One thing not to do is to keep doing whatever it is that brings on that growl.
Found myself making that error when my pup was about 8 mos --- trying things, thinking to myself, "Will THIS make you growl? If I do THIS, might you even snap?"
Once I became more matter of fact, it quit.
Plus, we did a ton of desensitization stuff prescribed by Connie.
Jamie Craig Webboard User Reg: 09-01-2009
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Gambit did a bit of food gaurding at the beginning (and he's a brat with high value things which I've almost gotten rid of)....He wasn't at the point of growling but I wanted to nip it in the butt. I got one of those "conjoined" food bowls (the "side by side" ones that you can put water on one side and food on the other). I only put food in one side and cool treats in the other. While he was eating I'd reach down and put cool treats in the other side and pet him lightly on the back. Took a few sessions before the bit of gaurding he did was completely gone and he welcomed my hand there. He now eats normally and "safely" in his crate. I will occasionally proof (always in the form of "here have a bit of the steak I'm eating in your bowl") but once I get to a point where I've had no issues and am confident that if I needed to I could ask one of my dogs to step away from the bowl I let them eat in peace.
Reg: 12-23-2008
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I would go the route of crate feeding the dog. place the food in the crate allow him to go in and get it, have him in there for a while after finishing and then get him out put him in a "down" a safe distance away and retrieve the bowl. DO NOT attempt to take the bowl out of the crate while the dog is still inside.
You could go the route of systematic desensitizing, however it takes a long time and if done wrong could increase the food guarding behavior. Even if you got the dog comfortable with your presence while eating, there is no guarantee that he would behave the same with other people. So the safest thing to do IMO is crate feeding.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
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Quote: Robert Kirkwood
I would go the route of crate feeding the dog. place the food in the crate allow him to go in and get it, have him in there for a while after finishing and then get him out put him in a "down" a safe distance away and retrieve the bowl. DO NOT attempt to take the bowl out of the crate while the dog is still inside.
You could go the route of systematic desensitizing, however it takes a long time and if done wrong could increase the food guarding behavior. Even if you got the dog comfortable with your presence while eating, there is no guarantee that he would behave the same with other people. So the safest thing to do IMO is crate feeding.
Rob
I would agree with a long time-stretch of this protocol, because I think that all the things that have been done have created a dog with even more real issues around food security than he started out with. The dog needs a break, I think, to develop calmness and lack of anxiety about his food.
I would add "and walk away."
Let his crate be a no-fly zone while he's eating. Let him see that his food is safe.
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Re: Dog growling while eating.
[Re: Debbie Martin ]
#353773 - 01/17/2012 07:51 PM 
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