly the same size as Jake. He doesn't do this with Jo, who is bigger than him (for now).

 

Since we got Jake, I have often interacted with him while he's been eating, e.g., petting him, putting my hand in his bowl, etc. I have been doing this to try to desensitize him to being possessive with his food. There's never been any problems with this. Today when I started to pet him while he was eating, he growled and then snapped at me. Yikes! He's only a puppy now, but I'm concerned that when he gets bigger, his bite could really do damage to me, our other pets, or our small grandchildren when they're visiting. Plus, if I'm honest about it, I really don't want an aggressive dog... I want a sweet, loving dog who adores me and obeys my every command!

 

I'd appreciate your suggestions on how to break Jake of this aggression with his food. If possible, I'd prefer not to separate him during feeding, but rather focus on stopping this negative behavior.

[Jedismom]

Jake, our 3-month old puppy, has lately been getting possessive when he eats his food. It started last weekend when we were babysitting our son's Sheltie, Stella. While all three dogs (including our other BC, Jo) seemed to be occupied with eating, Jake would suddenly dart over to Stella's bowl, snapping at her

Since we got Jake, I have often interacted with him while he's been eating, e.g., petting him, putting my hand in his bowl, etc. I have been doing this to try to desensitize him to being possessive with his food.

 

I always feed a new foster dog in it's crate. Jedi is sensitive to new dogs in his environment, and this makes him feel more comfortable eating his food. If I don't do this, he does spend time on the lookout, and it takes him much longer to eat and stresses him out. So my suggestion would be that visiting dogs are fed in another room.

 

As for the interaction (as described) with the puppy while he is eating, I don't agree with it. It seems to me that it might make him feel that at any moment someone might take his food away. I would train my puppy to sit, then put the bowl down and let him eat. I would also approach with extra special chicken or other goodies every once in a while and drop them in his bowl. This way he learns that when someone comes to his bowl when he is eating, he's likely to get something even better, and will look forward to you dropping by.

 

Good luck!

 

Georgia

[Carlasl]

I always feed a new foster dog in it's crate. Jedi is sensitive to new dogs in his environment, and this makes him feel more comfortable eating his food. If I don't do this, he does spend time on the lookout, and it takes him much longer to eat and stresses him out. So my suggestion would be that visiting dogs are fed in another room.

 

As for the interaction (as described) with the puppy while he is eating, I don't agree with it. It seems to me that it might make him feel that at any moment someone might take his food away. I would train my puppy to sit, then put the bowl down and let him eat. I would also approach with extra special chicken or other goodies every once in a while and drop them in his bowl. This way he learns that when someone comes to his bowl when he is eating, he's likely to get something even better, and will look forward to you dropping by.

 

Good luck!

 

Georgia

 

I agree 100% with this.

[pansmom]

Me three. Feed the dog in its crate, or in another room. Every time you go by, and the dog doesn't snap or growl, drop food in its bowl. (Try not making eye contact as you go by... just walking by as if you're going about your own business and have *NO* interest in the dog's food... that may help.) Do not pet the pup while he's eating. Also see the book MINE. Your puppy is still young and it'd be a great time to do these exercises and trading games and all that. But first learn the already extant triggers and AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS so the dog does not practice this potentially really troublesome behavior anymore.

 

ETA: Oh and don't let the cats swarm the dog while he's eating... cats don't think it's threatening but dogs do... and anyway sometimes cats tend to tease dogs... so feed him APART from them. That was a huge trigger for Pan's resource guarding against my cats. (Don't freak out too much though... Pan's resource guarding didn't start until she was like 9-10 months old and it happened all at once and with ferocious intensity - for no apparent reason - the first instance for example was a terrible bite, so while it may be alarming that your pup is only 3 months old and he's doing this, it's also at least positive that the pup is giving you warning before doing anything more aggressive and it's early enough that you have a chance to rework the behavior before it becomes a permanent habit.)