I didn’t want to highjack the current thread regarding the puppy that is showing aggression during eating since my problem is the exact opposite. It took me months to figure this out. At first I thought I had a finicky dog that just didn’t like to eat. We tried everything including ED’s Honest Kitchen and this dog would take a nibble and walk off. If we managed a 12 oz can of dog food a day… I was jacked. To compensate… we snacked her to death.

Once the kids went back to school in September and things were a little less chaotic during the day… I noticed her eating improved dramatically when I was the only person in the house feeding her. It didn’t take long to figure out that when someone other then I walks into the room, she stops eating completely and will abandon her food.

Easy solution, now I feed her during the day when the kids are gone. On the weekends I try to keep things very quite during feeding time. I also have one child slowly approach her and drop a hot dog in her dish while I supervise and use reassuring words to the dog. Things have improved… However, if the kitchen gets to busy while she is eating she will just walk away. She has never growled or shown a spec of aggression towards anyone. It’s just the opposite *you can have it* attitude. If she has a bone and someone approaches her she will go hide the bone and won’t retrieve it until the coast is clear.

This thread is not so much about how to fix the problem since I think I have a good handle on it and I have seen improvement, but feedback is always welcome if anyone wants to share a few pointers.

My primary question is: why are some dogs so aggressive towards their food while others like mine will give it up so easily. Does it come from the mother during the first few weeks of life? If so… what traits do the mothers share that produce either aggressive eaters or submissive eaters?

I will be having my first litter (fingers crossed) this spring and I just want to know how these behaviors are formed and what part the breeder plays in shaping these behaviors.

What dog are you breeding?

The littermates could also account for that and the way the breeder raised them. dogs that have to fight for food will be food aggressive most of the time, or end up thinking that if someone tries to steal their food they have to give it up. which is why good breeders should seperate puppies when eating at a certain age.

I dont tolerate finicky eating. if a dog won't eat I take away all food and snacks for that day, and so on. on my part though I never give my dogs crap, always raw and premium food.

Jeff...

Does the breed matter to the point of my question?

He's not asking what breed. He is asking which dog of yours you are planning on breeding.

Out of curiosity, is this dog always extremely submissive? Is it a confident, timid? I am guessing it is probably the later, and why Jeff may be concerned about it being bred.

You don't know anything about my dog so please don't guess. She is not overly submissive. She doesn't over react... yet she doesn't under react either. She is the type of dog I can take to a kid’s soccer game and not be afraid. (I have 5 children by the way). She is always alert and the few times she has been called to do what was necessary… she has more satisfied my needs.

Regardless, how does this effect the question I asked?

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Why are some dogs so aggressive towards their food while others like mine will give it up so easily? Does it come from the mother during the first few weeks of life? If so… what traits do the mothers share that produce either aggressive eaters or submissive eaters?

I will be having my first litter (fingers crossed) this spring and I just want to know how these behaviors are formed and what part the breeder plays in shaping these behaviors.

 Quote:

I will be having my first litter (fingers crossed) this spring and I just want to know how these behaviors are formed and what part the breeder plays in shaping these behaviors.

The best thing to do, based entirely on my own experiance, is to feed the dogs individually when they start on solid foods. By the time they are getting most of their food from a bowl, instead of their mom, they should be fed in seperate dishes and not allowed to steal from one another. My aunt has been breeding GSD's for years and she uses a raised board with holes cut out. Each pup gets a bowl placed into a hole. When the bowl is empty, it and the pup belonging to it, are taken away. The bowl goes in the sink, the pup goes outside for potty/play time. Her reasoning is that it cuts down on competitveness with food, keeps certain puppies from getting too much and gives her a beter idea of any potential problems. If she fed them all together and one pup started losing weight, she wouldnt know if it was sick or just not getting enough. So she uses her method to cut out some guesswork. I just sold all of my first litter and I knew when it was time for everyone to get seperate meals just by watching them. When it got to the point that one or two pups were getting IN the feed tub and blocking everyone else, it was pretty clear. That's the only advice I have to pass on. Other than that, im not real sure what you could do to make sure that they dont get too aggressive/submissive around food.

My dog will stop eating if I leave the room, n he'll easily get distracted when people are around. If I put too much food in his bowl he'll either ignore his food or eat half of it, so even though I know he'll eat almost 3 cups of food and a whole can right before I go to bed, I have to give him a bowl with a heaped cup of food and 1/2 a can of food, wait for him to finish, then do the same. I also feed him in the morning if he's worked up an appetite n keeps going to his empty food bowl, n I also feed him around 6 in the evening. He never hangs around the kitchen while I'm making his food, as soon as he realizes I'm making his food, he'll go to the living room where he can still see me, lay down on the rug n wait for his food to be done, I really dunno why he does this. Then we go to his feeding area next to his crate, I drop the bowl loudly into the holder, then immediately walk away and ignore him, while staying in the same room or he'll stop eating and follow me. This is just the way he seems to eat the best, I've tried everyone's suggestions, I've tried everything, people give me the whole "put the food down for 15 minutes then take it away" stuff, or tell me "feed him one big meal a day" or "feed him 2 smaller meals a day" or "feed him at the same time every day" or "feed him at night" "feed him in the morning" blablabla, I've tried it all, he either ends up eating even less than he already eats, he's perfectly fine going days on 3 cups of food. No canned food? Forget it, he won't touch that dry crap. I was feeding raw alternating days for a while but he's eating really good right now so I'm a lil nervous about changing it up again, so I'll throw a can of sardines or an egg into his food n he's fine with that, maybe I'll go back to raw on alternating days eventually, I still give him his vitamins n oils with his dry food. He won't eat half the stuff you're supposed to feed in a raw diet which is why I never went 100% raw. I also needa co-ordinate feeding time with poop time, he usually poops twice a day, first thing in the morning and evening/night.

I know the question was how a breeders role comes into the feeding behaviors of a dog, but figured I'd share my dogs pain in the butt eating habbits since I know our dogs have alotta similar traits <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yes... the do Mike. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

What do you mean she doesn't under react? Can you give examples?