[Jelet]

Well i noticed that when i gave rex his bully stick. After 2 minutes of him biting the bully stick treat, i started to pet him and he continued to eat his stick. But when i started to pet his head/face area he started to growl like a little beast. And I am not sure if this is a food aggression or not because when i feed him his regular food, some times i pet his face area and he doesnt growl, instead he start moving his tail lol. Any who. After 5 minutes he stoped growling when i petted his face. I guess he just needed to get use to it or something.. And he didn't bite me or nothing, he just growled. Is this normal? Should i do any techniques with him when hes eating the bully stick so that later on he will not become food aggressive? Oh and another time when i use to give him this flour bone(not giving that to him again) he had a small peice of it left so i decided to take it away from him and he started to growl.. but not bite me. So yea..

[Michele]

I don't have any advice for you but my friend's dog does the same thing with treats (pig ears). The dog will take the pig ear and go into her crate and if you stick your hand in there, the dog starts growling.

[maryellen]

if i was eating lobster and you put your hand near me i would fork you.. some dogs feel items like bully sticks, rawhide, pigs ears are high value items.. think of your most favorite in the world food and you are eating it and i stick my fork near it to take some.. you will get mad too..

what you have to do is trade him something of HIGHER value then a bully stick(yes, what could be possibly more in value then a stretched dried bull penis you ask?)

steak, chicken, hot dogs, liverwurst might work. what you do is give him something low value, and trade with the higher value item, and then give back the other item, do this and graduate to the bully stick item. with the bully stick item that is super high value, so you will have to find something that he LOVES beyond anything else, to trade him. you trade him, take the bully stick give him the other item, praise to for no growling behavior, then after a few seconds give it back. rinse, repeat..

[tat2stuff]

all my dogs are very protective of pigs ears, bully sticks not so bad. I give them a pigs ear, then take it away, then give it back if theres no growling. I wait a while and do it again. Now they don't growl anymore. Bella is developing major food aggression against Buffy(the soon to be dethroned alpha bitch ) but she shares bones, food, pig ears etc with Whiskey no problem. Buffy was always aggressive with her food and treats with the other dogs, I guess Bella is turning the tables on her now.

Anyway, nip it in the bud now, before it gets out of control later

[Jelet]

Alright sounds good.heh. Btw, aren't pig ears dangerous for dogs?

Originally Posted by maryellen choo hooves, pigs ears and rawhides are a HUGE no no.... hopefully your dog will recover..

quoted from another thread

[bahamutt99]

Honestly, I don't put up with that crap, and I prefer to nip it in the bud while they're young. If I give a dog something, they should understand that it is still mine for the taking. Maybe that's too queen-alpha-megabitch for some, but that's how I operate. LOL I do about what Tat2 does. Give it, take it back, and if there's a display, I take it away. If the dog just looks at me, I give it right back with praise for sharing.

And some don't like pigears. Myself, I've never had a problem with them. Sometimes they can give a dog the runs, or so I've heard.

[DivineOblivion19]

I totally agree with bahamutt and tat. I expect to be able to take ANYTHING from my dogs. What happens when they get a hold of something they consider valuable but it may kill them if they eat it? Do you run around the house and try to find an even trade? No, you should be able to take it away without a problem.

[Jelet]

So how would i stop the growling when eating treats? If he starts growling, i take it away? then 5 minutes later i give it to him and if he doesn growl when i pet him i say good boy?

[Galadriel]

Pretty much. Then let him have it for a minute and try it again. Keep doing it until the growling stops for good. If it doesn't stop, then no more bully sticks...ever.
My kids are 2 and 4. Either of them can take anything out of Bunch's mouth at any time. Food, treats, toys...anything. Of course, this isn't something we let them do, but sometimes the little buggers get stuff from her before we can stop them. But the point is, they can. As it should be =)

[The Diesel]

When Trouble has something in his mouth and i say "drop it", he does so right away. Sometimes i have to say it twice if its something he really doesnt want to drop. When i feed him, i set the empty bowl at his front paws when he is sitting, pour the food in his bowl and tell him to stay and he does. I can walk out of the room and come back and the food is untouched but there is drool all over the floor and his face lol. Its taken time to get that way but he is only 9 months and minds very well. Just be firm when you give a command. And say it with authority like you mean what your saying. Also, if he doesnt listen, do not give in. Worst thing you can do is give in.

If you have a really hyper pup, play with him alot until he is worn out befor trying to train any commands. How old is Rex?

[Jelet]

Originally Posted by The Diesel When Trouble has something in his mouth and i say "drop it", he does so right away. Sometimes i have to say it twice if its something he really doesnt want to drop. When i feed him, i set the empty bowl at his front paws when he is sitting, pour the food in his bowl and tell him to stay and he does. I can walk out of the room and come back and the food is untouched but there is drool all over the floor and his face lol. Its taken time to get that way but he is only 9 months and minds very well. Just be firm when you give a command. And say it with authority like you mean what your saying. Also, if he doesnt listen, do not give in. Worst thing you can do is give in. If you have a really hyper pup, play with him alot until he is worn out befor trying to train any commands. How old is Rex?

20 weeks as of today. He really isnt that hyper. He stays for 60 seconds when i am about 30 ft away. Im trying to get him to stay longer. Anywho thanks alot. I'll practice those tips with rex

[bahamutt99]

A one-minute stay at a distance is pretty good for a pup that age.

[Jelet]

Originally Posted by bahamutt99 A one-minute stay at a distance is pretty good for a pup that age.

[The Diesel]

Originally Posted by bahamutt99 A one-minute stay at a distance is pretty good for a pup that age.

i agree, i couldnt get a one minute stay until about 7 months.

[Teal]

I don't allow my dogs to be posessive of items with any people, especially now that we have a baby who LOVES to grab at things. A few of my dogs did growl over items when I first got them, but I did like what was suggested... take it away, wait until you have their attention, then give it back. Pet them again, and if they growl again, take it away for about half an hour. Give it back, and pet them... if they growl, well, you get the idea! Pretty soon they realize that they can't be posessive of it if they don't have it, and they can't be posessive of it and keep it... so they just get over it.

[Miakoda]

I agree with those that say to work with him on the issue by "trading" that item for one of higher value. Let your dog realize that you are NOT a bad guy coming to steal his most coveted treasure, but rather you possibly come with treasures much better.

I dealt with a seriously food aggressive dog for 6 years. He was that way from 7 weeks old to the day he was euthanized. And in those 6 years, I worked with various trainers and even contacted some as far awy as NY. I tried several different techniques, but with this dog, it was a serious temperament issue, not just a minor behavioral one. To put it plainly, his FA could never be "fixed", but rather only managed by feeding him in a crate away from people & other dogs.

However, I will say that my biggest mistake I ever made was to pick up his food upon his growling at me and just letting him go without it. Same goes for treats. Although it sounds good in theory, dogs don't rationalize like we do. Wrigley never once thought, "Well hell. I growled at momma and she took my food away. Ohhhh....I get it.....I shouldn't growl at her anymore." In fact, it's quite the opposite. What Wrigley really thought was, "Well hell. I growled at momma and she took my food away. So obviously that doesn't work. Let's see what happens when I try to bite her next time she tries to take my food."

The growl is a warning folks. If that warning fails to stop the action the dog is trying to stop, he will resort to far worse methods.

So like I said, make your dog realize that not only are you the alpha, but he should have no problem giving up what he's got b/c chances are you always have something better.

[Drgnrdr]

I agree with mia, that's how dogs think alot of times you take it away they are right in thinking when you approach you''ll take it away, if everytime your there you keep taking it
READER's Digest version: For food aggrssion with dogs, I'll sit with the bowl and put it on my lap and put 2 kibbles in let them eat it by offering it, then I progress to being beside them with a few kibbles, and dropping a treat or hot dogs in, then progress to walking by and dropping a treat in everytime I walk by, and then they see I approach as something good, so I'll bend over to put the treat in, I always stay with the dog when they eat, I keep one hand inside bowl as they get better,
for chews like bullystick, I hold it and let them chew while I hold on, . I'll say drop and pretend I chew then give it back to them.
This starts with a pup, Argo lets me have almost anything I say drop it, and she'll chew the nylabone while I hold it, but I start the process not when she goes gets her nylabone to chew on her own, I only keep an eye on her, If I offer her treat for it she'll drop it or even a squeeky ball she likes better then anything, I offer it for a trade. I change up on her and change the rules all the times but always have myself as boss, I tell ppl in my class, a trade for something bad your dog has is better than risking them getting hurt or worse, I don't stand on ceramony when it comes to my dog, yes I am boss but if she got something bad I would say drop it, but she might swallow it, so trading is better if she'll drop it right away, I can't say "she should drop cause I said so" well if she's dead I guess I would then blame her for not listening to me?
okay I am not sure this makes sense hope you can figure out what I am saying...
maybe I should just say "yeah what Mia said"...LOL

[fish_4_all]

Okay, let me see if I get this right. Take it away when they growl at you for coming near their face/food/toy when they have it. No growl, they keep it.

If this doesn't happen then trade can be used to show them that something is more valuable that what they have. Do you then allow them to growl to keep that item or does there always have to be something that can be considered better? Or can it be something different and this is just to get the dog to trade you whenever they have something and not place a value on it for the dog?

Basically, Beauty has a bone, I want to take it, I offer her a piece of Chicken Jerky, she trades. Next time I offer her a ball for the bone, then jerky for a towel, then a bone for towel, then a treat for a bone. Is it better to make sure that nothing is considered untradeable for something else?

Which methods is better or is it dependant on the dog? I want what you have, take what I have for trade, or I want what you have you will give it up and do not try to dominate me for it? Is there a middle ground?

[kiaransimba]

We used to have this problem with Kiara when I first got her she was 14wks old and every time someone would get close to her she would growl (like touch my stuff I'm gunna rip you a new @$$hole) she would do the same thing with the food. All I did was TAT2STUFF and BAHAMUTT said to do I would go over to her and she growled I took the bone if she tried to take it back it got put up for a bit and then tried again. When she was good and got the bone back I would sit on the floor with her and rub her everywhere including her head and if she growled again I took the bone waited a few then tried again. I did this probably 9-10 times a day. As of right now she will let anyone in the house take her "toys" from her with no problem. When she was eating I always touch her until she was done eating it took about 2 weeks to get over even put my hands in the bowl.

Hopefully that made sense...lol

[Starla'smom]

I have to agree with Mia....you have to make a positive association with the hand going towards treat. I also agree that you must practice over and over again taking the treat and GIVING IT BACK, otherwise you have confirmed your pups fear that your hand near his bully means no bully...thereby reinforcing his notion that he MUST protect his bully. This workes well by giving bully then petting and another treat so quick he never has the chance to growl. You will not have to do this forever...just long enough to help pup associate your hand reaching for the bully as a GREAT THING!!!