Food Aggression

[BC Crazy]

Exactly what I was saying in a nutshell TheLBD only I use the "leave it" command. I ask either of my guys to leave it no matter how "treasured" it may be & they drop it or actually give the forbidden to me in my hand. If it isn' t life threatening they get it back pronto :) plus treats.

Edited September 11, 2013 by BC Crazy

[persephone]

"swap" is what I teach from puppyhood .. dog receives something of equal or greater value from me when they drop/give me whatever they have stolen/picked up/dug up ......

BUT they are also left in peace when they are eating their meal . I was taught that at my mother's knee ... you do not disturb a dog eating dinner, or a bitch with pups... and I'm sure it saved us kids some grief ! :)

[Guest hankodie]

When I was talking about complacence, I was referring to the idea that training can make a food guarding dog "safe" around food. The example I gave involved a novel situation with a hell of a lot of food available - result - resource guarding. From any dog's perspective, that picnic table was the mother lode.

I didn't mean to imply that training would make the dog "safe", I'm not a professional but I agree that aggression issues shouldn't be taken lightly. I was more making the point that touching the puppy's food bowl while it ate was probably exacerbating the issue further.

You don't though, I use a really strongly trained "drop it" whenever one of mine finds some dangerous treasure, It's way more reliable for them, because their natural reaction to someone reaching for their head is to pull away even if they don't have food in their mouth. Drop works from a greater distance too. Never had to grab anything from a dog mouth.

Very true theLBD, "drop it" can be life saving - my frenchie has a congenital liver disease and if she ingested the tiniest bit of the wrong thing it could result in seizures. Her "drop it" is quite reliable but once in a while I'm a little too late and I have to reach for her/fish the item out of her mouth. Luckily I can do this without her reacting aggressively but then again she never had any guarding issues as a puppy, I'm sure it would be a different scenario if she did.

[cassieturner]

Thanks so much everyone. I really appercaite all your replies! I tried what BC Crazy suggested this morning and it worked! Shes already caught on that if I tell her to leave it she will be rewarded with more biscuts! Im so suprised she ate infront of me this morning! What a quick little learner :laugh: Heres some pictures for you guys to have a look!

[JackC]

Thanks so much everyone. I really appercaite all your replies! I tried what BC Crazy suggested this morning and it worked! Shes already caught on that if I tell her to leave it she will be rewarded with more biscuts! Im so suprised she ate infront of me this morning! What a quick little learner :laugh: Heres some pictures for you guys to have a look!

omg so cute, love BC's

[BC Crazy]

So glad to hear she is catching on cassieturner. I usually go high end with the reward treats though, something like grated cheese or little pieces of chicken. If I tried to treat mine with dry food

they would be like, "is that the best you can do" :laugh: BTW She is very cute :)

[Dame Aussie]

We use drop it too, very handy command.

Glad to hear you're seeing some progress, she's lovely

Edited September 12, 2013 by Aussie3

[cassieturner]

BC Crazy - Oh Really!! Haha Lex is one of those dogs that will eat anything and anything is a treat! - I guess I'm lucky in that sense :)

She is very cute - probably too cute for her own good! :laugh:

[BC Crazy]

That's the trouble isn't it. They are just sooo darn cute. I can only stay cranky at either of mine for half a second then I tell them how beautiful they are & cuddle them too bits

Don't worry they know it though too :laugh: