Hi everyone,
I am new here. This is my first post actually so let me know if I have done anything wrong. I have spent a good while searching for info on this but can't find any relevant to my situation.
I have an 11 week old Bullmastiff pup who is very confident, nothing seems to worry him. He is very food driven and always acts like every meal might be his last.
He is being crate trained and doing terrifically well with that, we feed him in his crate, make him sit without whining for a second and then let him eat. If we pat him while he is eating he guards his food by trying to push us away from his bowl, then he starts growling. My question is, what should I do about this? at his young age what is appropriate. He growls quietly over his normal feed bowl at meals but when it comes to a chew, like a bone or something he growls like he means it. So far we have been taking his bowl or chew off him when he does this and giving it back once he sits and calms down.
He is going to be a family pet only, we will be doing obedience with him but don't much care for him to have a strong drive.
He has shown signs of dominance, including humping us. We have been trying to just divert him onto something else at this point. He is happy for us to roll him onto his back after some initial struggling. At this point his drive is very high, he chases balls with a vengeance and chews everything, he stalks our other dog and our cat and chases them. We have had him for 3 weeks, he seems quite well settled and comes to us nearly always without being wound in on the lead.
Thanks for any and all advice.
Nikki

Welcome to this excellent forum!

Can I just ask a couple of questions to get a clearer picture?

Are there children in the house?

If he's fed in his crate, how does he get petted while he is eating?

Yes there are two children in the house aged 8 and 10. They know that they are to leave him alone at anytime he is in his crate, I suppose it is me and DH who are the slower learners.
The reason I am confused is that I have read mixed reports on what I should be doing as far as feeding. He has been fed in his crate door closed for the majority of the three weeks we have had him, I recently read that I should desensitize him to having us around while he eats and hence I started feeding him in his crate with the door open and patting him a little while he eats, on the times he has accepted the pats and ignored me, I have closed the door and walked away to let him finish in peace. On the times he has growled I have taken his bowl, made him sit and waited for him to settle then given his bowl back and patted him again. He has never growled at me a second time, so that is when I leave him to finish his meal.

I don't know if this would work in your case, but this worked for my dog. I would look all excited in her bowl, tell her "ooh Nora, look, what's this?" & make her sit then put a really nice treat in her bowl, so she would associate putting my hand in her bowl with something extra special & not a bad thing

You're fine...if the pup has never growled at you again...just don't disturb him when he's eating. I correct my dogs if they ever growl at me when I pass by and they're eating until they don't do it anymore, then I leave it alone. I want to make it clear that they're eating at my expense but that really means they have nothing to worry about. I also protect them while they're eating from other things that may try to take their food away. If I had a dog that was really concerned I would get him to the point where he grudgingly accepts my presence but it doesn't mean he's comfortable, then I would feed him in a crate. One of my dogs was like this for a while but over time she improved.

Thanks for the replies. The reason I am a little worried is that I don't plan on keeping him crated forever, just until he is reliably house trained, it could be a long time but when the crate goes, I want him to feel safe while eating so we never have any incidents later on.
Yesterday my husband gave him a chicken leg and went and gave him pets while he ate it and there was no problem. Hopefully he will gain confidence with time.

I don't even know if my dogs would be food aggressive or not cause i don't mess with their food. Once i put it down they eat it in a minute or so and it's done. why do you need to touch them why they're eating?,
Al

 Quote: Al Curbow

I don't even know if my dogs would be food aggressive or not cause i don't mess with their food. Once i put it down they eat it in a minute or so and it's done. why do you need to touch them why they're eating?,
Al

I'm with Al and Kristine. I would address it if the dog growled at someone just passing by while he was eating, which might be what whoever said to desensitize him to your presence while he eats meant.

Aside from that, I just don't mess with the dog's food.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the dog is in charge in any way. I'd be practicing lots of pack leader behavior (in view of his humping you), like keeping him off the furniture, always preceding him in doorways, etc.

Hi Nikki, Welcome to the board! Lots of good info.

If this were my puppy I would put his food down and stand with my feet right next to his food bowl. Don't touch him or the bowl or even say anything to him, just stand there until he finishes eating and has licked the bowl clean and moved away from it, then reach down and pick up the bowl. Once he is no longer paying attention to you, mid-way through the meal reach down and put a treat a foot or so from his bowl. If he eats the treat fine, if not then that's okay too. Work up to putting food in his bowl without him paying attention to you, then in the event of an emergency you will be able to take something away without drama. This may take a few days or a few weeks. Just depends.

I don't bother my dogs when they're eating. I don't think it's fair. I don't want anyone trying to take food off of my plate when I'm having a tasty meal. However, I don't want my dogs growling at me just because I'm around when they are eating. Mutual respect is a key factor with dogs IMHO.

Again welcome,
Debbie

We also don't bother our dogs when they are eating (all safely separated in their crates). The food comes from us, and once we give it, it is theirs to eat. With 4 dogs, we do very limited activity with food treats when any of them are loose - especially any types of treats that one dog might hide, and another might find. Their training rewards are primarily "toy" based. (jute tugs or sleeves for the GSD's, frisbees for the mutt, and tracking for the GSD's and beagle - that's food based right now - but all done OFF of our property)

The coveted training toys ONLY come out when an individual dog is being trained - not when multiple dogs can *discuss* it.

We are often around the crate area when our dogs are eating. We're not *eyeballing* them - we're just doing other stuff in the garage. They have no reason to think that we will take away food we have recently provided.

I really think dogs (pups) respond to our language more than we think. If something (like the food you just gave) is a *big deal* to you, it will be a *big deal* to them. Meal time is just a daily routine around here. I'm new to higher drive dogs, but (knock on wood quick) haven't had any food bowl issues yet - it's just not an issue here.

Best wishes, and welcome to the forum!

Beth