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6 Month Puppy Food Aggression


spice_1
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Hey guys ever since I got my puppy when feeding raw he would sometimes growl when you got close to him but nothing too bad.recently I was feeding him raw when one of the freezer bags got stuck on the meat when I gave it to him when I tried to get it back he got very aggressive and the hair on his back was standing, is there anyway to stop his food aggression? Cheers

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Hey guys ever since I got my puppy when feeding raw he would sometimes growl when you got close to him but nothing too bad.recently I was feeding him raw when one of the freezer bags got stuck on the meat when I gave it to him when I tried to get it back he got very aggressive and the hair on his back was standing, is there anyway to stop his food aggression? Cheers

https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/food-aggressive/food-aggression-and-what-to-do-about-it

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hi :)

What sort of puppy do you have ?

How do you normally give his food ?

have you had him from 8 weeks ?

For now , I suggest feeding small bits by hand - after pup sits & waits :)

Also .try this CLICK HERE

and practice LOTS of 'fetch/give' with everything , toys, shoes, etc

Don't give pup the opportunity to react :)

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Hi Spice,

I 'fixed' this with the Trade Game. Do not force, push or otherwise scare your dog unless it's an emergency!

This is some guides on what I did to deal with Thistle's food aggression. Happy to report I can now take high value raw meat and bones off her without issue, for example today when she brought me *somethings* former leg while on our walk. I reached in, said Give as I took it out of her mouth then immediately praised and gave her a WHOLE lot of training treats. (and threw the bone back into the bushes while she was busy scavenging lol). She was happy, relaxed the whole time. I keep everything light but I do watch to see if she stiffens, in which case i would have offered the treats and encouraged her to drop the bone instead.

A pdf I find easiest to remember from - i printed it out

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

I reinforce this every month or so randomly, just so she remembers that giving up her food = something even more awesome and I do not inadvertently scared/annoy her.

Edited by Thistle the dog
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Hi Spice,

I 'fixed' this with the Trade Game. Do not force, push or otherwise scare your dog unless it's an emergency!

This is some guides on what I did to deal with Thistle's food aggression. Happy to report I can now take high value raw meat and bones off her without issue, for example today when she brought me *somethings* former leg while on our walk. I reached in, said Give as I took it out of her mouth then immediately praised and gave her a WHOLE lot of training treats. (and threw the bone back into the bushes while she was busy scavenging lol). She was happy, relaxed the whole time. I keep everything light but I do watch to see if she stiffens, in which case i would have offered the treats and encouraged her to drop the bone instead.

A pdf I find easiest to remember from - i printed it out

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

I reinforce this every month or so randomly, just so she remembers that giving up her food = something even more awesome and I do not inadvertently scared/annoy her.

Thistle - I am looking forward to all your work one day being an ebook or something!! :) Thistle is so fortunate .

Anyhow, yes!! The trade/swap/gimme game is one I play regularly - Too old for chasing dogs around :p it is not 11% reliable , but just this morning I retrieved a piece of something which I smelt before I saw it :vomit: ... brought to me happily :)

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No dog is 100% perfect! For example, she may surrender to me but I am very careful not to give her bones, pig ears, anything that takes time to eat around other dogs. She would probably resource guard against other people too.

And I won't lie, the first time she growled at me I had a small freak out! (I went to take her bowl of food away from her).

She is also hand-fed her dinner and weekend breakfast, but for different reasons. I am unsure if that helped or not.

Edited by Thistle the dog
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This is a great article about resource guarding from a person with qualifications in the science of animal/dog behaviour: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/resource-guarding-treatment-and-prevention

Also see this:

http://brightdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Aggression-Ladder-1.png

Do not suppress growling through punishment as you will lose the warning sign and pup will escalate up the aggression ladder to snapping and biting. Puppy needs to learn that you approaching is a GOOD thing. :)

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hi :)

What sort of puppy do you have ?

How do you normally give his food ?

have you had him from 8 weeks ?

For now , I suggest feeding small bits by hand - after pup sits & waits :)

Also .try this CLICK HERE

and practice LOTS of 'fetch/give' with everything , toys, shoes, etc

Don't give pup the opportunity to react :)

Breed is Rottweiler X Labrador

I feed him his raw by hand

I have had him since 8 weeks

I will try your suggestions cheers

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It's tricky and alarming when your dog is big, but he's still a young teenager. Be patient, do your best and remember that some days they can be a little bit crankier than usual :) it doesn't mean you're a bad trainer for those bad days <- valuable things I try to remember on bad days

If it does escalate or you're struggling in a few months, I would consider bringing in a behaviourist to see incase there is something else going on.

Maybe consider doing some impulse control exercises, since you're already feeding by hand. If dog looks at you, not the meat, dog gets the meat. Slowly increase the duration they must look at you and reduce distance of the meat/increase meat movement.

It can help teach your dog to control his impulses and improve his focus on you :)

You can do it many other ways as well:

  1. Identify what it is that the dog wants: that’s the reward. Depending on the situation, the dog may want to go out, your attention, food, a toy or playtime with another dog.
  2. Whatever the dog does immediately before getting what he/she wants will be rewarded and therefore repeated. If the dog pushes her way out of the door and manages to get out, she’ll learn that pushing her way out gets her what she wants. If jumping up to greet us gets Django’s attention (even when we’re yelling or pushing him off), he’ll do it again next time. The key here is to patiently wait for an alternative behavior, one that we want the dog to repeat. A typical example is hooking the leash to the dog’s collar before going out for a walk. Most dogs get very excited and start jumping up as soon as we grab the leash. Dogs can’t jump forever and if we just stand there and wait, they will calm down. We can also ask the dog to sit and only approach him with the leash when he’s sitting down. If he gets up (which he will at first), we simply take the leash away and wait for him to sit again. It doesn’t take much for the dog to learn that only sitting calmly will get the leash on!
  3. Practice patience! Staying calm and composed is critical. Frustration and irritation will only contribute to the dog’s excitability and make it harder for him to calm down. We can’t ask the dog to slow down if we’re in a rush for results. Be prepared to spend the time that it takes for the dog to calm down.
  4. Pick the behavior that you want to reward and wait for it. There is no behavior that the dog will sustain for long periods of time. He can’t jump, bark or paw forever. As soon as the dog performs that behavior, like keeping all four paws on the ground, staying quiet for a few seconds or sitting, reward that behavior by giving the dog what he wants. It will only take a few repetitions for the dog to start offering the alternative behavior instead of the one you’re trying to stop.
  5. Be consistent! Teaching is effective when we’re consistent. If one day we allow jumping and the next day, because we’re in our work clothes we no longer tolerate it, it’s confusing to the dog and a source of stress. Once we chose to work on a specific behavior, no matter how tired or ready, we need to follow through with the training protocol with the confidence that our efforts will pay off.

Look for opportunities to teach the dog calm and controlled behavior, such as:

Asking the dog to sit and wait for your cue before eating his meal;

Waiting for the dog to sit and wait for your cue before jumping in and out of the car;

Waiting for the dog to sit and wait for a cue before getting out of the crate;

When coming home from work, waiting for the dog to have all four paws on the ground before giving her attention;

Teaching the dog to ‘settle’ on cue.

Edited by Thistle the dog
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hi :)

What sort of puppy do you have ?

How do you normally give his food ?

have you had him from 8 weeks ?

For now , I suggest feeding small bits by hand - after pup sits & waits :)

Also .try this CLICK HERE

and practice LOTS of 'fetch/give' with everything , toys, shoes, etc

Don't give pup the opportunity to react :)

Breed is Rottweiler X Labrador

I feed him his raw by hand

I have had him since 8 weeks

I will try your suggestions cheers

Why? If you think this is a good idea then I beg to differ. Give the dog his food and leave him in peace to eat. If you want to do anything, put MORE food in the bowl as you approach.

Increasing anxiety about access to food will NOT fix this.

Get a professional in or leave him alone to eat. Growling is a warning. Heed it and change what you are doing.

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Hey guys ever since I got my puppy when feeding raw he would sometimes growl when you got close to him but nothing too bad.recently I was feeding him raw when one of the freezer bags got stuck on the meat when I gave it to him when I tried to get it back he got very aggressive and the hair on his back was standing, is there anyway to stop his food aggression? Cheers

https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/food-aggressive/food-aggression-and-what-to-do-about-it

Whilst much of what is said in that article is out of date and not supported by what science tells us about dog behaviour today (the whole pack leader, humans must eat first etc thing) the actual techniques listed are pretty sound, and advise the same type of approach as the posts in the thread :) apparently Cesar has updated his methods from his Dog Whisperer days, which is great as he didn't have great success with his approach back then.

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If the raw is a bone, given rarely,dogs can become over stimulated with it and resource guard.

Do you feed your dog kibble or just a raw diet only?

Does your dog resource guard all food or just raw?

These are important to know because if is just the odd bone, you need to make it a more regular thing so he trusts he will get these regularly and it wont be so important in his mind to keep it to himself.

If he resource guards all food, you will need to get in a behaviourist to get the dog to trust you.

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Feed by hand as in give the raw from hand he grabs it and eats it

So he has never been able to eat a meal from a bowl in peace .

I dare say you are creating an issue by the way you are feeding & need to seek help .

How many meals a day do you feed

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Feed by hand as in give the raw from hand he grabs it and eats it

Of course he does.

Put the food in a bowl, the dog in a crate and the problem is solved.

Anything else provides the opportunity for the dog to guard from others. If there are children in the house, you should buy a crate TOMORROW.

Edited by Haredown Whippets
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No idea why you are hand feeding him, of course he is going to grab it, he has no idea how much he is getting and when the offer is going to stop, how stressful for him.

i agree , put his food in a bowl and give him some space to eat it so he knows its not going away.

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