Growling...
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| it is very common for dogs to be food aggressive. it is also very good that you caught this early so you can fix the problem!
you are right that punishment would be bad, and could lead to further aggressive behavior. i suggest positive reinforcement training so that your pup wants to be a good boy instead of being a good boy because hes scared. you can try a routine about 10 minutes a day in which you give your boy a rawhide, let him chew on it for a second and then put in front of his nose his favorite treat (a small piece) and command him to "drop". when he drops his rawhide pick it up, and then reward him with lots of praise. eventually he will learn that drop=reward and that when you try to take what he is protecting it is not to be mean or threatening. good luck and welcome to the forum! |
| My two do this also. Bentley panics and thinks that Kayli is getting the bone and then Kayli panics and thinks Bentley's getting the bone and so on and so on.
I have to put them in separate rooms if I give them anything to chew on - I won't get anywhere if I try to take the bone if both are in the same room. Jil |
| The activity you have described is called "resourse guarding". Quite common, and very fixable, but it takes time . Do a search on the internet and you can find some step-by-step approaches.
If you teach "give" it will really help, but you need to start by teachign him to "trade a prize for a higher valued prize....like if he has some kleenex you can trade it for a piece of cheese. A bone is a high-valued article, so you need to start the excercise with something lower and work your way up. Might take s weeks, but it works. Joan Donaldson has a great book out called "Mine" that would really help. |
| I'm not disregarding any of the advice that others have given, but when there are 2 dogs involved, if it's something that they could both have, it's easiest to just get two! I find that with my 2, I'll give them each a bone, they chew for awhile and when I look at them again, they've switched-- just gotta make sure that the other one didn't have something better.
My older dog Lucy will only let me take food or bones from her. She'll growl as a warning to others but that's all it is, growling. Strangely, if a person takes the bone (even after the growling) she thinks it's an invitation to play and she gets all riled up. It's so odd. |
| 2 of my dogs will happily chew away at whatever, but my Amy girl is always finished first, and them goes to get Dhama's...and then there is a war. I always keep them separated when they have high-valued stuff. With a bunch of kibble thrown onto the lawn they are fine, though, because it is not worth much in thier eyes. What the above advice was intended for was for the "guarding" from humans. I can easily take away whatever I'd like from any of my dogs, having gone through the appropriate training steps that now allow me to do that. Even my Bosley-pup is an eager-giver-upper...to me, that is. Not so to his siblings! LOL |
When Luke and Beau were small they would each get their own bone. Luke always ended up with both and Beau didn't care...he would only chew it after Lu got it wet and slimy  |
| I would get upset if you were to take away my precious bone!!
I have the same problem with our dogs. The easiest solution is to give them two of the same, they've worked out their problem by hiding on their own corners and happily chew away rawhides and yummy treats. It's understandable that they'll growl at each other, since they are at the same status, but it's unnaceptable that they grow at you, their alpha. I agree that by working with them so you can take away things without them growling. The problem with us is the same as ButtersStotch, when one is done the other wants to take the treat away and we have to intervene, so there will not be a fight, separate them until the food is consumed, or take away the treats until a later time. |
| Hi,
I think to avoid and prevent future food issues you should make it a habit to pick up your pups food dish - while he is watching..you can pick up some kibbles, rattle them around the dish...then place it back down. He may allow you to do this now without a growl when you take it away. Without reprimands, or a big issue you are in fact setting up his status in the pack. Do this a few times and occasionally in the future so as he becomes accustomed that you and not he are in charge. In every dog pack..and your family is seen by the family pet as "it's pack" you set up the heirachy. You have to be Alpha in the household or can set yourself up for future problems. In dog packs the Alpha gets to eat first, eat as much as they want , gets the first bones, and no one challenges them, unless vying for the leadership role. The others are content and accepting they get the leftovers after the dominant one is satisfied. Eventually when your pup growns, one of the two dogs will be the dominant one. You as the "boss" of the household remain in charge of both. While not frightening or seemingly aggressive at age four months and I sound like a broken record saying this..but "What's cute at 4 months may not be cute at 14 months". Whatever behaviors they have now that you consider unaceptable will only continue until they reach adulthood, unless you change the behavior. How do you do that? Well the above suggestion works regarding picking up their food dish to prevent future food aggression. As for two dogs in the household and one bone..well as others have stated bones are a prized possession. Your other dog may start to assert themselves and try to take the pups bone even if he/she has never acted that way before. Or: once your pup begins to age he may try to take your other dogs bone. There is a huge difference between dominance and aggression - dominance is a natural way of life for dogs and they accept it. In my household with three dogs, and Merlin being the Alpha amongst them..I can give each dog a bone and he could easily walk over to the other dogs and they would drop their bones. No fights, no challenges..they view him as the boss. As a result I give bones in seperate rooms not to avoid fights but so each can enjoy munching on one at their leisure. Some households (as mentioned above) the pets have developed a truce and do not seem to have issues with eating bones in the same area. These dogs may be blessed with those wonderful easy going personalities and have no interest in being boss. Generally however, their usually exist a dominant one whom can try to take another dogs bone but may choose not to at the moment. Dogs, like people vary in personality. Some are more easy going than others and like children easier to raise. Others seem to make us age prematurely..ha ha...like those "harder children". I wouldn't recommend purchasing one bone either, but two in the future as in dog language you are giving Alpha Status to the pup by your preferential treatment. (Remember my above paragraph that Alphas feed first, get the best food..ect) To retain the status of your previous dog as he should naturally be Alpha. He was the pre-existing dog (meaning he was there first) and the older one in the household. This is not a hard and set fast rule however if the older one is a naturally submissive dog. Happened in my household with 15 yrs old Blue who had no interest in establing he was dominant over Merlin once Merlin started to mature. I kinda went off topic and into a rambling long story. In a nutshell, read a lot of books on dog behavior, familiarize yourself with body language of dogs and quide them. In return you'll have dogs that are well socialized and a pleasure to have around. Marianne and the boys |
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