Unintentional Trainged Food Aggression

[baineteo]

Hi guys.

It's me again. And I'm back with Major Mistake No. 2: Unintentionally causing Food Aggression in our 3 month old Corgi, Cookie. She was perfectly fine with the idea of us touching/petting/stroking her when she ate her food initially. Sadly, after what I believe is my mistake, she began to growl and bark whenever we touch her when she's eating. Other than that, she hangs around us perfectly fine.

I am very disturbed by this and I feel like a big idiot (maybe I am). I hope you guys can help me out. Read on to find out more.

Here's what happened:

During the first two weeks, we fed Cookie by just giving her the bowl (even though she was jumping and running around in her play pen), at fixed times. However, we later realised that that was not the 'right' way of feeding her. Thus, we changed.

Whenever we walked into her view with the food bowl, she'd get excited - we'd walk out of her view, saying things like "Not yet," or "ohh.." She managed to learn fast enough - took about 15 tries if I'm not wrong, before she sat there and waited for us to set the bowl down. That was the first time.

On the next meal, I did the same thing. While doing the same thing, I wanted to make sure that she'd only walk to her food when we gave her a command. She learnt it - she sat there and only got up and walked to her food when we asked her to.

However, I believe I made a grave error during this process. When she ran towards her bowl during one of the last few attempts (the bowl was already on the floor, hands off), I said "No" and tried to left the bowl up, but she was too fast. Therefore, I picked her up to stop her and removed the bowl. That happened twice. This is what I believe caused the food aggression. She would growl and bark whenever anyone touches her, but continue to eat her meal.

While it might be a combination of 2 factors, 1) She worked for her food 2) My actions, I believe my action is the main aggravated the matter.

Just now, during her dinner, held a piece of treat in my hand and reached towards her head (from the side), intending to give the treat to her withotu disturbing her. However, she turned around and bit me hard - hard enough to cause a minor tear and bleed slightly. It's just a minor "scratch," but I know it could lead to bigger problems. She then continued her meal. Despite that, I continued to stroke her, and she continued to growl. When there was about 1/4 of her food left in her bowl, she stopped growling and continue to eat peacefully.

How bad is my situation? Was I too fast in bringing my hand towards her mouth? While she growls and barks when we pet her, it usually subsides towards the end of her meal. Is this a good sign?

My current relationship with my puppy is a good one - she plays with me, comes to me - everything is perfectly fine (well, except that she sometimes bite hard, but not enough to cause injuries, when she playing vigorously. I think this might be a sign; she's quite bite-y).

I'm very troubled and guilty that I
1) Caused this big problem single-handedly
2) Cause possible problems for her and the family now, or in future.

Please help!

Thank you.

 

[mrose_s]

i would just find a way of showing her that the food is actually yours. your sharing it with her.

 

[baineteo]

Hi. Thanks for the speedy reply.

How do I actually about doing that?

 

[cindr]

Hi. Thanks for the speedy reply.

How do I actually about doing that?

Hi you have sent your doggie mixed messages and hey we all tend to do that on the occaision. Stuff happens.

So now what I would do is work on the built up aggression that she so feels is right for her to do. So now you will have to restructure everything.

Okay so I would do this,

1) Play with puppy prior to feeding her. Once the play time is over have some one else place the food for you.

2) Now you have your pup on a leash and walk her to her food, Have her sit in front of it, You give her her command to stay and wait. She does Good, Now you want to give her a happy face and start petting her to reasure her she is a good girl.

3) You reach into the bowl and hand her a kibble or two, Then you release her from the position but leave the leash on her.

4) You reach down to pet her, or stick your finger into the bowl of food, She growls at you. You state No in a harsh mannor. You may have to check her a little now not to hard. Thus giving her the right correction that can be reinforced with a positive. You do this a few times. Everything should be alright.

I beleive that you have a young pup that has the willingness to learn. There fore you have to watch how you restructure the dog. We all humans expect a lot from our dogs and do not realise that we re sending two or three messages which totally confuses them. With that they react and act out. good luck

 

[Angelique]

It sounds like you accidentally set yourself up to be seen by the dog, as competing for the dog's food by messing with her while she was eating. It mostly has to do with your demeanor and how you were interacting with the dog and is not the dog's fault she is acting this way.

Since you have now been bitten, I'd say you need help in person by a behaviorist who can help you through this issue and also give you lessons on how to interact with your dog so this doesn't also come out in other areas of the relationship, because it will.

 

[cindr]

It sounds like you accidentally set yourself up to be seen by the dog, as competing for the dog's food by messing with her while she was eating. It mostly has to do with your demeanor and how you were interacting with the dog and is not the dog's fault she is acting this way.

Since you have now been bitten, I'd say you need help in person by a behaviorist who can help you through this issue and also give you lessons on how to interact with your dog so this doesn't also come out in other areas of the relationship, because it will.

Yes you are right she did accidentally send the dog the wrong message, and attempting to correct her wrong. Which I totally commend the poster for. Yes your suggestion is a good one as well. latter

 

[dr2little]

I'm sorry but I have to say that the advise to give a harsh NO when she growls will get you in deeper rather than actually fixing the problem.Please NEVER punish the growl. That growl is the only warning mechanism that your dog has and without it, you're at a hightened risk for a bite.

I would take her food bowl away intirely for the next little while and feed her kibble a bit at a time BY HAND and only for behaviors.

When you do start to reintroduce the food bowl it should go like this......

Hold the food bowl drop a few kibble in and ask for a behavior (sit or down...whatever she knows), once she comply's offer the bowl to allow her to eat the kibble (do not set it down). Repeat this at throughout every meal for a few days (or as long as it takes) until she appears to enjoy the part where you take the bowl back as she anticipates more kibble for her.

Next step - Same as above except set the bowl down to allow her to eat the kibble after each behavior then pick it up again to drop in more kibble and ask for another behavior...and so on throughout the meal.
This process TEACHES her that not only is the bowl yours, but there's a benefit in you picking it up as that's how she's getting her kibble. Having her do the behaviors before each bit of kibble strengthens that message.

Finally, when it's time to start to set her bowl down for longer periods, be sure to do it gradually by only putting portions of her food in at a time. Pick the food bowl up often with a happy LEAVE IT command, look at it or add something to it, the give it right back with a "happy" TAKE IT command.

Make sure that, because she has proven to have the knack for resource guarding, you practice trading her for every item she has (bones, toys). Do this ALWAYS with a happy tone so that she doesn't feel the NEED to resource guard. Never let her have ANY item for more than a minute or two without this pleasant interruption.

AGAIN - NEVER PUNISH A GROWL, IT'S A HUGE AND NECESSARY MESSAGE THAT TELLS YOU THAT TRAINING (CONDITIONING AND DESENSITIZING) IS IN ORDER.

A good little book to get as well is : http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB740

 

[dr2little]

I sent you a PM as well

 

[moxiegrl]

I'm sorry but I have to say that the advise to give a harsh NO when she growls will get you in deeper rather than actually fixing the problem.Please NEVER punish the growl. That growl is the only warning mechanism that your dog has and without it, you're at a hightened risk for a bite.

I was going to ask about this...because it didnt seem right to me either to punish the growl...and Im not a trainer

 

[dr2little]

I was going to ask about this...because it didnt seem right to me either to punish the growl...and Im not a trainer

You're right, it's the worst thing that you can do when dealing with resource guarding issues...

 

[baineteo]

I don't think putting my hand in there/correcting her growling is a good idea because she's going to bite me the moment she sees my hand.

I did ask myself if I should have removed her from her food when she bit me, but I didn't, because I felt that removing would make her feel that she needs to guard her food more because my presence = no more food. But thanks for the advice, still.

It appears that the situation has improved - at least to me - as she growls and bark less when we touch her during her meal.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[Angelique]

Hi,

dr2little gave you an excellent plan to follow to help turn things around so that you are sharing your food with your dog, rather than being seen by your dog as competing with her for her food.

Since none of us can be there to help you in person, her suggestion is what I would follow.

 

[silverpawz]

It appears that the situation has improved - at least to me - as she growls and bark less when we touch her during her meal.

Stop touching her while she eats. She's not ready for that yet. If you're getting an aggressive response to your presence then you need to take a step back in the training process.

I second the suggestion to only feed her by hand for a while. Take the food bowl out of the equation at this stage. This should also give you a great opprotunity to practice some obedience training through out the day, just stuff your pocket with some kibble and ask for random obedience comands, then reward her with her some of her meal.

You say she's also biting hard during play...what do you do when this happens? It's possible you've given her the idea that biting you is okay if you do nothing to tell her otherwise during play.

You've got a dog who likes to use her mouth to make a point - play biting should not be tolerated.

 

[baineteo]

Hi guys.

I just fed her 10 minutes ago, and here's an update.

I hand-fed her, by asking her to come or sit, and lowered my hand to her when she complied. She ate happily. She did not see the bowl all this while.

When I was at the last 3 "mouthfuls," I left the first mouthful in the bowl, and 2nd mouthful clenched in my fist. When she complied to the command, I lowered the bowl and let her finish it. Then, I brought the bowl up, dropped the other mouthful, and repeated. She had her meal this way, this time. It was great - it felt like a training session. She didn't protest, and she was very well behaved. So, I'm going to continue for a few days.

The reason why I continued to touch and let my presence be felt (after setting the bowl down) is because I felt that if I continue to touch her and not take her food away, she'll soon learn that I'll not take her food away. Please correct me if my mind set is wrong.

Also, she tends to bite when she's very excited. During normal play time, she would lick and play (sometimes light mouthing). She used to bite a lot more, but she's now more disciplined. She knows that during play, she's not supposed to bite.

However, when she gets really excited - an example would be running around with her - she'd get very excited and would try to bite our legs. Once she does that, we'd isolate her and completely ignore her. Currently, she is showing improvement.

Yes, as you guys would have guessed, she likes to use her mouth a lot. So, whenever she bites anyone, social isolation will take place. But my brother would always give her a "second chance," by giving her verbal reprimand and then letting her to continue play. I'm trying to convince him (and his gf) otherwise.

THanks for all the help, once again.

 

[Chul3l3ies1126]

Hi guys.

How bad is my situation? =
Thank you.

How bad is your situation? Horribly Bad, i know others have already told you. Its bad enough when your dog bites someone else and disrespects them, but its even worse and sad when they bite their owners... i hope you do something to change this, i would never allow a dog in my home if it showed any aggression whatsoever towards me or my family members. sorry...

 

[dr2little]

Hi guys.

I just fed her 10 minutes ago, and here's an update.

I hand-fed her, by asking her to come or sit, and lowered my hand to her when she complied. She ate happily. She did not see the bowl all this while.

When I was at the last 3 "mouthfuls," I left the first mouthful in the bowl, and 2nd mouthful clenched in my fist. When she complied to the command, I lowered the bowl and let her finish it. Then, I brought the bowl up, dropped the other mouthful, and repeated. She had her meal this way, this time. It was great - it felt like a training session. She didn't protest, and she was very well behaved. So, I'm going to continue for a few days.

Terrific! You should be doing this for more than a few day though and at a very gradual and slow pace before ever reintroducing her bowl. She's still very young and has proven herself to have the predispostion for resource guarding so I would be staying on top of this as she gets older and practice "take/give back" exercises often even after she seems "cured'.

The reason why I continued to touch and let my presence be felt (after setting the bowl down) is because I felt that if I continue to touch her and not take her food away, she'll soon learn that I'll not take her food away. Please correct me if my mind set is wrong.

You don't want her to think you won't take her food away because it's best for her to understand that it's YOUR's to take..at any time. She should however, not feel a threat during this process and that's why the "give/take" exercises are taught using a trade or reward system. A dog will of couse guard harder if they assume you're stealing something from them without the "bonus" in handing it over. Also, just petting a dog while they're eating without a direct message like the one in the exercise, will likely be seen as a threat or at the very least..an annoyance and it WILL eventually backfire.

Also, she tends to bite when she's very excited. During normal play time, she would lick and play (sometimes light mouthing). She used to bite a lot more, but she's now more disciplined. She knows that during play, she's not supposed to bite.

However, when she gets really excited - an example would be running around with her - she'd get very excited and would try to bite our legs. Once she does that, we'd isolate her and completely ignore her. Currently, she is showing improvement.

Yes, as you guys would have guessed, she likes to use her mouth a lot. So, whenever she bites anyone, social isolation will take place. But my brother would always give her a "second chance," by giving her verbal reprimand and then letting her to continue play. I'm trying to convince him (and his gf) otherwise.

"Time outs" should occur after a direct message like "NO TEETH" so that she can associate the isolation with the offence. Also, make sure that she is able to see what she's missing as she's not able to project or imagine that you're still having fun without her if she can't see you. You're right about consistency for sure. Whatever method you choose for a particular behavior MUST happen every time that behavior occurs and after the SAME verbal marker, if it's going to work.

Good Luck!!

 

[baineteo]

Its bad enough when your dog bites someone else and disrespects them, but its even worse and sad when they bite their owners...

Hi. I don't think you fully understand the situation. Her biting (other than the food aggression part) is not due to aggression, but due to her puppy-playfulness. She bites because she's playing, like all puppies, and she doesn't bite anyone or everyone she sees. Nonethless, I appreciate your input.

As for dr2little, thank you very much for your encouragement, and also correcting my wrong mindset. We'll continue to work with her and keep you helpful guys updated.

While we're at it, could you help me with another problem:
She likes to tear and bite the newspaper in her play pen (where she 'stays') right before she needs to potty (shitting). She's alright when she needs to pee. She would run around and jump around in her play pen, and bite the newspapers and tears them. THe only time she kept quiet was when we gave her a chewable bone (you know, the kind of 'bone' where they bite and disintegrate). She doesn't seem to like milk bones a lot. She gets very vocal, too.

What's the best way to deal with this? We'd leave her alone but she'll tear everything up. Sometimes, at the end of her run, she'd fall asleep without eliminating.

THanks!

Edit: Oh, I think I forgot to say that we leave in an apartment and we paper-train her. Her potty-area is the size of a piece of newspaper spread out wide, and she haven't missed for days.

 

[dr2little]

Hi. I don't think you fully understand the situation. Her biting (other than the food aggression part) is not due to aggression, but due to her puppy-playfulness. She bites because she's playing, like all puppies, and she doesn't bite anyone or everyone she sees. Nonethless, I appreciate your input.

As for dr2little, thank you very much for your encouragement, and also correcting my wrong mindset. We'll continue to work with her and keep you helpful guys updated.

While we're at it, could you help me with another problem:
She likes to tear and bite the newspaper in her play pen (where she 'stays') right before she needs to potty (shitting). She's alright when she needs to pee. She would run around and jump around in her play pen, and bite the newspapers and tears them. THe only time she kept quiet was when we gave her a chewable bone (you know, the kind of 'bone' where they bite and disintegrate). She doesn't seem to like milk bones a lot. She gets very vocal, too.

What's the best way to deal with this? We'd leave her alone but she'll tear everything up. Sometimes, at the end of her run, she'd fall asleep without eliminating.

THanks!

How many hours (maximum) is she alone during the day?

 

[baineteo]

Regrettably, she's home-alone (in a her play-pen) for about 6-8 hours on 9/16 days so far. There were people around the whole day for the other 7 days.

Things appeared to be getting better, until she finished her dog chew. With that around, she could chew on it the whole night without making a noise (until she drops it out of the cage, and we don't come out to pick up what-so-ever). Sometimes, in the day, she'd rather chew when we're around.

On sunday, we played with her pretty much the whole day. We ran in the house, trained her etc. But at the end of the night, she started making a din.

 

[sam]

Have you tried freezing some stuffed puppy kongs? You can also try the tricky treat ball or other food dispensing toys instead of putting her food in her dish -- that will occupy her for a while.
You can stuff & freeze kongs with all kinds of things- yogurt, peanut butter, canned dog food, cheese whiz etc
How about bully sticks? How about a nylabone? Better yet give her a few different things and change it up every day to keep her interested.
Milk bones are like a cookie- only they are made out of crappy ingredients. Most of those edible bones aren't very good for dogs either.


http://www.sitstay.com/store/toys/toyskong.shtml

the kong machine that dispenses the kongs every few hours (you can set as as to when) looks REALLY cool for a dog who is left alone for eight hours- it's ot cheap but I'd be tempted to get one if I had a pup.