Margaret, that's pretty much how I feel too...of course I can feed him and keep my distance and probably avoid any issues, but it's not a behavior that I feel should be tolerated. If he truly views and respects me as his leader, I should be able to do whatever I want around his food. I've never taken his food away as I can understand how that would make him uncomfortable, but I feel like I should have the authority to if needed. I have fed him twice today by hand and both times went well. I made sure he was calm and respectful before I offered him the food and I made him sit and wait if he started to get too excited. I'm hoping that with continued work this issue will be resolved quickly..I'd much rather fix it now then deal with is when he's an adult!

 Quote: olivia brown

.... it's not a behavior that I feel should be tolerated. If he truly views and respects me as his leader, I should be able to do whatever I want around his food. I've never taken his food away as I can understand how that would make him uncomfortable, but I feel like I should have the authority to if needed. I have fed him twice today by hand and both times went well. I made sure he was calm and respectful before I offered him the food and I made him sit and wait if he started to get too excited. I'm hoping that with continued work this issue will be resolved quickly..I'd much rather fix it now then deal with is when he's an adult!

I can do anything at all around my dogs' food. These are pre-owned dogs who came with "issues," and I credit the complete extinction of tendencies toward food-guarding (in more than one case, serious food aggression when they arrived) to my policy of leaving the dogs alone while they eat and not allowing any other dog to hover or otherwise cause food anxiety in the dog who's eating.

Of course, opinions vary, but IMO, a whole ton of food aggression issues have been triggered or exacerbated by fooling around with the food (or not protecting it from the eager gaze of other dogs) before instilling the clear perception in the dog that his food is safe.

JMO.

Hand-feeding is fine, of course -- I am just pointing out that the people advocating the "let him eat in peace" protocol are not saying that they then spend the dog's life tiptoeing around his dish. They are saying (or at least I am) that this is how they show the dog that there's no need for guarding it.

I think my dogs view me as their leader - their leader who gives them food and lets them keep it.

Not at all trying to argue/confront .... just clarifying.

 Quote: connie sutherland

Hand-feeding is fine, of course -- I am just pointing out that the people advocating the "let him eat in peace" protocol are not saying that they then spend the dog's life tiptoeing around his dish. They are saying (or at least I am) that this is how they show the dog that there's no need for guarding it.

And I find this can be especially important for dogs who are genetically predisposed to pick fights, where the rush from the fight itself is reinforcing. Something to think about with particular lines of Mals for sure.

Connie- Good points..I will definitely consider that too. I think as long as he is content when I'm near him while he's eating it should be fine. I just don't want the aggression to get worse.

 Quote:

Hand-feeding is fine, of course -- I am just pointing out that the people advocating the "let him eat in peace" protocol are not saying that they then spend the dog's life tiptoeing around his dish. They are saying (or at least I am) that this is how they show the dog that there's no need for guarding it. ;\)

I think my dogs view me as their leader - their leader who gives them food and lets them keep it.

This pretty much sums up my feeling on the matter, too. I am the leader, I provide the food, I may make them do some obedience or something before hand, or I may use half of their meal as training treats throughout the day. I have food, food is good and comes as a reward for them playing by my rules in the first place. Once they've got it they can eat in peace. I have no qualms whatsoever about stepping in and taking something away if I should need to.

If I thought one of my dogs kind of forgetting it's place in the pack I'd just have them them work for each piece of their meal (ie, keep their kibble in a treat bag and do random obedience work/marker training, etc at 3-5 minute intervals through the day). It's simple, non-confrontational, you're not at all reinforcing the undesired behavior because the food dish is totally out of the picture and you totally own the food so the dog doesn't even need to think about guarding it from you.

That makes sense...he respects me completely in all other areas. He will easily "out" any toy or treat in his mouth, I can do anything to him physically without a struggle (bathe, trim nails, clean ears, etc), he has great manners and respects any boundaries I've set...I think by messing with him more I may make it worse. I'm just going to continue with my routine of making him sit and wait for his food until I've released him, and then back off while he's eating. I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill and I'm afraid that's what I'm doing if I keep messing with him.

Well, if my post triggered the need for clarification I'll just add this. To me asking a 17 week old puppy to sit before you feed him is pretty much SOP, especially if he tenses or growls over his food bowl. Giving the dog its breakfast by hand for awhile also seems to me to be a standard response to an issue like this.

Olivia seems like a pretty with it kind of owner so to me that if she can't settle this pup around food in fairly short order she's needs to talk to the pup's breeder. Actually, I would have been talking to the breeder long before I posted here for help.

I've got her pup's future here at my house: big, strong as hell, and fast as a snake. I want to thank the man who taught Damgan to respect his handler because if he haddn't I'd need a PPD to protect me from him!

What issue?
There is no issue here unless it's blown all out of proportion in ones mind.
It's a seventeen week old puppy. The only way this will manifest into a resource guarding problem is if someone decides to keep messing about with the dogs food.
For crying outloud, he's hungry, let the poor dog eat in peace secure in the knowledge no one is going to take it away.

Always feed your dog in his crate. Put the food in the crate first. Have the dog seating in front of the crate and stay there. Open the crate. if he tries to run into it, shut the door before he gets a chance to get in. He needs to learn to stay calm and seated, until you tell him it is ok to get in his crate to eat his food. Once he is in it, shut the door and let him finish without being distrubed.

Thanks again for all the input. I'm really not reading too much into this anymore...after thinking about it and doing a bit more research, I will continue to enforce good manners around meal time and make him work for his food. Since this is his only issue whatsoever, it makes more sense for me to back off and let him eat rather than constantly making him more paranoid that I'm going to take it. If he knows that I give the food and I am in charge, it only makes sense that once he's earned the food, he gets to eat it in peace. Since he will readily give up any toy or treat, I don't feel like this is a huge issue. I will continue to monitor him closely though and if I feel that he is getting worse or the behavior is spreading to other areas, I will definitely consult a professional. Thanks again!