Our 10 year old Golden Retriever is aggressive around any kind of food and has bitten multiple people over the years. What can we do?

We have a 10yr old Golden retriever that we've had since 3months old, and our problem is with resource guarding. We can feed her food by hand and she'll wait between portions. But if she finds food first–either in home or outside–she will lunge and bite at us if we attempt to remove it or her. She has bit multiple people over the years, and mostly associated with food. She's a Jekyll and Hyde character: Completely sweet Golden when food isn't present, and defiant and aggressive when encountering food first.

What training or approach is recommended - thanks in advance

Cindy's Answer

Since your dog has many years of rehearsing this behavior it's likely going to be a tough battle to change it. I would start by managing her at all times and not give her the freedom to have access to food in the home or outside. I would work on daily obedience and impulse control, and this will require that she is always supervised or under your direct control. She should either be in a confined area where there is no chance for random food to be dropped or on a leash with you with your full attention on her and the environment.

It may not be a bad idea to teach her to wear a muzzle so no one else is bitten. I've linked some resources for you below.

We offer many muzzles, we have directions on how to measure your dog at this link.

I hope this gives you a place to start working on this.