" I realized Jethro was guarding the defrosting food and attacking Skipper for coming near it. I decided to demonstrate my ownership of the food and made it clear to Jethro that if I want to let Skipper near it, he is going to have relax and let it happen. Tonight I put Jethro in a Down and about 8 feet away, I demonstrated my ownership of the food by putting the container down on the floor and letting Skipper sniff it. Jethro had to stay in his Down, which he did very nicely. After Skipper sniffed the food, I picked it up and cradled it in my arms, all the while letting Jethro know that the food was mine and he was not allowed to get reactive about it. Later, when I fed the dogs, again, I put Jethro in a Down just outside the kitchen. I positioned myself between Jethro and Skipper, and fed Skipper where Jethro could see Skipper was eating first and I was in control of the situation. After Skipper finished, I fed Jethro in a private corner where he had his food to himself and there was absolutely no risk of Skipper getting too close. I was in charge of that, too. Now both dogs are curled up quietly sleeping while I have my dinner. Coincidence? I don't think so."


To me, this is seeing a low and not-particularly-unusual level of food-guarding and turning it into a full-blown competition between two dogs.

All that was needed, IMO, was to remove the dogs from the food area or to insert myself as the food-handler (no dogs left in the exposed-food area together, alone).

Everything else was really over-thinking and complicating and (IMO) the opposite of what you want. I would urge that you not exacerbate what was minor and turn it into a food war; this is the last thing you want.


Over-thinking, adding elements that were not even there ..... very easy to do, I know. Best to stop and consider, "what was the actual problem?"

"I decided to demonstrate my ownership of the food and made it clear to Jethro that if I want to let Skipper near it, he is going to have relax and let it happen."

None of this was part of the initial (and relatively minor) event.

Having received a couple of PMs about this food issue, I'm bumping it back and hoping that the PMers will post.

Also didn't want to bury Kory's O.P.

I agree with Connie & Steve. You are creating bigger problems then you started with doing the things you are.

If you are 'in charge' you don't need to do the silly things you are doing. No food or bones unless the dogs are physically seperated. No need to be teasing one dog by feeding another in front of it. This is NOT leadersip. Leadership is strict OB, rules that are set, inforced & infractions dealt with quickly & appropriately then forgotten, no grudge holding.

Feeding time or recreational bones times should be a happy time, a time filled with comfort & contentment, not STRESS. Worry over whos being fed what & whos not, is not fun. It has no place in this scenario.

I can feed my dogs right next to each other if I wanted to without incident, but why should I. I don't have anything to proove. They know not to bother each other & they know that I am in charge. What would I hope to gain by adding this stress to their mealtime enjoyment. NOTHING.

Practice you leadership in other more important ways.

There are many dogs that get along fine even with toys, until you add higher value items like bones. If you want to feed rec bones, thats fine.

But why take away from their enjoymet of eating the bones by adding all that stress of having to guard their food.

Also, it reinforces the continuation of this kind of guarding & possessive behavior. If war really breaks out, your little guy doesn't stand a chance. Why take that risk. JMHO

Thank you, Anne. Jenny is doing so much work and being such a great owner that I was hoping she would not take any of this in a negative way. I also was really hoping that the folks with long experience (like you) would weigh in on what I too see as counter-productive messing with something like this.

I have a big rule against mucking up the dog's food security. If this is not quite yet true: "They know not to bother each other & they know that I am in charge," then I simply set it up so no issues can even come up. The dogs simply receive what I give and know that it's always safe once I gave it.

No exposed food is around any unsupervised dogs.No chewies, no toys.

I take this absolutely seriously:
"No food or bones unless the dogs are physically seperated. No need to be teasing one dog by feeding another in front of it."

Point taken.

Thanks, Jenny!




Kory, did we answer this OK?

 Quote: Kory Fox

O.K. got the marker training dvd. Watched it once. A little over 1/2 way watching it again, this time with my wife. I have a couple questions right now

First, Ed says in the video not to use toys as a reward unless the dog outs the toy on the first command every time. So, how do I teach the dog to out the toy on the first command every time?

Second, I'm a little unclear on how to add the command to an excercise. I get that you don't do that until "you love it" but it never really explains exactly how to add the command, unless I'm missing something.

Third, If my 3 year old female lab already sits and downs reliably, althoug not always as fast as I'd like, should I reteach her with markers?

Fourth, do you focus striclty on one excersize every time you work until that excersize is where you want it?

Thanks,
Kory

Fourth,

Yes you answered my questions just fine. I guess it's just going to take practice to really get it.

Don't worry about hijacking the post I'm learning just the same.