BorderlineCollieaholic Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 I haven't been on the forum in a long time, but a while ago I made a post about how my Border Collie puppy, Bandit, was having problems with fearfulness/being scared of strangers. Today, for the first time, he readily climbed into a strangers lap! My friend came over, and Bandit snarled and barked at her for several minutes(while hiding behind my legs, of course) and she ignored him for a while, then started feeding him bits of cheese and ham. At first he just snatched it out of her fingers but eventually he was jumping on the couch next to her and licking her face so she would give him the treat. Then he came up and asked her to pet him! I know this seems normal for a dog but for Bandit voluntarily going up to a stranger and asking for attention is HUGE. He'll accept treats from non-threatening strangers usually, but he always immediately runs away once he grabs it and snarls some more. I was so proud of him today! Maybe one day we will get to the point where he can compete in obedience and agility trials where there are lots of people and other dogs present. On the other hand, there is something else in Bandit I hoped would go away but it hasn't... As a puppy, Bandit's breeder wasn't the most careful/kind, and he fed the puppies from a single giant dish. This taught Bandit early on to fight for his food, or he wouldn't get any. This has made him extremely food-aggressive towards other animals. Let me stress ANIMALS here. A human can walk up and take the dish from under his nose and he doesn't do a thing. But if another dog, a cat, even one of the chickens walks into his vision, he lunges at it. If he finds a treat on the floor and my other dog comes over to invesigate, Bandit snarls and lunges. I am so frightened that I won't be there to stop him one day that I don't let him or my other dog interact at all anymore, because Baxley is small and old and frail and Bandit could kill him if he wanted to. I don't want to take Bandit to a place where there are other dogs because what if he finds a treat on the ground and another dog comes up? But it seems sad to keep him from interacting with other dogs his entire life just because of his food aggression. He is fine with other dogs as long as there is no food anywhere in sight or smell, but it is hard to find a situation where there are dogs and absolutely no food. Is there anything I can do to get him to be less possessive about his food? I feed him plenty of food and he never goes hungry for any reason... Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Feed him in his crate, or in a separate room from any other animals. He needs to learn that nothing will take his food. We have multiple dogs, and always feed each one separately. Two are fed in their crates and the oldest in the kitchen. None of them are food aggressive, but we just see it as common sense. Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Feed him in his crate, or in a separate room from any other animals. He needs to learn that nothing will take his food. We have multiple dogs, and always feed each one separately. Two are fed in their crates and the oldest in the kitchen. None of them are food aggressive, but we just see it as common sense. Kathy Robbins I agree. Robin and Brodie were littermates, fed out of several giant dishes....I feed them in their crates to avoid problems (not that any had manifested at 8 weeks) and to keep track of how much each pup was eating. Just make sure that you can continue to reach in and take his food dish with no problems....don't want him "gaurding" the dish in his crate. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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