what a wonderful temperament! - Page 4

I have always put extra effort into making sure my dogs know it is not ok to bite over food and that they know humans are not a threat to take their food.

Once that is established, food time is their private time. I would never allow a child to be put in this situation, regardless of how much I trust the dog. The risk far out weighs the cuteness factor.

Rik

my dogs eat in separate crates and its their "quiet time" for about an hour after eating. when they are young i make sure that they learn not to be food aggressive to humans and i don't tolerate them being food aggressive towards other dogs either.

i would never let a baby play with my dogs food, to me its asking for trouble.

that being said, this dog didn't show any type of aggression toward the baby. no warnings, no ears back, no stare down, no visible teeth, no posturing in any way. IMO, the dog was displaying excellent training and temperament.

Ok ...so maybe next they can train the kid not to play and eat from the dog dish in case in his/her future they encounter  a different dog

karen forbes - good point!

When I was a tiny tot, many of my aunts and uncles were farming, and there was always at least one dog in the household. One thing my parents drilled into me over and over was NEVER EVER bother a dog while it's eating!

I train my dogs so that I can take food away from them if I have to. You never know if they might pick up something they shouldn't eat. Every one of them learns the 'leave it!' command. Of all the dogs I've had not one of them has ever shown food aggression, though Ranger did growl at me over a toy when I first got him.

Maybe I've just been lucky...

All of mine have shown food aggression- they're just generally possessive; it's not really limited to food. It's quite simple to ask them to give something back if it's dangerous or you don't want them eating it. It really is just another OB exercise. I don't go in their mouths; if they're eating something I think they shouldn't, I ask them to give it to me. They do. You can do a lot w/simple respect, fairness (like not taking advantage of their good nature!!) and obedience.

Karen, great point. I don't allow my son to do all kinds of things that I know wouldn't bother my dogs because God forbid, he goes to friend's house whose dogs aren't as stable.