Need advice on dogs with food aggression & how to handle them

[tuffsmom]

We recently acquired a 15 week old male puppy (we're pretty sure he's got black lab in him, but we really have no idea what he is. He's solid black with the thick lab coat, but he's got a blue chest & blue feet. He's already about 25-30 lbs and nearly two feet tall at the "withers"). I didn't want another dog, but this was a bad situation for the little guy so we took him in. He has not been neutered YET! His day is coming quite soon.

Anyway, we have a two year old boston terrier mix who is basically like my child (his name is Ace and he's my heart!). When this puppy came to live with us about two weeks ago, Ace accepted him right away and they get along great. They share toys and sleeping space just fine, but when it comes to food, this little pup is nearly scary. Nothing else...just food. And no aggression with humans, only Ace.

I learned very quickly that I have to feed them seperatley (and very far apart from eachother). The first time I fed them, the puppy (who is much bigger than Ace, by at least 10 lbs) grabbed Ace by the throat and pinned him down, so I grabbed the giant puppy by the back of the neck & threw him to get him off of Ace. Right away I knew the pup had issues.

I tried feeding them seperatley, about 10 feet apart, but I had to hold the puppy while Ace ate, or the puppy would run back & forth between bowls to keep Ace away. I am now to the point of putting one of them in a trailer with their food, while the other eats on the porch. They get PLENTY of food, both are a very good weight. They get fed at least 4-5 times a day, 2-3 cups each of food at a feeding. I cannot leave a large amount of food out for them throughout the day because it attracts all sorts of critters to our house, so I have to feed them several times daily.

I have researched it online & tried a to find a solution that would work for us, but no luck. Does anyone know of ANYTHING that I can do?? It's getting to the point where I'm sick of dealing with it, but I can't just turn the puppy away.

 

[billiethekid40]

Sorry I don't have any advice, but for someone else who might want to answer your question it might help to know if he is food agressive towards people as well or just the other dog.

 

[Lauralee]

I just bought a 12 week giant breed puppy that was already exhibiting food aggression at the breeder's (as was the rest of the litter)....

My solution is....FREE CHOICE DRY DOG FOOD where they can nibble all day and not be concerned about who's getting the next meal service.

So far, she has stopped gobbling and growling in just 2 days. She doesn't try to eat it all in one gulp, instead NOW she is not so hyped about the food. So what, it's still there, hasn't gone away yet...!

Granted, ALL dogs will fight even in subtle ways to determine a pecking order and who is the alpha. Your puppy has already established his position as alpha but by the same token, YOU established YOUR position as HIS alpha when you reprimanded him, so that is good.

If you serve something tasty like scraps or meat they are undoubtedly going to exhibit some food aggression to others.

But if the food choices are DRY BORING DOG FOOD, it might serve to divert their attention to other things.....so that they can fight over the rawhide chew!!!! LOL

 

[Beccy]

Many dogs that bite are dogs that started by growling and got away with that, so just progressed. Dog aggression does not worry me quite as much as people aggression, you can usually work through it.

Whenever we have a new dog in the house, we purposely feed them and then (VERY carefully) see what they will let us get away with. We will start by petting them while they are eating. If they growl they get a fierce scolding. If they aren't bothered we praise them and then see if they will let us take the bowl. Again, either fierce scolding or praise. We give the bowl back and keep doing this until they realise that there is nothing to worry about. Sometimes it is a long process to get them over the aggression, but we have only ever had one dog that didn't get over it, and he got fed in his crate with the door shut.

A trainer once told us that she will grab the scruff of the neck and lift the dog slightly off the ground along with the scolding, but other than the dog who had to be fed in his crate (and this didn't cure him either), we never had to go this far.

We could just seperate all the dogs (we have 10) into different areas of the house, but we have enough animals and people in our home that I have to know none will hurt another. We still have a couple that will occasionally growl at one particular dog who is always the first one finished and goes snooping round the others, but a stern word and they quit.

We are however extremely careful when we start testing them to see what we can get away with, you sure don't want to get bitten. Most dogs respond really well to lots and lots of praise when they are doing the right thing.

We do the same thing with treats, we insist that the dogs respect each other when we hand them out. We say the dogs name before we hand the treat to them, and almost always the others sit and wait their turn.

One situation where we will not use this method at least in the beginning, and which obviously would not apply to your pup, is an animal that has come to us starving. We feed them in a seperate room until they are past the point where they are in a frenzy at feeding time.

We used to use the free choice method like Lauralee, and this does work well sometimes, but our collie who had hip surgery years ago just eats and eats and put on way too much weight. We were worried about her hip so we had to stop this.

Good luck with your pup.

 

[tuffsmom]

He is absolutley not aggressive towards people, just the other dog. If he even sees us watching him while they are eating he will not be aggressive towards Ace.

I truly appreciate the ideas. However, I cannot leave free choice dog food out for them, the last time I tried that there were racoons & possums lurking around here for days, plus the ants just cover the food and then the dogs won't eat it (and they are only getting dry dog food, I've quit with the tablescraps because certain food items don't agree with Ace's stomach.)

The dogs have several big ham bones & chews & toys that they share with no problems. It's only food that sets the puppy off.

 

[Marty]

I've had that for 8 years with my two.

Good luck.

I have to sit there and watch them, or just keep a close eye on them cause boy will they fight and yes they are aggressive and do bite people too.

I feed Tracey by the back door, then I feed Devin more near the refridgerator and they have to cross my path to get to eachother's food because my computer desk is inbetween. They'll sneak to get to eachother's bowls if they think I'm not looking. Cunning huh? And when I see one going for the other dish I hollar "no you don't" very firmly and they then back up and and quit their sneaking and go back to their own space. I have to reinforce this about once a week or the hair will fly.

Part of this is just the puppy wanting to be dominant so you're going to need some basic obedience lessons on him like NO, sit and stay and be firm and mean it. Even if he's had a ruff life, that's no reason to come into your life and get away with this junk. He's still very very new to you all so do spend ample time working with him and he'll catch on and eventually listen to you. But trust me, if you don't take him down a peg now, you're going to have a big old dog fight on your hands. It's up to you to train him.

 

[Reble]

Put about a dozen pennies in a empty pop can or plastic container, when they growl, bark, or do something not acceptable, shake the container and say NO very loud and like a growl. Watch how fast he listens. Never ever hit. Also you can do what a puppies mom would do, put your hand over its nose press down and say no. or again make a growl sound. Moms always put thier mouth over the dogs nose and growl, when their sweet little offspring does not want to behave.

Hope this helps.

: :saludando:

 

[capall beag]

I have 6 dogs and one is/was food aggressive.

I could never leave free choice food down because then she spends the day guarding her food.

She is never aggressive with people but will/used to be very aggressive with other animals with her food, even the cats and the horses.

I am not a professional but have dealt with this before and this is what I think works!!

Work with this puppy on general training and key in on sit, stay, wait and leave it. Get these down perfectly and make sure you are in charge, not by being aggressive but by being the leader.

Make him laydown and wait for his food. Feed Ace first and do not let him eat until Ace is finished, this is showing him that you dictate who eats when and who is in charge of the food.

It actually will relieve alot of stress in the puppy knowing he does not need to be 'in charge' of his food!!

If you watch dogs with this issue they take it very seriously and it takes alot of energy for them to 'guard' their bowl, running back and forth.

Also, in general, teach this puppy to follow you and not the other way around. Although this need not be an ongoing problem if left alone he may start guarding other things.

I know my dog starting guarding my daughters stroller, she still does this if she can, again not showing aggression towards people but still it is aggression/dominant behaviour.

With 6 dogs and 3 small children I will not allow any of my dogs show any aggression towards eachother or people(obviously) because a child can accidently get caught in the middle.

I have 2 labs and 4 jrt's and all live in harmony now, it is one of the labs that was food aggressive.

It can work, just today I saw her allowing the other lab eat out of her bowl while she was eating..........this would have NEVER happened a few years ago.

Good Luck!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I'm sorry but this is normal, healthy dog behaviour and you will normally see it in all dogs but less dramatically so. I have three bitches with an established "pecking order". The little one is fed on the stairs, the brown bitch in the kitchen doorway and the black bitch by the patio doors- about halfway through they pick up their bowls and do a crazy sort of canine morris dance around the house. So long as each dog stays in it's own bucket I do not intervene.

When dealing with behaviour you find unacceptable (and I would NOT find the pup attacking the well behaved established pet acceptable) you have to be absolutely sure what you are objecting to.

SO...you do not want the pup attacking the dog, BUT you are objecting to him leaving his food and attempting to take the dog's food- YOU are Boss. YOU say who goes where at feed time.

It is up to you how you handle it- I would put the dog in the living room, the pup in the kitchen and me in the doorway with a rolled up newspaper and a determined look!!!

If the pup even thinks about leaving his food bowl he gets a sharp "Go BACK" and I tap my hand with my "weapon".

My black bitch still bolts her food and hops from one foot to the other because she knows she cannot go and grab the brown bitches bucket- I am boss!!!

Both bitches would like to steal the little bitches food but she is on the stairs behind the baby gate and is quite capable of growling like a Rottweiler!!!

One thing you should do is make sure you are allowed to handle the pups food at all times- I am not for taking food away from a dog, and it needs to be done with care and some respect, but the dog should accept it without question.

This has NEVER been, for me, about "dominance"- I hate all this "dominance" rubbish that so called "trainers" spout- but about TRUST- which is why I approach it with care- you can inflict "dominance" but you must earn trust!!!!

 

[shane]

I SAW SOMETHING ON ANIMAL COPS WERE THEY TAUGHT THE FOOD AGGRESSORS TO STOP BY,TYING THE DOG UP AND PUT DOWN A FOOD BOWL WITH DRY FOOD IN IT, THEN WALK AWAY, AFTER A FEW SECONDS GO OVER TO THE DOG AND AS SOON AS HE LIFTS HIS HEAD CLICK AND DROP A PIECE OF CHICKEN OR SOMETHING TASTE,AT THE SAME TIME SAYING "WHAT THAT YOU'VE GOT" IN A HIGH PLAYFUL VOICE,AS SOON AS YOU DO THIS WALK AWAY ,AND WAIT A FEW SECONDS,THEN APPROACH AGAIN REPEATING WHATS THAT YOUVE GOT THERE AND AS SOON AS THE DOG LIFTS HIS HEAD DROP THE CHICKEN AND CLICK,APPARENTLY THEN THE DOG WILL ASSOCIATE YOU WITH GOOD THINGS AND YOU CAN EVENTUALLY LEAVE OUT THE TREAT AND JUST SAY THE WORDS AND CLICK, MAKE SURE YOU CLICK AND DROP AS SOON AS THE DOG LIFTS ITS HEAD.....GOOD LUCK,AND THIS IS JUST MY OPINION

:

 

[Cronewolf]

: Just feed in different rooms, not a big thing, Don't play around with it to much cause Ace is the one who's going to be hurt. I had one problem guy, and he was the smallest in the group. So he was fed in the bathroom with the door closed. Much less stress on my dogs and on me.