Mandyapples Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 ok so Loki is about 4-5 months old and a couple of weeks ago he bit my stepson. Max(stepson) is 7. We told Max never to go near the dog when eating as he has a little food aggression problem. We got takeaways and the dog was asleep at my feet, some chips dropped on the ground and i left them there as Loki woke and thought yum chips. Max was only trying to do the right thing and pick them up…….Loki growled and then bit him. Max ended up covered in blood and pretty scared. Loki was put outside. Max had only two puncture wounds and a bit of bruising not too bad. I weighed this up very carefully for the next couple of days………Loki warned him with a growl, he bit but didn't get frenzied or tear flesh, he is the sweetest dog when not eating. So we decided to keep Loki. Loki only eats outside…..by himself. When we eat he also goes outside now. We have had him neutered and we have booked a one on one trainer who is REALLY good. Loki has never challenged me or my fiancé. I'm thinking maybe the dog doesn't see Max as very high in the pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted September 17, 2014 Report Share Posted September 17, 2014 Yes food guarding is a common trait. Humans should take note of the growl and back off. I'm sorry Max got bitten. I myself got quite badly bitten a few years back trying to separate two of mine fighting. however I didn't blame the dog, but myself for not dealing with the situation correctly I hope Max hasn't been scared by Loki's reaction. Fingers crossed he heals quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 I am sorry to read that this happened. What you have explained is quite common. You can train him to leave any item dropped but it takes a lot of time and patience. First step is to drop something that he values a few feet away and then say "leave-it" and have a your foot with a shoe or boot on that you can quickly place over the item and say leave-it. When he does give him an even higher value treat. You then can mix it up in how you cover the item and have him walk past a chip for example. I did a lot of this training with Ronin but I could use my hand to cover the item but this may not be safe for you at this point. The goal of this training is to teach him that dropped stuff is not his. If we drop something that is for him we say "find it". So "find it" and "leave it" training work hand in hand. Our goal was mainly to stop him from picking up anything to eat on walks and in the house, rather than resource guarding but the principles are basically the same. Having said that he still steals the odd sock or undies when wanting to be cheeky I will say that we have a trainer to help us with these training goals and I highly recommend finding a good trainer, but you can do certain things on your own but take care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'm sorry to hear what happened. I don't have any advice, other than to go see a professional trainer, which you seem to already be doing so. But I will second Jase's advice. It is good that Loki growled at Max to try to warn him away, that means it is easier to train him. Not sure if you know this, but you're never supposed to correct them when they growl...that just teaches them that growling is B.A.D...and go straight for the bite instead of the warning growl. On another completely different topic...Loki is neutered at 4 months? Isn't that too early?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clare70 Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Oh wow that is terrible for you and Max! When we got Snow (4 months) he had been half starved and get really possesive over his food. If you put his food down he would send it flying as he was so hungry and thought someone might take it from him. I started by holding his food bowl, he would still send it everywhere but he slowly got used to me feeding him and over time he came to realise I wasn't going to take it from him. We then went to putting the bowl on the floor and me just touching the bowl, then we went to me taking the bowl whislt he was eating, at first he got stressed with this but it took time. Now when he eats he's fine, in fact he is the most gentle out of the three. I think Loki is young enough to get over this and can be trained to accept the food is yours not his and he has to behave in a way to get fed and not be aggressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Hope you're all OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandyapples Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Loki and I get on really well I can do whatever I like with his food touch his bowl, feed him from my hand in his bowl.....he trusts me and I am pretty sure he realises his place in the pack. He has never tried to bite me even when he full on growled at me the first time I ever tried to take his bowl. Loki does know "leave it" I am thinking hes just a baby and he may need a little more time I used to rehabilitate abused and abandoned horses and train supposedly untrainable horses..so ...Im guessing he will get it I show the kids and my fiancé what I am doing with him so we are all on the same page too with commands and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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