Food Aggression With Other Dogs

[CARRINGTON]

Yesterday my fiance and I took Balto out to his moms so we could work more on our wedding invitations and things like that. We had bought Balto a new bone since that keeps him occupied and he leaves the cats and other dog alone. Well Lucy (Zach's mom's dog) got close and Zach was down with Balto and Balto started to snap and even bit Zach. He does this with his food as well. This is where we were going to keep Balto while we were going on our honeymoon but now I am not sure if that is a good idea. We took the bone and he didn't get it back for a while. He also has to sit or lay and wait until we give him the bone and tell him to take it. WE ALSO HAVE HIM ON NILIF, but we have no idea what to do about food aggression with other dogs. We will go up to him while eating or chewing a bone and pet him, poke him or take some food, and stick our hands in there and he does fine and never growls, but with other dogs it is a whole new story. If another dog gets a treat or something he snaps at them and tries to take their treat, food, bone, toy, etc. Any advice

[simhauu]

Sorry I cannot help you much, but when my mom's cockerspaniel comes over or we are somewhere together we just keep the dogs apart when eating, i.e. they eat in different rooms because my mom's dog has already snapped at Ghost for it. Huskies are thiefs, Ghost steals other dogs' toys, he even grabs them from their mouths if they let him...

If you have a crate, whenever he gets something like bone close him in it until he stops eating/playing with it.

[Elyse]

I don't have any advice, so I'm going to bump this for you.

[CARRINGTON]

Thanks elyse!!!

[Sarah]

I have this with Koda - before we rehomed him he was an only dog - when he came here with 2 other males all hell broke loose when it came to feeding - we still struggle sometimes even now, what we do is feed them seperatly, i wouldn't worry too much, just ask your parents if they'd feed seperatly whilst you're away and this should help x

[MidnightPaws]

Maya is like this, the only advice i have is this. Have Balto in a room chewing on a bone or something more low value. Bring the other dog in on a leash, should probably have Balto tethered too. Slowly walk up to Balto and if he gets tense stop, wait for him to relax then walk away and repeat this. What i do with Maya is i have her and another dog (Kay, Sophie or Cloud) and i give the other dog a treat (start low value and work your way up) then i give Maya a treat and lots of praise RIGHT after i give the other dog a treat. And then i repeat this.

[LittleLuka]

Mine aren't aggressive about food now they struggled at first though.

However when it comes to bones Luka will snarl and snap if Knox gets too close. If they keep on I take the bone away.

[Fr Carmen OFM]

Hi!

This is a tough one!! My Tuvok is very food agressive with both dogs and people. He developed this from abusive treatment by former "owners" when he was just a puppy. He's now 11yrs old going on 12 in May or June.  It took me years to get to the point where I can go over and play with him gently while he has a bowl of food or a treat, especially a milk bone biscuit. Even then there are days where he's just in one of his "moods" and needs space so I simply leave him alone and come back later. First off, is Balto a baby or an older dog? By older I mean over three years of age. If a baby it's a bit easier to alter the behavior than with an adult. the biggest thing is patience and lots of it. Try to see things from the dog's point of view. What would make Balto want to aggressively guard his food? Is it constantly stolen from him by other pack members or strange dogs? Was he teased in the past by someone offering and then quickly witholding food or treats from him? If there is something discovered eliminating that goes a long way to ease the "need" for protection. With my Tuvok the issue was he was fed so little he never knew if he'd get another meal or if there'd be enough to satisfy him. It took a long time, lots of food and set where only he had access to it at first so he could develop confidence that it tasted good there was enough of it and it wasn't going to be taken away unless he ate it really helped to turn him around. Now he's somewhat comfortable eating with the rest albeit by the side of my chair at the dinner table. Even now there are moments when he will snarl the damage is so very deep. I simply respect his moods. When I see him doing "shifty eyes" between me and his treat I simply look away and ignore him. If I need to walk past him I simply don't look at him at all and leisurely move on to what I was about to do, leaving him out of the picture. He gets the idea quickly I'm not there to take his food. Sometimes what I'll do is bring a treat or a bit more of the food in his bowl and as he's guarding it, I'll leisurely walk over show Tuvok the treat in my hand and slowly move toward the bowl with it. If there's no growling i simply drop the bowl in the treat and walk away. If he growls as I approach I simply tell him in soft tones it's OK I'm not going to take your treat I'm going now and walk away with the treat in my hand. I'll try again in 5 minutes or so. Slow and easy and lots of patience in working with him is the secret and trying to see it from his side, what makes him so guarded with food? Consulting a dog behaviorist could be very insightful in discovering some ideas. It just not something that will simply go away, patience, gentleness yet firm, see things from the dog's point of view and eliminate the negative stimuli that would elicit aggressive guarding behavior around the food bowl is helpful. I wish I could be of more help. Sadly, in some cases depending on the origin of the behavior although you may be able to greatly diminish the agression you may not be able to totally eliminate it. Hopefully you Balto and Zach over time will be able to develop an understanding of trust that will help eliminate most if not all of the agressive displays. I hope this is somewhat helpful. Thanks.  Fr. Carmen OFM 

[CARRINGTON]

Hi!

This is a tough one!! My Tuvok is very food agressive with both dogs and people. He developed this from abusive treatment by former "owners" when he was just a puppy. He's now 11yrs old going on 12 in May or June. It took me years to get to the point where I can go over and play with him gently while he has a bowl of food or a treat, especially a milk bone biscuit. Even then there are days where he's just in one of his "moods" and needs space so I simply leave him alone and come back later. First off, is Balto a baby or an older dog? By older I mean over three years of age. If a baby it's a bit easier to alter the behavior than with an adult. the biggest thing is patience and lots of it. Try to see things from the dog's point of view. What would make Balto want to aggressively guard his food? Is it constantly stolen from him by other pack members or strange dogs? Was he teased in the past by someone offering and then quickly witholding food or treats from him? If there is something discovered eliminating that goes a long way to ease the "need" for protection. With my Tuvok the issue was he was fed so little he never knew if he'd get another meal or if there'd be enough to satisfy him. It took a long time, lots of food and set where only he had access to it at first so he could develop confidence that it tasted good there was enough of it and it wasn't going to be taken away unless he ate it really helped to turn him around. Now he's somewhat comfortable eating with the rest albeit by the side of my chair at the dinner table. Even now there are moments when he will snarl the damage is so very deep. I simply respect his moods. When I see him doing "shifty eyes" between me and his treat I simply look away and ignore him. If I need to walk past him I simply don't look at him at all and leisurely move on to what I was about to do, leaving him out of the picture. He gets the idea quickly I'm not there to take his food. Sometimes what I'll do is bring a treat or a bit more of the food in his bowl and as he's guarding it, I'll leisurely walk over show Tuvok the treat in my hand and slowly move toward the bowl with it. If there's no growling i simply drop the bowl in the treat and walk away. If he growls as I approach I simply tell him in soft tones it's OK I'm not going to take your treat I'm going now and walk away with the treat in my hand. I'll try again in 5 minutes or so. Slow and easy and lots of patience in working with him is the secret and trying to see it from his side, what makes him so guarded with food? Consulting a dog behaviorist could be very insightful in discovering some ideas. It just not something that will simply go away, patience, gentleness yet firm, see things from the dog's point of view and eliminate the negative stimuli that would elicit aggressive guarding behavior around the food bowl is helpful. I wish I could be of more help. Sadly, in some cases depending on the origin of the behavior although you may be able to greatly diminish the agression you may not be able to totally eliminate it. Hopefully you Balto and Zach over time will be able to develop an understanding of trust that will help eliminate most if not all of the agressive displays. I hope this is somewhat helpful. Thanks. Fr. Carmen OFM

Balto is 5 months and we rescued him from our local humane society where before they said he was a stray( not sure if that could be the reason)

[Stormy]

This can be sorted he is still young Skye was a right pain with food at first as a puppy she was doing the same as what yours is! Skye would even "guard" food in the kitchen etc and almost caused herself a fight when she was only around 5 months old which was silly as she was so small compared to shadow then!! She would try steal Shadows food obv resulting in an angry Shadow. It may be harder for you to teach as he is not around other dogs all the time but do you get him to sit and wait before you let him go to his food?? Took me ages to get that right with Skye but it worked and she also will not steal Shadows food anymore as soon as she tried to go towards the bowl after finishing she would get a now then it ended up i would get her to sit when finished and wait, they both do this and will then swap bowls after but i do keep an eye on them as it has seemed to have reversed roles a bit with mine now and Shadow tries to push his way in but only took me a couple days and this has stopped he even waits for my command before checking her bowl now lol.

 

On the other scale Shadow i cannot give a fresh bone or new pigs trotter for example out of his crate, once he has eaten it down a bit and its not "new" they can then have them out and they have no issues atall can share them etc but brand new is a big no as Shadow will go for Skye if she gets to close and she is silly and does not learn lol.

 

Hope all that makes sense but like i said it will be harder for you to teach without another dog around all the time but definitely put some rules in place for him on his own anyway as it will help you if you do get another later on and perhaps at your parents so you dont worry just feed in a crate etc as then no fights can happen and you wont be stressed out on your honeymoon!!