January 19, 2012
My dog growled and barked once at me when I went to feed him this morning. He has never shown signs of aggression over food or anything else. What should I do?
Full Question:
Cindy,First let me say I have enjoyed the Leerburg DVDs I have watched and I have learned a lot from them.
My problem is something that has just started occurring. I have a 2.5 year old GSD and just this morning when I went to feed him he growled and barked once. He was in his crate and he hadn't eaten since the morning before. He has never shown any signs of aggression over food or anything else. I have been established as pack leader but it felt different this morning.
I want to make sure that I stop anything from getting to the point to where it is out of control.
Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.
Sean
Cindy's Answer:
I’d first recommend the video Pack Structure for the Family Pet.
There may be subtle things that can be changed in this relationship that will help.
I’d also change the way I fed him. It was likely more a territorial/crate guarding behavior than food aggression. Dogs do a lot of maturing between 2-3 years old and making challenges to the leadership figure (dog or human) is pretty common.
Do you have to feed him in the crate? Try making him sit and then releasing him to his food out in the open. OR you could make him sit or lay down outside the crate and put his food in FIRST towards the back, then release him to go in and eat and shut the door behind him.
If you start raising your voice or trying to correct him for this it will probably escalate and make it worse.
I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
There may be subtle things that can be changed in this relationship that will help.
I’d also change the way I fed him. It was likely more a territorial/crate guarding behavior than food aggression. Dogs do a lot of maturing between 2-3 years old and making challenges to the leadership figure (dog or human) is pretty common.
Do you have to feed him in the crate? Try making him sit and then releasing him to his food out in the open. OR you could make him sit or lay down outside the crate and put his food in FIRST towards the back, then release him to go in and eat and shut the door behind him.
If you start raising your voice or trying to correct him for this it will probably escalate and make it worse.
I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
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