12 Wk Old Gsd Now Growling

[spoilt lab lives here]

Our 12 wk old GSD pup has recently started to growl when being patted whilst eating. I have encourage my Bf to pat her while she eats so she have food issues, but now she has started to growl when he approaches and pats her. He has been taking the food bowl away and she got in trouble.

Is there anything in particular we should be doing to stop this form escalating?

[persephone]

Stop patting her when she is growling!This is both rewarding her behaviour, and annoying her , to my way of thinking.

Try this, instead of taking her food away and patting her .

TRIANGLE of TEMPTATION

it can be done at normal feeding times.. and her reward is her dinner..which comes from YOU.

Does she willingly give up toys/treats to you when playing?Or do you chase her to get things back?

I find that teaching young pups to "show me" a toy or something, with lots of praise and then GIVING THE TOY STRAIGHT BACK.. results in a puppy eager to share with you.. and one who will willingly let you handle food items in their mouth, as well as items which are dangerous or unsafe.

No doubt others wiser than I will also give you some useful advice :cool:

Best of luck.

[Dogsfevr]

Stop patting her whilst eating ,seriously i do not see what the need is for people to annoy dogs at eating time & then cant figure out why they have issues.

The dog has no clue what you are wanting from it & has now been forced to protect the one item it feels is being threatened.

The bowl was taken away but i dare say again the dog has no clue why except next time to growl more or re act worse.

It seems many people use this method but get it very wrong & end up creating an unpleasant behaviour that is owner created .

All dogs in this household get peace during eating time & as such respect us if there is ever a need to remove a bowl,bone,beef hide because they have never been placed in a position of confusion & encouraged to react to the unknown..

[Clyde]

I can see Settrlvrs point (the part about a peaceful meal) but I really believe that a dog should learn to give up its food and be touched while eating. My Stafford pup did the same thing at about that age, she quickly learnt it wasn't acceptable and now gives up food with no growling or carrying on. ALL of my dogs have been taught not to panic about food being taken away as they always get it back often with bonuses. I don't tolerate aggression in my home.

I always know where my 4 yo is at feeding time but I still think it's a good idea to proof your dog "just in case". I know that my daughter could take a bone from our Rotti no problems.

Edited November 27, 2008 by Clyde

[Miranda]

Stop patting her whilst eating ,seriously i do not see what the need is for people to annoy dogs at eating time & then cant figure out why they have issues.

The dog has no clue what you are wanting from it & has now been forced to protect the one item it feels is being threatened.

The bowl was taken away but i dare say again the dog has no clue why except next time to growl more or re act worse.

It seems many people use this method but get it very wrong & end up creating an unpleasant behaviour that is owner created .

All dogs in this household get peace during eating time & as such respect us if there is ever a need to remove a bowl,bone,beef hide because they have never been placed in a position of confusion & encouraged to react to the unknown..

:cool:

[centitout]

I agree with settrlover and miranda-i have seen too many pups made food aggressive this way.The triangle of temptation is good,i used it with my dogs and i have been able to take a half eaten possum from one of mine-but he sure as hell got a huge reward for giving it up. I think the key is to make the reward better than what was originally taken.But i still maintain that dogs should NOT be annoyed,patted or played with when eating- the best way to think,is if you miss lunch and dinner,and are starving hungry,you finally get your meal,just about to dig in,and someone comes and takes it away.Would you start to get crappy when that goes on for days ?

[poodlefan]

Is there anything in particular we should be doing to stop this form escalating?

Pause for a moment and ask yourself what your dog is learning from your feeding practices. Is she learning that feeding time is unstressful and she has no need to guard her food or something different? What's the reward for her tolerance of your proximity to her food? Right now there isn't one. However, there is punishment when she does something you don't like - does she understand what's happening though?

I don't believe in interfering with a dog's food at meal times as a "lesson". If you want to teach her to willingly surrender valued resources, put your thinking hat on and ask yourself how you can do this in a more positive manner.

Right now you are using aversives to punish a response she offers to your behaviour. Does she understand what your trying to teach her or are you actually conditioning an unwanted behaviour? Turn it around and ask yourself what would motivate/reward her when she gives up something she values.. you know the answer - something of equal or higher value.

If you must interupt her meal, why not call her away from it and reward her with a very high value treat or approach her, offer her a treat and move away. Personally I think TOT is a far more positive method of teaching her that you control the food.

Edited November 27, 2008 by poodlefan

[charli73]

I can see Settrlvrs point (the part about a peaceful meal) but I really believe that a dog should learn to give up its food and be touched while eating. My Stafford pup did the same thing at about that age, she quickly learnt it wasn't acceptable and now gives up food with no growling or carrying on. ALL of my dogs have been taught not to panic about food being taken away as they always get it back often with bonuses. I don't tolerate aggression in my home.

I always know where my 4 yo is at feeding time but I still think it's a good idea to proof your dog "just in case". I know that my daughter could take a bone from our Rotti no problems.

Id have to agree with this post, I was bitten on the face by my cousins corgi when i was 3 as I patting it while eating. This made me more determined to have no eating issues when we got our German Shepherd... so I can understand why you want to do it...

We did touch her while she ate BUT in addition put more great food in her bowl when she was eating to show her us approaching while eating was a good positive thing and to welcome it...we have done this since 8weeks old with great success.

This has worked extremely well and we can take the bowl mid meal and she willl just sit there quietly and hope i put it back. She never growled when we came near her while eating..

This has taught her that we are in charge of her meal and she must behave accordingly before for her to be fed and continue being fed.

Im not an expert but this is what has worked very well for us...

Edited November 27, 2008 by charli73

[Jigsaw]

Agree with others about leaving pup alone while eating. You could try not feeding her from a bowl for a while and feeding her by hand. You could feed her her dinner by training her, rewarding her with small portions of her dinner. If you want her to learn to give up things teach the "leave it" command. If you want to do anything with her dinner bowl add food to it. Agree TOT is a good way to go too.

[huski]

I can see Settrlvrs point (the part about a peaceful meal) but I really believe that a dog should learn to give up its food and be touched while eating. My Stafford pup did the same thing at about that age, she quickly learnt it wasn't acceptable and now gives up food with no growling or carrying on. ALL of my dogs have been taught not to panic about food being taken away as they always get it back often with bonuses. I don't tolerate aggression in my home.

I always know where my 4 yo is at feeding time but I still think it's a good idea to proof your dog "just in case". I know that my daughter could take a bone from our Rotti no problems.

Id have to agree with this post, I was bitten on the face by my cousins corgi when i was 3 as I patting it while eating. This made me more determined to have no eating issues when we got our German Shepherd... so I can understand why you want to do it...

I've never had a problem with my dogs and touching them or taking their food away whilst eating because I teach them that food is a resource I control, by doing things like Triangle of Temptation at food times - to me, the whole process teaches the dog that they look to your for permission to eat, and you control the whole thing - so they build respect for you and know you're boss, without needing to touch them or take their food away all the time.

ETA: My dogs happily give up their food for me if I need to grab it.

Edited November 27, 2008 by huski

[Odin-Genie]

I never had this issue with my Elkhound, but when we got our golden retriever, she used to growl if we approached her when she was eating. We used the method Odin's trainer had suggested, which was to add some tasty bits to the bowl while Genie (retriever) was eating, or offer some treats. This way, she would associate your approach with positive things, not a threat to her meal. Within a week she was over the growling. Now the two of them love to be patted during meal times. In fact, I do a lot of the grooming when they are having their pig ears, and they look absolutely content.