Food Aggression With my Male dog?

Question

I have been working with my Male dog for over 3 years on food aggression, Off and on he is fine with some things and others he is a pain in the butt.

The only thing I have problems with now is bones with meat on them. I have been really aggressively been working with him lately because my husband was trying to work with him and my male dog named Titan almost bit his hand but didn't.
I have got these Beef cow knee bones that are smoked and he loves them but when he has them he gets stiff and growls won't try to bite me since I have worked with him the most.

This is what I do, I put my hand down by his bone and hold it there till he lets go of the bone and then I put my hand over the bone and then he pulls his head up and looks at me and whines, I don't let up till he totally relaxs and then he gets to have the bone again. I keep doing the same thing over and over but today I had a brake through I did what I usually do but then after he let the bone go I picked it up and protended that I was chewing on it and he whined a little I told him no and he just sat there watching me, then I put it infront of him and told him no every time he wanted to go after it, After doing this several times I asked him can i have it and he dropped it right in my hand and didn't growl. I was so happy I let him chew on it for the rest of the day with out testing him because he did what i wanted him to do.

My Question is how do I keep him from getting so aggressive with real meat, it is the only thing that trigers his food aggressiveness.

Oh so you know when he first started this out of the blue my vet told me not to mess with it and to just don't bother him. Because at that time Titan was biting the hand that fed him with everything. But I got him down to this. Please give me some tips I have nieses and Nephews that love him but I don't him to bite them on accident. Right now when they are around titan and he is eating they are not aloud to go near him till it is gone. Thanks for the tips

koehlerdogtraining © · Accepted Answer

Your dog is not "food aggressive," what's there to aggress on(?), he already has the bone.  So get rid of the label, it is retarding your ability to deal with the actual problem: unacceptable social response to having food removed from him.

This is a social order issue, not an aggression issue.

You need to train the dog to either:

a. drop it and back off on command; or
b. yield his food - in any form - to human hands

My suggestion is that you do both, starting with teaching him to drop it and move away on command (I use the 'Out!' command).  This will get you started.

Teaching him to yield to human hands takes a bit more training, as it is a conditioning exercise involving the use of pressures you probably are not trained (yourself) to properly apply.  BUT, if you are to have the dog around children - yielding is a must.  Find a trainer who can help you.

Your vet's suggestion to 'leave him alone' may or may not be the proper advice to give, he has met you - I have not.  But it is NOT the advice I would give.  It is not you that should leave the dog alone, it is the dog who should leave the bone as the command or situation demands.

If that does not make rational sense to you, and if you cannot see (without a trainer's help) how that can safely come about, then you need to:

a. Hire an experienced trainer; and
b. Follow the vet's advice in the meantime.

For information: the training to effect the outcome I write of above is part of a more comprehensive / more encompassing training program involving 60 to 80 hours training time.  Cost can range from the price of a library card, to a couple thousand dollars - which can you afford?  You certainly cannot afford to do nothing.

Verulam 1 · Answer

From what you describe here, you are teasing him.   Unnecessarily.  And I totally agree with what your vet told you - no messing with him, and don't bother him when he's eating HIS food!!   I have never subscribed to all this putting food down and taking it away again.   If most dogs weren't food aggressive before, this is a fast track to making them just that.   By all means make him wait for the bowl to be put down, but once down, LEAVE HIM ALONE.    Otherwise he will become fearful and start defending what he sees, and quite rightly, as his food.

As for his bones - if he reacts like this (and for sure, it's a pity he does) don't give him bones.   What you are doing is almost bound to make him worse!!!

Yes, you need to teach him 'drop' and 'leave' because there may be a time when you need to get something dangerous away from him - but that should not include his food bowl.   Sorry - my opinion.

Trending News

Food Aggression With my Male dog?

2 Answers