food aggression
- Thread starter tjedt
- Start date
The higher value the food the more gaurding you will see. I've heard of some sled dog people who house many dogs together and feed from huge pans that feed pig pellets as they maintain the dogs but they are not a highly loved food so no reason to get huffy over meal times. Just like me, if I have a salad I'm more than happy to share, give me a cheesecake and watch out I get highly protective :rofl1:
I have 2 reformed highly food aggressive and resource gaurding dogs. One is a male Newfoundland that lived his first few years in a kennel with sometimes 5 other dogs. He lived with a very greedy bitch that would try to steal from him so he learned to "protect" his meals...never against humans just around other dogs. With my Rottweiler Athena when I rescued her you could not get near her when she was eating...give her a bone and whoa watch out.
Any way, we implimented the NILIF policy with all our dogs (we have 5 living together). The next step was to hand feed the highly food aggressive dogs. They are also right there for the food preperation so they know who is giving them their food. I taught them to sit for their meal. They have a good routine in place so they don't get confused during meal time or when getting treats...sit, treat, sit heres your meal. Routine, consistancy, showing them that there is no need to compete for food...hand feeding, adding extras to their food while eating (not right away with the Rottweiler as she would have attacked). With her I hand fed for a few meals. I would make her do things for her food at times and would ptu the item on the palm of my hand same as when feeding a horse as sometimes if you hold the food in your fingers and the dog is a gulper it could end up in a bad way. Most important though was routine, calmness, making food a happy time. Praise in a huge way for what they do right and redirect what they do wrong...never punish a dog for a normal thing like resource gaurding instead redirect it to a behavior you would rather see. Dog sees food, dog sits and gets excited and happy that the owner is there. Never use force based training for an instinctal behavior. Body language has a big impression of our dogs as well, they understand our body language very well. Never lean over a dog with issues while they are eating, don't reach over them. Don't sneak up on them, if you are going to add food to their dish after they are desensitized by hand feeding make sure they see you don't sneak up behind. I can with my dogs as they are now bomb proof..but at one time I wouldn't have. Some calming signals to give are to turn your face slightly to one side, bad posture is also very good in helping to calm dogs LOL When I worked at the a dog kennel I could handle many dogs that the other girls couldn't because I slump my shoulders a bit and have bad posture therefore the dogs never saw me as a threat...the only down fall about my poor posture is it does not get me many dates...but, hey the dogs love me! LOL
I also taught my Rottweiler "off" and "take it", I learned this at an aggression seminar I attended with her. With this exercise I started off with small treats then worked up to more valuable items such as RMB's. I still will do this exercise, I'll come over to her and say "off" I'll take the bone give her a peice of liver or cheese (something she loves) then I offer her back the bone by saying take it. She now associates Off as a good thing and better things may happen. I always have something better to give her as a trade off and now when she picks something up that she shouldn't I just say off and she spits it out LOL She's come a loooonnng way from the highly aggressive dog she was.
In our house we have 5 dogs, 3 rescued as adults with issues, the Newf's came to live with us as adults straight from a kennel and had never lived in a house before. It took time, calmness, routine and setting them up for doing right instead of setting up for doing wrong then correcting for them...that's a big no no here. We feed home prepared raw which to them is a much more highly prized meal than kibble...they all eat in the kitchen side by side and have no issues at all any more...it wasn't like that at one time but now it's the norm. Some people think they are so good because we lucked out...nope it took work. The neat thing is after each dog finishes eating they all move on to the next dogs dish to lick it out. They all learned manners and know when the others are done and they all take turns licking the dishes. I also can now put my roasting pan down on the floor after cooking a chicken or roast and all the dogs will lick it out together. I'm pretty proud of them
I have 2 reformed highly food aggressive and resource gaurding dogs. One is a male Newfoundland that lived his first few years in a kennel with sometimes 5 other dogs. He lived with a very greedy bitch that would try to steal from him so he learned to "protect" his meals...never against humans just around other dogs. With my Rottweiler Athena when I rescued her you could not get near her when she was eating...give her a bone and whoa watch out.
Any way, we implimented the NILIF policy with all our dogs (we have 5 living together). The next step was to hand feed the highly food aggressive dogs. They are also right there for the food preperation so they know who is giving them their food. I taught them to sit for their meal. They have a good routine in place so they don't get confused during meal time or when getting treats...sit, treat, sit heres your meal. Routine, consistancy, showing them that there is no need to compete for food...hand feeding, adding extras to their food while eating (not right away with the Rottweiler as she would have attacked). With her I hand fed for a few meals. I would make her do things for her food at times and would ptu the item on the palm of my hand same as when feeding a horse as sometimes if you hold the food in your fingers and the dog is a gulper it could end up in a bad way. Most important though was routine, calmness, making food a happy time. Praise in a huge way for what they do right and redirect what they do wrong...never punish a dog for a normal thing like resource gaurding instead redirect it to a behavior you would rather see. Dog sees food, dog sits and gets excited and happy that the owner is there. Never use force based training for an instinctal behavior. Body language has a big impression of our dogs as well, they understand our body language very well. Never lean over a dog with issues while they are eating, don't reach over them. Don't sneak up on them, if you are going to add food to their dish after they are desensitized by hand feeding make sure they see you don't sneak up behind. I can with my dogs as they are now bomb proof..but at one time I wouldn't have. Some calming signals to give are to turn your face slightly to one side, bad posture is also very good in helping to calm dogs LOL When I worked at the a dog kennel I could handle many dogs that the other girls couldn't because I slump my shoulders a bit and have bad posture therefore the dogs never saw me as a threat...the only down fall about my poor posture is it does not get me many dates...but, hey the dogs love me! LOL
I also taught my Rottweiler "off" and "take it", I learned this at an aggression seminar I attended with her. With this exercise I started off with small treats then worked up to more valuable items such as RMB's. I still will do this exercise, I'll come over to her and say "off" I'll take the bone give her a peice of liver or cheese (something she loves) then I offer her back the bone by saying take it. She now associates Off as a good thing and better things may happen. I always have something better to give her as a trade off and now when she picks something up that she shouldn't I just say off and she spits it out LOL She's come a loooonnng way from the highly aggressive dog she was.
In our house we have 5 dogs, 3 rescued as adults with issues, the Newf's came to live with us as adults straight from a kennel and had never lived in a house before. It took time, calmness, routine and setting them up for doing right instead of setting up for doing wrong then correcting for them...that's a big no no here. We feed home prepared raw which to them is a much more highly prized meal than kibble...they all eat in the kitchen side by side and have no issues at all any more...it wasn't like that at one time but now it's the norm. Some people think they are so good because we lucked out...nope it took work. The neat thing is after each dog finishes eating they all move on to the next dogs dish to lick it out. They all learned manners and know when the others are done and they all take turns licking the dishes. I also can now put my roasting pan down on the floor after cooking a chicken or roast and all the dogs will lick it out together. I'm pretty proud of them
Such good advice already....to not take food from a dog with issues. Being the "boss" means nothing to him, so don't listen to Cesar Milan or anyone else who thinks that we are superiors to dogs in some imagined hierarchy. We are not superior at all and can't bite like a dog can. Our skin is so inferior. Our reflexes are inferior. But we do have bigger brains and that is what is needed to teach a dog behaviors we like. It is so true that no matter what rank any animal has in a social group, no animal would survive if he said to his boss, "go ahead and take my food." He wouldn't be able to reproduce and pass on his genes if he did not protect his food because he'd be dead. It is up to us to convince our dogs that we are the best thing ever because we are the food givers. They need to go through us to get all the things they love and need and those things come to them contingent on their behavior.
In addition to all the good suggestions, I'd recommend not giving your dog a bowl at all for a while....say a week or two. Hand feed by the handfuls upon his performing something for you; a sit, a down, come. Use it for reinforcing his good behavior. Never give him food within about 4 seconds of rotten behavior. Then after a time, get your bowl and hold it on your lap. Keep your hand on it and another container of food on the counter next to you. Put a handful in at a time. He should be taught, in the meantime a nice "wait" and "okay." If he lunges toward the food, stand up, turn around. Don't say anything. Try again. He can learn manners while he gets his food. Get that "okay" in quickly before he lunges at first so he learns that he must hear "okay" before he eats. Don't make him wait long at all...just a second or two for the time being and later, still not long, but a few more seconds. Feed him this way, with your hand remaining on the bowl for a week or so. While your hand is on the bowl, you possess it and are sharing. When you let go of the bowl, you have relinquished it to him. And going back to putting your hand on the bowl or getting close to it is to him, encroching on his possession.
After doing that for a while, advance to putting his bowl down on the floor empty. Have him sit and wait. Bend over (if you feel safe, otherwise, stay upright and drop) a handful of kibble in. Have him wait for his release word, "okay." If he jumps the gun, block him with your body so you're facing away from him and pick up the bowl. Try again. Put it down. "sit"...."wait"...."okay." Let him eat the big handful you put in. Stand there quietly until he just finishes and walk away about 10-15 feet. Immediately come back and put in another large handful. (sit, wait, okay) Again, when he has just eaten the last piece of kibble, walk away. Wait and see if he looks back at you as if to say, "come back and give me more food." Then return and repeat the process. Every few times, put in not only a handful of kibble, but an extra yummy treat; cheese, chicken, steak. Do this for about a week or more. Vary the location where you feed so he doesn't "own" the location either. Throw in a time or two where you hold the bowl for him.
He should come to beg you to come back to his bowl. "Please come back here and bring on the goodies." He needs to see you as the giver, never the taker. And he also needs to see that the resources (food and other valuables) come on account of his behavior. Dogs aren't particularly aware of their own behavior until they've had a sufficient history of behavior to response instances.
If you feel you might get bitten, you can use gloves. Do heed his growling warnings and don't punish growls ever. If one phase isn't working, go back to a more restrictive phase, like the hand feeding with no bowl. Don't proceed to giving him his own bowl until he is relaxed and happy with a preceeding phase. If he improves and then relapses to being worried (stiff, freezing up, stopping the chewing, watching you from the corner of his eye)...go back to hand feeding. If he gets so he's very comfortable with you coming near his food, don't slack off. Periodically, still toss in an extra yummy treat a time or two every few meals.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that if at any time you feel in danger or that any of this is beyond your confidence level to seek the help from a certified behaviorist.
In addition to all the good suggestions, I'd recommend not giving your dog a bowl at all for a while....say a week or two. Hand feed by the handfuls upon his performing something for you; a sit, a down, come. Use it for reinforcing his good behavior. Never give him food within about 4 seconds of rotten behavior. Then after a time, get your bowl and hold it on your lap. Keep your hand on it and another container of food on the counter next to you. Put a handful in at a time. He should be taught, in the meantime a nice "wait" and "okay." If he lunges toward the food, stand up, turn around. Don't say anything. Try again. He can learn manners while he gets his food. Get that "okay" in quickly before he lunges at first so he learns that he must hear "okay" before he eats. Don't make him wait long at all...just a second or two for the time being and later, still not long, but a few more seconds. Feed him this way, with your hand remaining on the bowl for a week or so. While your hand is on the bowl, you possess it and are sharing. When you let go of the bowl, you have relinquished it to him. And going back to putting your hand on the bowl or getting close to it is to him, encroching on his possession.
After doing that for a while, advance to putting his bowl down on the floor empty. Have him sit and wait. Bend over (if you feel safe, otherwise, stay upright and drop) a handful of kibble in. Have him wait for his release word, "okay." If he jumps the gun, block him with your body so you're facing away from him and pick up the bowl. Try again. Put it down. "sit"...."wait"...."okay." Let him eat the big handful you put in. Stand there quietly until he just finishes and walk away about 10-15 feet. Immediately come back and put in another large handful. (sit, wait, okay) Again, when he has just eaten the last piece of kibble, walk away. Wait and see if he looks back at you as if to say, "come back and give me more food." Then return and repeat the process. Every few times, put in not only a handful of kibble, but an extra yummy treat; cheese, chicken, steak. Do this for about a week or more. Vary the location where you feed so he doesn't "own" the location either. Throw in a time or two where you hold the bowl for him.
He should come to beg you to come back to his bowl. "Please come back here and bring on the goodies." He needs to see you as the giver, never the taker. And he also needs to see that the resources (food and other valuables) come on account of his behavior. Dogs aren't particularly aware of their own behavior until they've had a sufficient history of behavior to response instances.
If you feel you might get bitten, you can use gloves. Do heed his growling warnings and don't punish growls ever. If one phase isn't working, go back to a more restrictive phase, like the hand feeding with no bowl. Don't proceed to giving him his own bowl until he is relaxed and happy with a preceeding phase. If he improves and then relapses to being worried (stiff, freezing up, stopping the chewing, watching you from the corner of his eye)...go back to hand feeding. If he gets so he's very comfortable with you coming near his food, don't slack off. Periodically, still toss in an extra yummy treat a time or two every few meals.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that if at any time you feel in danger or that any of this is beyond your confidence level to seek the help from a certified behaviorist.
hummm ok this is getting confusing so much to take in at once lol.
well maybe i need to clarify and update ok here it goes.......
he is a 11 week old chihuahua he does not yet have a name and does not yet know basic commands because i have yet to find a name?!?!?!?
today i actually tried to add the yogurt first and was stirring while he ate i gave him a little pet and no growl so i went nuts and gave lots of praise and he started to go back to his bowl and i gave him a kiss he was ok with that.
Then i proceeded to add in some cottage cheese little bit at a time and he was ok and i pet him each time with lots of praise and he was good, i even gave him straight from the spoon too.
Then i felt comfortable enough to even put my face down by his bowl and play and pretend to eat from the bowl too he was ok and i started to put my hands in the bowl and feed him from my hand as well HE WAS OK!!!
so i am going to be doing this a couple times a day for a while and i hope this helps he was very excited i dont know if it was for the food or the fact i was interacting all fun with him as well.
but it worked lol and that's what is important i just hope he doesn't regress.
thanks for the good advice and hopefully i will figure out a name for him soon so i can start basic commands with him!!
well maybe i need to clarify and update ok here it goes.......
he is a 11 week old chihuahua he does not yet have a name and does not yet know basic commands because i have yet to find a name?!?!?!?
today i actually tried to add the yogurt first and was stirring while he ate i gave him a little pet and no growl so i went nuts and gave lots of praise and he started to go back to his bowl and i gave him a kiss he was ok with that.
Then i proceeded to add in some cottage cheese little bit at a time and he was ok and i pet him each time with lots of praise and he was good, i even gave him straight from the spoon too.
Then i felt comfortable enough to even put my face down by his bowl and play and pretend to eat from the bowl too he was ok and i started to put my hands in the bowl and feed him from my hand as well HE WAS OK!!!
so i am going to be doing this a couple times a day for a while and i hope this helps he was very excited i dont know if it was for the food or the fact i was interacting all fun with him as well.
but it worked lol and that's what is important i just hope he doesn't regress.
thanks for the good advice and hopefully i will figure out a name for him soon so i can start basic commands with him!!
Basic commands and a name have nothing to do with each other. You should be teaching your pup all sorts of things. You don't need a name for that.
To teach sit.. all you need is the word sit (or hand signal or what ever you want to use) You don't need a name. Heck you shouldn't label things until your dog is doing them reliably.
To teach sit.. all you need is the word sit (or hand signal or what ever you want to use) You don't need a name. Heck you shouldn't label things until your dog is doing them reliably.
Oh! I didn't realize he was so young. You should have no trouble conditioning him to welcoming your presence near his food. Sounds like you're off to a good start. I don't, however recommend putting your face by his bowl or otherwise harassing him during his meal time. Hand feed him a little bit, drop something good into his bowl now once or twice during most meals for a while, then some meals...get him use to the idea that you bring good things, not take.
That's definitely a good idea...to get going on his basic obedience. He doesn't have to have a name to learn things. Do you know a good trainer who uses all gentle methods? Puppy classes can be loads of fun and good socialization. Be sure to browse the forum too for any tips you might seek. Good luck.
That's definitely a good idea...to get going on his basic obedience. He doesn't have to have a name to learn things. Do you know a good trainer who uses all gentle methods? Puppy classes can be loads of fun and good socialization. Be sure to browse the forum too for any tips you might seek. Good luck.
S
Just because your dog is a food guarder doesnt mean you have an aggressive animal on your hands. Food aggression is natural. You just have to teach some dogs that it is ok when you come around their food. Truffles is a food guarder and we have been working on that. He has gotten much better, but he WILL defend his food from Pebbles, so we make sure he gets his own space when he eats.
Pebbles was never a food guarder and I can take food right out of her mouth, even meat. She is a chi/min pin Mix. My pittie was never a food guarder, and I could take raw pork roast out of his mouth with no problems. Him and Pebbles ate kibble out of the same bowl with no problems. Some dogs are just different. I dont think its breed specific at all.
Pebbles was never a food guarder and I can take food right out of her mouth, even meat. She is a chi/min pin Mix. My pittie was never a food guarder, and I could take raw pork roast out of his mouth with no problems. Him and Pebbles ate kibble out of the same bowl with no problems. Some dogs are just different. I dont think its breed specific at all.
Here are a lot of training articles..most very good. ClickerSolutions Training Articles Contents It can seem over whelming at first...so much to learn. But you don't have to learn everything all at once. Little by little, you'll acquire more and more knowledge...baby steps. Start with a few things with your pup like attention training, sit, make it the best thing ever when he comes over to you and just work in your recall (come) training. Have fun with him and have loads of patience, consistency and learn some techniques and you and he will do fine. If you have specific problems or questions, be sure to post a thread. Don't hesitate. Don't wait for a small problem to get big. Then it's much harder to deal with. Browse around here and look through some of the sticky threads. (the ones with the blue thumb tac by them)
Chihuahuas are great little dogs. I'm sure you two will develop a great bond. Positive reinforcement training will increase that bond 100 times over compared to punishment type training.
One other thing: More important than anything is good, thorough socialization. Be sure to cover a wide range of people; different age groups, people wearing weird clothes, doing unusual things, objects, environments, gentle dogs..just all kinds of things. But be sure all is associated with a fun, non-scary time. Bad experiences are to be avoided at all costs. So, think things through before exposing him to various novel things. But it is of the utmost importance to get him out and about to see new things just about every day.
Hope we get to see some pictures of him. He must be cute at just 11 weeks.
ETA: I love this article: 26. Zen
Chihuahuas are great little dogs. I'm sure you two will develop a great bond. Positive reinforcement training will increase that bond 100 times over compared to punishment type training.
One other thing: More important than anything is good, thorough socialization. Be sure to cover a wide range of people; different age groups, people wearing weird clothes, doing unusual things, objects, environments, gentle dogs..just all kinds of things. But be sure all is associated with a fun, non-scary time. Bad experiences are to be avoided at all costs. So, think things through before exposing him to various novel things. But it is of the utmost importance to get him out and about to see new things just about every day.
Hope we get to see some pictures of him. He must be cute at just 11 weeks.
ETA: I love this article: 26. Zen
thanks doberluv and here is a picture its not great cause its from my BB when i get some off my camera i will upload on here to add to my profile
enjoy my little fluff ball oh ya he is still nameless if anyone has any ides actually i will upload some pic's and start a new thread for that in the puppy section too lol but untill then here he is in his most favorite place in the world!!!
enjoy my little fluff ball oh ya he is still nameless if anyone has any ides actually i will upload some pic's and start a new thread for that in the puppy section too lol but untill then here he is in his most favorite place in the world!!!
He is precious! xD If you're consistent with the great advice given to you, I'm sure he will grow up to be a very sweet pup. Make sure he is getting tons of socialization, with people of all ages/genders/personalities (at least 100 from now to 16 weeks), and with lots of other puppies and friendly dogs. Playdates with friendly dogs will also help immensely with his bite inhibition.
I think he looks like a Pierre. Or, maybe, a Francois? Joaquin? haha
I think he looks like a Pierre. Or, maybe, a Francois? Joaquin? haha
LOL. OH!
I like Enrique too and Luna is super cute. I know an Aussie named Luna. But she's a girl.
Ihart, you know what? There was a guy who lived around here, a friend of my nieces and he had his own name for my girl Chi, Chulita. He called her Simone. LOL. I love that name too and thought if I ever get a girl Poodle, she will be called Simone.
I like Enrique too and Luna is super cute. I know an Aussie named Luna. But she's a girl.
Ihart, you know what? There was a guy who lived around here, a friend of my nieces and he had his own name for my girl Chi, Chulita. He called her Simone. LOL. I love that name too and thought if I ever get a girl Poodle, she will be called Simone.