Alex C Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hi guys, i hope someone can help here as i dont know what else to try. I have a very loving 7 month old lab bitch. Her training is coming along well and in all respects bar one i am as pleased as punch with her. The problem comes at food time, now she really wolfs her food down. I have always made a point of me and the kids stroking her while she is eating but lately she has given a bit of a growl when anyone has touched her. Now its not a very aggresive growl and she doesnt break her stride eating, she doesnt bare her teeth, just a low grumble. I have already tried hand feeding for a number of weeks, we have called her off and given her tastier treats while feeding her but still she does it. Now i have also tried pulling her off her food and giving her a good shaking by the scruff and then sitting her until i tell her to go back to her food. Nothing seems to work. We also make sure she gets her food after everyone else so she knows where she sit in the family. I have 2 young kids and i cant afford to let this get out of hand and escalate into her turning on the kids one day. Does anyone have any ideas or is it going to be a case of locking the dog away while she eats? Its really upsetting the mrs as we all love the dog to bits and its so out of character for her as in all other respects she is so well natured Grateful for any advice Cheers Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 erm , i know nowt about owt , but you know when YOUR having your snap , do you like a load of monkeys dogs and roo's putting you off your snap ? all the best yis yp :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Stroking her while she eats isn't the problem I don't think. As pups in a litter they learn that the quicker they eat the more they get before the other pups have it. The growling bit is a warning which could end in a snap if you let it continue. So she thinks your going to take her food. I'm not an expert on dogs but having had three large dogs in my time and children, I didn't want a dog that was a danger if a child accidentally brushed passed whilst they were eating. I would suggest you get an old fork and sit there every time the dog eats and prod and play with the food to show her you aren't there to take it away. If she growls tell her to stop, comfort her with a stroke or your voice, but don't remove her food. It isn't going to fix overnight but eventually she will get used to it and not be bothered that you are there. The gulping down won't stop more than likely until she wants to though but this shouldn't be an issue. Perservere and good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Alex, Hi. We have a Rotty who does this and also with any toys, treats etc. On one occassion when I couldn't get my hand out of the way fast enough I received a very painful puncture. Its not an easy one to solve, Try what the previous poster said but what seemed to work for us was concentrating on training the dog so heshe obeys every command quickly. Then call her away from her food and remove it or play with it whilst she sits close to you. Then put it down, stay close and call her to you and stay within growling range whilst she eats. Keep going in this way so it gets embedded. If she gives any growls, call her away, take the food away immediately and replace quite a bit later whilst staying close as she eats. I still keep my eye on the rotty as he's a big beast but its just a matter of finding a way which trains them that growling means 'no food' for some time ! Best of luck Kes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Alex, Hi. We have a Rotty who does this and also with any toys, treats etc. On one occassion when I couldn't get my hand out of the way fast enough I received a very painful puncture. Its not an easy one to solve, Try what the previous poster said but what seemed to work for us was concentrating on training the dog so heshe obeys every command quickly. I still keep my eye on the rotty as he's a big beast but its just a matter of finding a way which trains them that growling means 'no food' for some time ! Best of luck Kes I can think of an easy resolve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenthomas Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Hi Alex, there are a few things I would do with your pup. Firstly, I would not take her food away from her as this will enforce her idea of you taking resources away, rather than your presence being a positive thing. Instead, give her some extras as she eats, or afterwards if she remains calm. I wouldn't let the children handle her when she is eating - instead allow them to feed her some nice treats if she behaves in an acceptable manner. Make her sit nicely for them or lie down so that she earns the treat, and knows that they will bring her nice things. Dogs commonly seem to see the children of the family as they would their litter mates and therefore may well growl, just as they might with their brothers and sisters if the resource seems threatened. Do not leave her food down for her to graze over, (though I suspect from what you say it is gone quickly!) She is at the age where she may be starting to push her luck, is she guarding anything else like toys/chews? Does she allow you to take items such a rawhide from her, or move her off a favourite resting place? Helen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Walk assertively in to her food bowl not aggressively or quickly just walk in like you own it, she might grumble a bit but unless it gets too agressive and the situation becomes dangerous don't fret at that age i doubt she has the courage to follow through with the threat. She will back off if you are assertive but show no fear and move slowly with purpose, try uttering a quiet but firm NO if she grumbles. I shouldn't pick up the food at stage 1 just get her to back off, but progress to this Now heres the biggie she must not just be given food make her earn it and don't let her eat as soon as her food is down she must sit and look at you and wait till given the command to eat (this is if you don't already do this). Slowly work in stages till you can handle her food while she eats or call her off her food while eating to you If you let this progress then yes you or your kids might actually get hurt, it's natural for her to protect her food but it i also natural for the higher ranking to displace the lower ranking without a fight. Don't invole children in this directly but get them to walk around her without a growl when you have her 100%, if she grumbles pull her off by command or by walking in yourself and make her wait before being given the command to eat again then imediatly repeate till no issue Good luck, its a shock when this happens but you have to deal with it, my GWP has just taken to garding Foxes as my mate who he doesn't know that well walked quickly exitedly in to him when he had hold of a vixen. Bet that takes some fixing now, i speak of this to illustate the point you must have a calm quiet but assertive manner- exited or aggressive just won't work, dogs pick up mood way quicker than humans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted January 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Thanks for the replies all. Just to answer a couple of questions, she doesnt get aggresive over anything else at all. I can stick my hands in the bowl , move it around, give her extra tid bits with no problem at all. i can call her off and i always make her sit and wait until i tell her to eat when i put her food down with no bother. I have been keeping the kids away while she eats since she started doing it just in case. All in she is a very well natured dog who loves being around us and the kids, she has the usual daftness of a pup but its all in good fun and she knows where to draw the line. It looks like i am doing all the right things and with any luck she will grow out of it. Cheers for all the replies Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 best option is leave her alone to eat and make sure the kids leave her alone as well. Also make sure she is patient waiting for it and only eats when you let her, its quite usual for dogs to get protective over food and yes you can help it but mixing children and a feeding dog is when you get issues. kent its fairly simple and you have to get right on top of them when they get protective over game and it soon sorts itself. Mine got a little iffy at the start of the season with other dogs, removing her from by the game by the scruff a good talking to and letting the other dogs into the truck first soon sorted it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 With our lab bitch we made the point of removing her food at random points through her meal. Also make her wait for it, call her away from it half way through and make her wait for it again, stroke her while she's eating. She grumbled to start with but I think she has realised that the missus and I have the right to control when she eats and what. We do it with treats too, if she has a fried pigs ear we might take it off her half way through, praise her and then let her have it back. She always gives it up easily and with no growling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaserF3 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I had this problem, once, a lot of years ago with my terrier. When she growled I pinned her down by the scruff of the neck, then put my face close to hers and growled at her. You dog is trying to dominate you but you have to assert authority over her, there is no need to be cruel, just show the dog that you and your family are the top dogs. After doing it to my dog, anyone, kids included, can feed the dog, remove food, take bones off her because she knows her place in the pecking order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 My lab does the same. Anybody goes near him whens he eating it's a declaration of war. I just let him get on with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenthomas Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I had this problem, once, a lot of years ago with my terrier. When she growled I pinned her down by the scruff of the neck, then put my face close to hers and growled at her. You dog is trying to dominate you but you have to assert authority over her, there is no need to be cruel, just show the dog that you and your family are the top dogs. I would be wary about recommending this, knowing nothing abot the dog in question. I wouldn't be shoving my face in the way of a potentially food aggressive dog for anyone! Like Kent said, calm and assertive - good leadership traits. H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlaserF3 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 It's a 7 month old pup that belongs to him. If the dog is pinned down by holding the scruff of the neck it's not going to move. You have to boss them otherwise they boss you and that's what's happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Like YP said how would we like somebody hassling us when we're eating. Don't bother it for the one minute it's eating. Problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I had this problem, once, a lot of years ago with my terrier. When she growled I pinned her down by the scruff of the neck, then put my face close to hers and growled at her. You dog is trying to dominate you but you have to assert authority over her, there is no need to be cruel, just show the dog that you and your family are the top dogs. After doing it to my dog, anyone, kids included, can feed the dog, remove food, take bones off her because she knows her place in the pecking order. Exactly, its a pack thing - if your dog is telling you that you can't take it's food off him/her, its telling you that you're below it in the pack. No bloody chance! We made sure ours was fine with being fed anywhere by anyone because we are often visiting friends at the weekend who have small children, and while we ask them to respect our mutt (which they do) I'd hate for there to be an "incident" where a toddler walked past her and she lashed out because she thought she could. Slightly off topic, but.... Yesterday our bitch tried to hump the 5 year old son of our friend who was playing on the floor - we have noticed she does this when she thinks she is above someone in the pecking order (she's done it to my missus and my parents scottish terriers, but never me). The second time she did it I managed to get hold of her as she was thrusting and she got a right telling off, pinned down by the scruff, in her face growling at her. After being sat for 10 minutes outside the room, she was called back in, went up to the little boy and went straight on her back - telling me that she knew she was below him in the pecking order and she didn't try humping him for the next 3 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Firstly, I wouldn't tolerate it, you can call it aggression, dominance whatever. Bottom line is that if you ignore or allow it, it is acceptable behaviour to the dog and the first step to learning that a growl will result in you backing off. Is she fed kibble? I would feed here one bit at a time by hand for a week or so, it might take you ten minutes to feed her but she learns it comes from you and she doesn't get the chance to "own" it in any quantity. I would also try putting the food in a different bowl or straight onto the floor and see if she behaves the same, to find out if it is the bowl or the food she is protecting? Or only that bowl with that food in it. This is a work it out one, no clear cut answers. I don't do the pinning down by the scruff thing, but if it works for some I have no problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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