DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this?

If one of your dogs began exhibiting food aggression towards you, how would you handle the situation (assuming this is a behavioral, not medical, problem)? Would the temperament, size, or other characteristics of said dog influence your decision? The…

    DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this?

    If one of your dogs began exhibiting food aggression towards you, how would you handle the situation (assuming this is a behavioral, not medical, problem)? Would the temperament, size, or other characteristics of said dog influence your decision? The…...
    Dogs Training Discussions : DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this?...

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    • DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this?

      DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this? Dogs Training Discussions
      If one of your dogs began exhibiting food aggression towards you, how would you handle the situation (assuming this is a behavioral, not medical, problem)? Would the temperament, size, or other characteristics of said dog influence your decision? The intensity of the growls/bites, etc? Feel free to play around with the different variables.

      DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this?

      DS: A hypothetical scenario involving one of your dogs, and possession aggression. How would you resolve this? Dogs Training Discussions
    • I would make him sit and wait for the food. From the very beginning, I am in control of the food. My dog will perform 4 commands flawlessly, while the bowl of food is on the floor, before i let him go to eat it.be in control from the very beginning.

    • Handfeeding piece by piece of food...regardless of size/breed/temperment/growl/bitingNo excuse for aggressive behaviours when eating.Take the alpha role and "share" your food with your dog (ie: meaning the kibble belongs to YOUMake the dog work for each piece. sit - lay down - paw - wait - stay etc....YOU OWN FOOD, not dog!!

    • Ceaser has good techniques on this. Remain calm, develop rapport with the dog and use a long tool, not your hand to gently touch food. He will see this as an extension of your hand. Also, if the dog is young and hasn't developed the aggression yet, he should know that nothing bad comes from your hand and from the beginning add some food to the bowl, while he is eating. He will start to understand that nothing bad comes from your hand, and give him treats from your hand. That way when it comes up and u do need to take the bowl for any reason, he will not think you mean him harm.

    • Short of demon procession, I can't even imagine one of my guys starting that crap, but if they did their cute little necks would have the big bad prongs back on them and a lead attached and a not in a chance in hell is this going to work talk. If that didn't work then I would be dusting off the old e-collar.The only possible reason that I can think of that any of my dogs would show food aggression would be a new dog coming into the mix and I always have that situation under control before the first bowl hits the ground.Temperament, size is always the key factor in an "immediate" fix for my guys, my dogs are bigger than me and I have to have the upper hand in all situations

    • I would beat them into the ground!! lol. not so much but not going to happen.I foster dogs so we have seen this time and time again here.My dog as a puppy hmm 8 weeks tried this too.If the dog were small I would get that dog to leave its food bowl away, its funny most dogs do not bite to cause serious harm, although it sounds bad and looks pretty bad if you test the bite they don't always bite down.Anyways, I have used the feet and the bowl technique, I have left my hand in a bowl while dog comes to eat, I have hand fed a dog, and I have smacked a dog when it snapped at me while approaching its food bowl. Again, it depends on the dog.Last time I had to do it I got nailed by a larger dog when I was testing her food aggression. I had to push her to ground and then follow her around with the food bowl until she understood I owned it, fixed the problem...

    • The moment any of my dogs showed the slightest bit of food aggression with me...even so much as a growl, we'd nip it in the bud right then & there. NOT a behavior I tolerate in the slightest. I would give an immediate & firm correction that corresponded directly to the level of aggression. A clear message that such behavior is not going to be tolerated in the slightest. And the bowl would be picked up whether they were done eating or not. Dog would probably spend the next few hours in his crate. And I'd put an emphasis on a NILIF-like routine for the next few weeks at the very least. Next meal, they'd start "earning" their food a few pieces at a time; performing simple commands. If progress is seen, I'd be gradually bringing the bowl closer to the dog every day, eventually progressing to having the bowl on the floor next to me. Once he could eat out of the bowl in my presence and accept being touched & me putting my hand on the bowl, he'd have his normal mealtime back- though I'd make a point to periodically go back and "reinforce" what we'd worked on. Size or temperament of the dog would not matter in the slightest in terms of the "level" of correction I deliver. The amount, intensity & motivation of the dog's aggression is what I'd go by. I'd handle a fear-aggressive dog differently than a posessive-aggressive dog, or I'd handle a growl differently than an attempt to bite, etc. All other things being the same, the size of the dog doesn't change the "meaning" of the behavior. It just hurts worse when they're big and they nail you, LOL....but a little dog snapping & biting is just as unacceptable to me as a big dog.

    • I would absolutely get on them at the first sign; with my guys, a good scolding does the trick. We've never had a food-aggression problem with any of our dogs (not to say it couldn't happen) and were always able to touch and pet them while they ate -- they would stand back, accept the affection, and then go back to eating when we left.

    • It depends on how far the dog is willing to take it....I will do whatever I have to do to bring the behavior to an end....it is unacceptable.My old 120 lb. Rottie growled at me over his food when I first got him. I stood over him, yelled at him, and that was the end of that....he never tried it againNone of my own dogs would challenge me, but my current pug/chi foster is a greedy little guy who tends to resource guard, and he took it as far as biting me once, over a treat. He got corrected hard enough that if I say "HEY!" he now drops whatever he has in his mouth. My chi foster also tries to guard rawhides and the sofa from the other dogs. She is a much softer dog than the pug mix, so most of the time all I have to do is give her a look when she growls, and she stops. If she doesnt, I take her rawhide away, or push her off the sofa, and dont let her back up until I say its okay.Frankly, the small ones are frequently tougher about this kind of thing than the big ones, so size is not the issue.*****Anna....LOL....I used a plate that happened to be nearby for the same thing. :o)

    • I can not imagine any dog of mine daring to do so...(well, not after the first time they may have tried it after first entering my home).However, only very recently I had a friends large dog at my house.It had found an old bone from one of my dogs.Rather then letting a situation arise where an argument over a bone occured (also there were kids around etc) - I opted for removing the bone from the situation to avoid any chance of problems.I asked them to take it from their dog - "No chance" was the rough reply from memory...I then asked if they would mind if I did?They warned me against it.At which point it became imperative that I removed the bone due to risk to children being in the vicinity.I approched the dog after considering the "tools" at my disposal (too late to put my e-collar on).The dog growled at my approach and firm request of "Drop it".At which point he got the nearby deck chair I had been sitting on up his backside so fast it scared the living sh*t out of him and his owners as I repeated the command "DROP IT" just a "tad" more firmly - lol.Light weight, manuverable, wooden, bulky and would scare me if one got shoved at me unexpectedly too!!The chair didn't hurt him at all, but had the desired effect!That bone was dropped so fast you wouldn't believe.Everyone got a fright except my dogs (who probably braced for impact lol) - I swear, they sat there after looking as if they were thinking - Are you crazy, Dumbass, growling at her??The speed and loudness of my 'request' was as much a part of the correction as the chair.I gave him no time to think or react.I gave him a fright, good and proper.Timidly walking towards him with a chair probably wouldn't have cut it.Mean what you say and demand the response.I did repeat the process - got someone to give him the bone shortly after.When I approched, the dog dropped the bone before I opened my mouth.At which point I praised him loads and made a fuss of him.The ironic part to all this is that dog sat with me for ages afterwards - looking at me like I was God.Trying so hard to win me over, thrilled when I told him he was good or gave him a pat. Not even acknowledging the presence of his owners (who can't get him off their sofas etc which says it all).I don't think it would have mattered to me what the size or temperament of the dog was.The chair was light enough that it wouldn't have hurt even a little dog - But big enough and pointy enough to have the desired effect.It also protected me as I was able to correct the dog without nearing him with my hand and therefore risking a bite.If the chair had not been there, any large lightweight object would work (I have used a garbage bin lid and plastic garden rake to similar effect).If I knew the dog had a problem with this, and I had the chance to set him up - Then an e-collar would be another useful tool.In my mind you do what you have to do when it comes to possessive aggression and you do it instantly. My dogs all learn this lesson the first week they arrive in my home even as 8 week old pups.Discipline and respect to the pack leader (me not them) is vital.It doesn't make them fear you.It doesn't make them "not love you".If anything I have always found they look to you more.Be clear and frequent with your praise.TIME your corrections well and MEAN them.And PLEASE people... Make them short and sharp when necessary, such as for growling at the humans!!

    • Excellent question, Dd! I love reading the answers. With 9 dogs, there is no way NOT to have dog on dog food aggression. I feed my Golden, APBT, GS mix in their kennels. My old Lab is not food aggressive but food crazy. So, I close him up in the bathroom.My 5 small dogs eat outside their kennels. No food aggression among them.Would temperament (which is genetic) and/or size influence how I handle it? To a point. I would not use the same *degree* of compulsion on a 10 pound dog as I would on a 50 pound dog. (Let's just say a small dog could be seriously hurt when being thrown up against a wall.) Would the *intensity* of the growl make any difference? NO. A growl is a growl. The *intensity* of the bite? Teeth making contact with flesh in a state of aggression is not acceptable. A nip? A full on bite? No difference to me. I cannot imagine ANY of my dogs being food/toy aggressive towards me or any other human. I can climb in the bigger kennels while my dogs eat. I can remove a toy/bone/object from any of my dog's mouths. *IF* one of my smaller dogs decided to challenge me over food, said dog would be picked up by the back of it's neck (scruff) brought up to eye level and receive a very assertive *BACK OFF*. Then said dog would be put on the floor, sit/stay with the bowl 2 inches from it's nose and not move. If the dog was stupid enough to challenge me twice? That is when the prong comes out. (Yes, I have prongs for my smaller dogs). END OF STORY.Being realistic, the *bite* of a larger dog is going to do more damage and when you are dealing with 50 or more pounds of dog, the dog has the upper paw (so to speak) with physical strength.Therefore, ANY sign, whether it be growl, immediate bite etc, would be dealt with seriously. This is a situation where the prong collar and/or E collar (would not be within seconds reach) and the aggression needs to be dealt with immediately so I would simply remove the food, demand a sit/down/stay. Then the E collar would go on. I would not even use the prong. We would try it again. Aggression the second time? E collar stim at 75. Start again. Third time? Stim at 127. Fourth time and still aggression? The dog would get a no return ticket to meet it's maker. I do not believe it would even get to the second time. I have never had the E collar fail.

    • You really do have to teach your dog how to be obediant. In your case, he needs to learn that your in-charge. Try simple methods such as making him wait for his food or if he doesn't know those simple commands try feeding him small samples of his normal portion of food at a time. I wouldn't think to consider the size or breed to influence my descion but temperament is a big factor for having different methods of trying to control his "Possession aggeresion". I'll give you a tip: Try not smack or hurt the dog or take things away from him, following that he/she'll lose your trust and become more protective of things they have or own themselves. Hope I helped!

    • He'd have to master a 'leave it' and 'drop' command, food is not his until I release him. All food belongs to me. He eats at my discretion. Not sure I'd feed him meals yet - he might have to earn every kibble. While eating, I'd toss food towards the bowl until I could place food into bowl. I'd want him to associate hand with food coming, not food being taken. Goal is eventually being able to take food from the bowl. Not sure how I'd incorporate correction - thinking on it. I like to think I wouldn't hang a dog, but really, food aggression just isn't allowed, so that might happen. But that would only add some stress to meal times. Rather have a relaxed dog.

    • If MY dogs started displaying food aggression towards me? Well, if one EVER dared to growl or snap at me, I would knock his @$$ out to start with.However, your question is unrealistic. My dogs have NEVER displayed any type of possessive aggression towards me, nor would they because of the way they've been trained and handled. Therefore, if they ever did, it would HAVE to be something medical.If a dog was brought in, a rescue, and I knew it had a history of food aggression, I would treat it as such. I don't need to be fvcking with my dog's food while he's eating, it's HIS food. It's the very core instinct of ANY carnivore to defend and protect their food, because unlike herbivores, carnivores are hard-wired to eat at any given opportunity, because they never know when the next meal will come. As for a food aggressive dog being a danger to other people? They don't need to be over fvcking with my dog while he's eating, either.Toy possession/aggression, I would not allow. But this could be trained out, through drop it methods, leave it, trade offs, etc... and this could then be transferred over to food training.