My male shepherd, approximately 15 months old will guard his food bowl long after he has finished eating (1/2 hour to an hour). I have never taking away his food bowl mid-way through eating or messed with him while eating. Keep in mind that he will bite me if I attempt to take away the bowl, long after he has finished eating. Any ideas on how to fix this issue?

For 2 weeks straight, feed this dog each meal one-bite-at-a-time from your own HAND and make him do at least a Sit (preferably a Down!) for every morsel of food he gets from you -- Also be sure he's living according to the full list of Groundwork Rules 24/7 <:-)

it may be a pain-in-the-a$$, but this is what i had to do with my best pup. she was only 8 wks old though, and i'd pop her on the top of her nose whenever she tried to grab/bite for the food. just a pop with my finger, not a punch.

i don't know what your goals are with this dog, but if he's just a pet/watch dog that's what i'd do. if you're training for some sort of bitework, i have no opinion. with that said, at his age, i would think this could be a dominance issue between you 2, and if it was me, i'd make it really clear to him, and RIGHT NOW, that all good things come from me and me alone. including his rations. and if he wants to eat, he'd better use some manners. you are god. period.

also sounds like this would be a prime time for some NILIF training (Nothing In Life Is Free). get him under control NOW! hopefully, someone better than i am w/computers will post a link or 2. if not, google it.

i'm no expert, but i don't tolerate this behavior from my dogs.

Search the board for "food aggression" - in quotes - and you'll get a lot to read.

There is great stuff on this board about this issue. However I was not yet aware of this site.
When I got my Bloodhound he was 3 and the previous owner told me that he would gaurd food once in a while.....yeah right....it was everytime.
This is what I did, I kept a lead on him while feeding and hand fed him for about 3 or 4 days...I gradually would hand feed him from the food bowl while introducing the food bowl closer and closer, if he rushed for the food bowl it got put up and he did not eat and went into his crate. That happened twice. I then started letting him eat from his bowl with me there and touching the bowl or moving it and there was twice he showed a little aggression (nothing like it was) and I used the lead to pull him off his food and put his food up and he went in his crate. About 9 days was all it took for him to "be polite". Alot of the time when I feed now he gets pets and I will reach down and take his food away from him for a few seconds and then give it back to him. In my opinion it will always be this way and he now understands that food is mine but I will share it if he minds his manners. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
On the other hand, my Malinois has alway been polite and does not care about her food being messed with at all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Personally, I would not stress an animal by harassing it during a meal through taking its food away or sticking your hands in the bowl (this is actually a form of teasing, IMHO, even though it's a favortie "temperament testing" trick at the Humane Society or SPCA) and I believe it puts an unnecessary strain on the relationship bond between you & the dog <:-(

I am not harassing my dog, I pet him on the back and move his dish once in awhile. I do not go over there and rough him up, talking like an idiot and rapidly moving his dish back and forth so he cannot eat it. I have solved the issue and though I may not have done it 100% correctly or the way someone else would do it, it is done and I did not bet bitten doing it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

No offense meant to you at all Carol, but the original poster IS being bitten by his own GSD over an empty bowl, up to an hour after the dog has finished its food -- His scenario is on a much higher "Caution Scale" than your situation...

IMHO, once you have progressed with an overly possessive handler-aggressive dog to the point where you CAN remove his empty bowl from him without a fight, then there's just no need to interact with the dog WHILE he's eating -- I could safely take food right out of my Akita's mouth with my own teeth, but I don't tease her like that & wouldn't advise some stranger to play any "games" even remotely like this with a dog I don't know <:-(

I never had a food agression problem, but I did have a pup that wouldn't eat unless I fed it to her from a spoon or my hand <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> She is an adult now and is still a picky eater <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Sorry <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />This had nothing to do with the topic <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> My apologies <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />