Weird Behaviour From 5 M/o Puppy

[Seita]

I noticed that my puppy Mack was making lots of noise when he is out in his pen eating bones etc. So I spied on him and he stands there with his bone and his stuffed teddy bear nearby and as he eats he keeps growling at the teddy and then after a little while will jump on the teddy grabbing it and barking at it, then he keeps eating and does it all over again. It's like he's "warning" the teddy to keep away from his food.

I decided to experiement with him this morning and put his bone down quite some distance from the teddy, thinking he'd simply eat it and not worry about the teddy. But no he carried the bone to the teddy and kept up with the warning and growling.

I've now taken the teddy away from him and he seemed to quieten down this morning. I thought it was a strange thing for him to do and wondered if anyone has experienced anything like this or has any idea on why he's doing it?

[poodlefan]

Sound like its either a game or resource guarding.

Best figure out which.

[Seita]

Sound like its either a game or resource guarding.

Best figure out which.

Same conclusion I came to but couldn't figure it out either.

This morning he hasn't made a single noise while eating (no teddy today) and the other toys I gave him this morning (kong and a rubber squeeker) don't have the same effect.

[dandybrush]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

[Seita]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

[TsarsMum]

im no help but he sounds like a character

[♥Baxter♥]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

Check with K9 for advice, you should be able to take any food off* him, with him showing NO*aggression signs whatsoever, you really need to get onto this ASAP.

Edited October 5, 2010 by ♥Baxter♥

[dandybrush]

yes it might be cute/funny now but it wont be funny if it turns into food aggression and you know or have kids who will try to take food from the dog

something i did when my pup was little was i got out 2 chicken wings (his fav) and i would have one in each hand and i would sit there while he chewed on them, randomly i would say "give" and take one from his mouth and give him the other one (the idea being that if i take stuff from him he gets good stuff back, so he should look forward to that, he was also tied up so he couldnt take off with the wings in case he managed to get them off me) (initially he would run away from me if i approached when he had a chicken, now he doesnt, plus its gone in 10 seconds anyway)

another thing i would do when he was having dinner is i woudl approach and throw in bacon pieces or yummy meats so he would associate me approaching with something good, i would also sit with him and pat him all over while he ate

just some ideas if you are not already doing that

Edited October 5, 2010 by dandybrush

[♥Baxter♥]

Have you taught your puppy to 'leave it' (wait for his food till you give him the ok)? If you haven't yet, you should do it from now on with everything, food, toys etc

[Seita]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

Check with K9 for advice, you should be able to take any food off* him, with him showing NO*aggression signs whatsoever, you really need to get onto this ASAP.

Sorry where did I say he showed any sign of aggression? He doesn't like me taking food away but he doesn't show any sort of aggressive tendancies when I do. Just this morning I pulled a half eaten bone out of his mouth without a single hassle.

yes it might be cute/funny now but it wont be funny if it turns into food aggression and you know or have kids who will try to take food from the dog

Again I never said it was cute, I said it was weird and was curious about why he does it. He hasn't shown any signs of food aggression towards me or my partner or my other dog so you guys need to stop jumping to conclusions.

I have discussed this with a respected professional and have been informed that plenty of puppies do this during their ranking/shaping developement phase which is what he's entering into now.

[♥Baxter♥]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

Check with K9 for advice, you should be able to take any food off* him, with him showing NO*aggression signs whatsoever, you really need to get onto this ASAP.

Sorry where did I say he showed any sign of aggression? He doesn't like me taking food away but he doesn't show any sort of aggressive tendancies when I do. Just this morning I pulled a half eaten bone out of his mouth without a single hassle.

yes it might be cute/funny now but it wont be funny if it turns into food aggression and you know or have kids who will try to take food from the dog

Again I never said it was cute, I said it was weird and was curious about why he does it. He hasn't shown any signs of food aggression towards me or my partner or my other dog so you guys need to stop jumping to conclusions.

I have discussed this with a respected professional and have been informed that plenty of puppies do this during their ranking/shaping developement phase which is what he's entering into now.

I didn't say he show aggression toward anyone - I took his teddy bear reaction as a show of aggression, if you prefer not calling it that way or accepting the facts fine.

[dandybrush]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

Check with K9 for advice, you should be able to take any food off* him, with him showing NO*aggression signs whatsoever, you really need to get onto this ASAP.

Sorry where did I say he showed any sign of aggression? He doesn't like me taking food away but he doesn't show any sort of aggressive tendancies when I do. Just this morning I pulled a half eaten bone out of his mouth without a single hassle.

yes it might be cute/funny now but it wont be funny if it turns into food aggression and you know or have kids who will try to take food from the dog

Again I never said it was cute, I said it was weird and was curious about why he does it. He hasn't shown any signs of food aggression towards me or my partner or my other dog so you guys need to stop jumping to conclusions.

I have discussed this with a respected professional and have been informed that plenty of puppies do this during their ranking/shaping developement phase which is what he's entering into now.

im sorry i did not mean to say you have an aggressive puppy. all i mean is that now is prob the time you should be doing alot of touching and patting and taking and giving and approaching when the pup is eating. it is not/may not be aggression now but if you bend to pup and let him run off or move away from you with food now then the habit will become worse with age, and can possibley lead to food possession. just do all you can now to prevent any future problems, prevention is better than the cure...i should know my dog has just started jumping our fence into the neighbours yard there must have been a way i could have prevented that

[Jigsaw]

what is the pup like if you sit there and pat him while eating??

He doesn't like it but doesn't growl at me. He will attempt to take his food away if I approach him while he's eating but if I call him he will come away from the food.

I think it must be a game to him, especially considering he went to the effort to bring his bone next to the teddy bear despite the bone and the teddy being at other ends of his pen. I just wonder why he does it?

If he will come away from the food when you call him, well done, if you can reward him with a nice piece of high value food such as raw chicken, meat it will reinforce this behaviour even more. I'd probably remove the teddy while he's eating so he doesn't rehearse the behaviour. I'm not a great one for petting dogs while they eat, I'd be wary of anyone trying to get close to me while I'm eating, especially stuff I really enjoy like chocolate . You could try putting one piece of food in his bowl at a time, while he sits, releasing him to eat and then asking him to sit again, putting more food in the bowl releasing him to eat, rinse and repeat till meal finished if you are concerned about his behaviour while eating his meal.

[lovemesideways]

yes it might be cute/funny now but it wont be funny if it turns into food aggression and you know or have kids who will try to take food from the dog

something i did when my pup was little was i got out 2 chicken wings (his fav) and i would have one in each hand and i would sit there while he chewed on them, randomly i would say "give" and take one from his mouth and give him the other one (the idea being that if i take stuff from him he gets good stuff back, so he should look forward to that, he was also tied up so he couldnt take off with the wings in case he managed to get them off me) (initially he would run away from me if i approached when he had a chicken, now he doesnt, plus its gone in 10 seconds anyway)

another thing i would do when he was having dinner is i woudl approach and throw in bacon pieces or yummy meats so he would associate me approaching with something good, i would also sit with him and pat him all over while he ate

just some ideas if you are not already doing that

The other stuff is all good, but I wouldn't be sitting and patting my dog whilst he's eating. Simply because it would be really annoying and you might aggravate even a excellent dog into wanting to tell you to piss off. I don't think its really reinforcing anything except mum is super annoying when we have a bone, lets move away from her.

I do everything you've mentioned, plus making them work for the bone with some quick heeling or stay exercises, but unless I need to take it off them. I figure, let them be. I certainly wouldn't want someone coming and constantly touching me while I'm eating.

Am I wrong in thinking there isn't a point to sitting and patting your dog while he eats a bone?

[JulesP]

Guys I really don't think Seita needs advice on food manners. She is a pretty experienced dog handler.

Seita none of my borders have had such an intimate relationship with a teddy bear

[Seita]

Guys I really don't think Seita needs advice on food manners. She is a pretty experienced dog handler.

Seita none of my borders have had such an intimate relationship with a teddy bear

Thanks JulesP! I now know how newbies feel when they ask a simple question and get inundated with what the posters I'm sure all think is helpful but actually seems quite critical!

It just felt like everyone was going "ahh this is food agression rah rah rah" and you need to do five squillion things to stop it IMMEDIATELY or you will die!!! Ok that may have been slightly exaggerated....

To clarify - My dogs all live by the NILIF principles, all do TOT for their food, all will recall away from ANY food, all have never ever shown any sign of food aggression EVER. My puppy was just doing something interesting that I had never seen before and was curious if anyone else had ever experienced it or why he might be doing it.

Question has been answer, dog does not have food aggression nor will he ever develop it while he lives with me. Back to usual transmission!

[♥Baxter♥]

Guys I really don't think Seita needs advice on food manners. She is a pretty experienced dog handler.

Seita none of my borders have had such an intimate relationship with a teddy bear

Thanks JulesP! I now know how newbies feel when they ask a simple question and get inundated with what the posters I'm sure all think is helpful but actually seems quite critical!

It just felt like everyone was going "ahh this is food agression rah rah rah" and you need to do five squillion things to stop it IMMEDIATELY or you will die!!! Ok that may have been slightly exaggerated....

To clarify - My dogs all live by the NILIF principles, all do TOT for their food, all will recall away from ANY food, all have never ever shown any sign of food aggression EVER. My puppy was just doing something interesting that I had never seen before and was curious if anyone else had ever experienced it or why he might be doing it.

Question has been answer, dog does not have food aggression nor will he ever develop it while he lives with me. Back to usual transmission!

What is this?? ;)

Thanks

[TerraNik]

Guys I really don't think Seita needs advice on food manners. She is a pretty experienced dog handler.

Seita none of my borders have had such an intimate relationship with a teddy bear

Thanks JulesP! I now know how newbies feel when they ask a simple question and get inundated with what the posters I'm sure all think is helpful but actually seems quite critical!

It just felt like everyone was going "ahh this is food agression rah rah rah" and you need to do five squillion things to stop it IMMEDIATELY or you will die!!! Ok that may have been slightly exaggerated....

To clarify - My dogs all live by the NILIF principles, all do TOT for their food, all will recall away from ANY food, all have never ever shown any sign of food aggression EVER. My puppy was just doing something interesting that I had never seen before and was curious if anyone else had ever experienced it or why he might be doing it.

Question has been answer, dog does not have food aggression nor will he ever develop it while he lives with me. Back to usual transmission!

What is this?? ;)

Thanks

NILIF = Nothing In Life Is Free