Food Aggressive Dog - Page 3

Well, she doesn't sound like she has a problem at all really than if you can take food out of her mouth and she is good with the kids.
I'd just ignore her little idiosyncrasy and let her eat in private.

EchoEcho, she's definitely not as possessive as most dogs tend to be, nor as much as I expected...given the details you've provided, I think you can probably hold off on the consult and just use the positive reinforcement of 'jackpotting' pieces of extra-special food from time to time when she's eating.  Varyi it so you jackpot her sometimes just before or as you remove her bowl, and at other times when you're not even looking at her or the bowl, and under the circumstances, I'd probably only do this a couple times during a week...not everyday.  For the most part, you'll just be leaving her be while she eats, though.  The problem is nowhere NEAR what it sounded like initially, before you added all the specifics, so I wouldn't expect you'll have much trouble changing her point of view in this low-impact, very positive manner. :)

Echo, As usual Hexe's advice is right on. That is the approach that I would use. I would also recommend that you stop "being firm" with her. I would strongly advise that YOU do not alpha roll your dog. Obviously, your idea of firm, my idea of firm and this dogs idea of firm are completely different. If you were "firm" in your mind and the behavior continues you were not really very firm in the dogs mind. I have two GSD's one will guard his food and he is not a dog to be taken lightly. I feed a completely raw diet and everything he eats is high value to him. On occasion I will need to move him when he eats, especially if he goes to the females bowl and starts eating her food accidentally. I would not reach down to take a deer neck or chicken quarter from his mouth. That would be stupid on my part. I simply tell "him out and leave it.". When he drops the chicken quarter I take it away and provide his food dish. Alpha rolling this dog would be a bad idea as he has sent several bad guys to the hospital. I absolutely love and respect this dog and he loves and respects me back, why would I ever need to "alpha roll" him. IMO, alpha rolling is an archaic practice that is only useful in a few situations. You do need to have control and obedience on this dog and that will solve these issues. I fully agree with the substitution method and started that with my dog at 7 weeks when he first growled over his food. Since he trusts me, when I tell him to "drop it or leave it" he complies willingly, trusting I have a reason for telling him to do this. He also knows that I do not ask twice, hence the quick obedience to the command followed with praise and reward. I would also caution against obedience or exercise for 2 hours before and after feeding to reduce th possibility of bloat. Someone recommended OB before feeding, please be very careful. Good luck with your dog and with your dedication and determination there is no doubt that you will work this out.

Slamdunc I wish I had known both you had hexe when this dog was a puppy. I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say you have a dog that you alpha rolled and it has ended up sending people to the hospital. That really does describe her. She hasn't sent me to the hospital however if I tried to do it today I think she would. I stopped around 6 months old when she was getting large enough to hurt me (as she did a couple of times), she didn't bite me just kick the crap out of me:) Again, I was told be a professional to do this method to train her and it just didn't seem to really work. She could get more physical with me that I could with her. After some very frustrating experiences I decided to take a completely different approach to her with regard to correcting her.

So I have been doing the "jackpot" method last night and this morning and it is already working... so amazing. Today when she was almost done eating I put down her bowl and walked away. I then walked up to her bowl and instead of ears flattening she looked at me like "do you have something for me". I gave her some hamburger (from my hand but in the bowl) and then she continued eating. It seems to have really worked. I really think this is going to work and thank you to everyone on here who has helped me. I know now that I still have a lot of work to do with her but I think I am more on the right track with her. I know that this probably wouldn't be has big of a deal to some people but I really don't like the idea of my dog growling at me for any reason. Especially when she isn't that way any other time. 

As stupid as it sounds I haven't ever tried just telling her to leave it when she growls at me. I tell her to do that when she is stealing food from my kids and it works just fine... duh!! Really dumb on my part. If it does come about again where she growls at me I will tell her to leave it. I feel really dumb for not having tried this. 

Echo, just to be clear: I have never alpha rolled my dog for food aggression. I'm glad the substitution method is working out. Positive methods are generally easier, the dog learns faster and avoids a lot of unnecessary conflict.

echoecho,
hexe was the one who brought up children and your the one who left out so much detail in the beginning.
Glad you have things well in hand now.
Your right about one thing, you should have done something different when she was a puppy.
I'm not even gonna ask what it means she kicked the crap out of you, but sounds like you fear her still.
good luck with that,
Moons.

Glad this issue got resolved, & the dog is no longer being corrected or pinned; reason for attitude, always side with dog 1st.
flame me, not here much, as I spend time working my dog.

Ha ha... ya tell me about it Slamdunc... I think the first 1.5 years of her life we were in conflict. We have a great relationship now and she truly is a fantastic dog (another reason why I would NEVER rehome her) but it was a little touch and go there for awhile. 

My girl has food issues with the other animals in the house (dog and cats), but not with people, we can take it away, put hands in ect. but she guards from the other animals.

What I do is put her on a leash while she is eating, put her bowl in a corner and sit on a stool beside her while she eats blocking and keeping away the other animals from bugging her. The other dog doesn't bother even trying anymore, but the cats do. I  do this to keep them all safe and show her that she can eat in peace and that I have her back.

hope this helps some?

the key to dealing with food aggression is controlling the dogs proximity to the bowl not you gaining acess to the area near the bowl if you can cause the dog to move away from the bowl you are winner, we do it by virtue of applying the away command or a down the behavior is  a genetic predisposition not an enviromental thing beget beget beget, its not as easy as it soulds but it can be done but the dog has to be conditioned outside of the behavior first not try and train it while the behavior is occuring