Hi all,
I gave my 14 week old male GSD a Beef neck bone, raw, this evening. This is the first time I have given him a raw bone. I gave it to him inside of his crate where I always feed him. Well he only had it a short time and I reached into the crate to remove it, well he proceeded to come ungluded. He didn't actually bite me, but he came awlfulclose. He barked and growled in a highly agressive manner. He did back off after I yelled in my own aggressive voice <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> NO get back whats wrong with you. I give him Turkey hot dogs as treats all the time an I have never experienced any behavior remotely like that before. However, he does get pretty intense over them. I feed him Innova dry puppy food 3 times a day. I have been very pleased with his temperment up till now. He has been great around other people, children, and dogs. He has great nerve, fire crackers, falling trash cans, passing trucks, law mowers, nothing seems to bother him. He also has a hole lot of prey drive, I have to calm him down after we work, he's like the energizer bunny. Anyway, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> where did I go wrong? Should I not be able to remove the bone? Can you folks offer any advise?

Sounds like he has some prey guard as well <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Remember..Daddy giveth..and daddy can taketh away. This is not acceptable behavour towards you, others maybe, but not you.

Of course, trying to take his tasty bone from him while he is in his house probably cost you some brownie points as well.

Try a search of this web board for further info on this subject. I know it has been covered before.

Howard

I don't believe you did anything wrong - except maybe give too good of a treat! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

You should be able to take any treat or food away from your dog. Some dogs never have an issue with it, some are very possessive of their treats and/or food and must learn proper and safe behavior.

If I have learned correctly, problems involving aggression and food items are linked very closely to pack dynamics - as in the pack, the main purpose of the alpha is to obtain, protect and distribute food.

I don't usually have problems with treat or food aggression as I:
1) set all my dogs on a sit/stay, then
2) set out a pan of food or treats and
3) instruct each dog in when - in what order, and how much it may eat and if it may eat again.

If a dog is unruly or aggressive, it will be put to a sit/stay and will watch the other dogs eat the food or treats, then watch me put away any leftovers. There will be no food or treats for that dog until the next meal. I have never had a dog show aggression more than once over food or treats.

However, I don't know if this will be any help for you at all as (I assume) you only have the one dog. I hope that it helps you understand a possible and probable origin to the aggressive episode.

I have actually been having the same problem with our 10/11 month old Rottie. He just recently bit my g/f's sister on the hand (its my g/f rottie). Anyways he has tried to bite my father-in-law and myself aswell. What I usually do is when he tries to bite me I grab his muzzle real hard with my hand with a FIRM "NO!". Usuall works. I also have taped up a glove (try gardening) onto a stick and have put it next to his bowl and if he bites it I Give him another FIRM "NO!". He's getting better.

But Please Refer to Ed's Articles about Biting and Behavioral problems. It's all in there.

I think the key (like Ed says)is to Leave the dog alone when eating and dont ever get near the bowl...

Someone told me once that if you mess with your puppy a little bit from a young age while he's eating or chewing on a treat, that this problem will be less likely to occur. I like to let my dog know that my presence or reaching for his toy or reaching to pet him doesn't mean that I'm definately taking his toy away. If he thinks I'm about to snatch something up that he just dropped, he'll reach for the toy not my hand. I don't think my dog has it in him to growl/bite at me if I take his toy away - but maybe playing with his food while he eats or holding his bone once in a while when he was chewing it helped him figure out he's not supposed to. Ofcourse, sticking your hand in his food bowl may not be a good idea if you already know he bites lol, but thats what the glove on a stick is for.