Tuesday Training Byte: Helping a dog with food aggression

There are several reasons why a dog becomes food aggressive. If he was in a shelter, or was a stray, or there were issues with food scarcity or bigger dogs taking his food, we may have a dog that growls or snaps at anyone or any dog that approaches him while eating. Another problem is the dog that jumps and knocks the food from your hand in his rush to get it. Here are some tips to help your dog get over this problem.

1. Be sure to feed your dog in a quiet secure place away from other people and pets. I prefer to feed my dogs in their crates. A few dogs that I adopted as young adults had this problem already. In those cases, it is helpful to site by your dog and hand feed him his kibble or drop a few kibbles in his bowl at a time.

2. Be sure to not punish or yell at your food aggressive dog as this can make matters worse. Calm and reassuring tones on your part will help your dog feel more secure.

3. Practice desensitizing your dog by standing a few steps away after your set his bowl of food in his crate. Gradually or a few days step closer to his crate as he eats.

4. Once he is okay with you standing right there as he eats his food, try keeping your hand on the bowl while he eats. Toss a few extra treats in the bowl as he is eating.

5. Let him eat some treats from your hand as you pet him with the other hand. Also try holding his bowl of food while you toss a few kibbles down to him at a time.

   
   

   All of these steps require you to remain calm and not react if he growls. Be alert to his body language so you don't get bitten or pull the bowl away in a panic. If he growls and you jump back quickly, he will have just learned that growling works to get you to leave him alone to eat. Never allow anyone to tease him or approach while he is eating and feed other household dogs in a separate crate. Over time, you dog will become more comfortable in trusting you to feed him without any guarding issues. Happy training!

   

   This is Prince, a two year old American Water Spaniel I rescued that was food aggressive. After following the protocol above, I was able to give him a butcher bone and hold and pet him about his face with no problems! This process took me a couple of weeks to achieve this result.