I think Jim's post made a lot of sense, especially to me because I have a dog that growls like this (when I clip his nails, or ask him to go in his crate, for instance). But he's definitely not dominant. I never had a dog that ever growled at me before so I had no idea what to do. I do believe now that he is uncomfortable/fearful (he's an unsettled kind of dog and worries about things).

HOWEVER. The OP's dog is not "just growling".. he is also showing his teeth/raising his lips at his owner over food. To me this is not just a sign of being uncomfortable, it's a sign of aggression. I could be wrong here.

 Quote:

I could be wrong here, but I believe that while in a pack alpha members eat first, I don't think that GENERALLY alpha walks around taking food from lower ranking pack members for the heck of it. Now, could alpha do so? Perhaps. But just like your manager at work COULD abuse their power, it doesn't mean they should or do. And when they do, you don't respect them, you just become angry, right?

I sort of liken the food issue to that. Food is the one thing that any dog, even the lowest ranking member of the pack, will defend. If alpha doesn't ALLOW food, that's one thing (ie. not enough food, alpha eats and lower pack members go hungry) but I think that in dog pack structure taking food once given would be viewed as an abuse of power. No?

I'll take it one step further and I'm only basing it on wolf pack behavior I've seen on television . I don't see the Alpha totally extinguishing growling at him in his pack .

Especially around food . They're all growling at each other . The Alpha's making sure he get what he wants , them growling or not .It's a mess , they are all trying to get as much food as they can get . Their survival instincts telling them that . They know it may be along time til they eat again.

Now if a lesser makes a play for dominance which also involves growling but also much more , then the Alpha will deal with that member .

But now I think I'm getting in over my head with wolf packs so I think I'm done.

Jim,

I had a Mal that would growl at me if I touched him after laying his food down. It pissed me off so I hand fed him for two weeks. A couple weeks later after giving him the bowl again, he would growl at me after setting the food down.

Now, so far I've stated nothing different from whats already been said...except this dog later took to biting me on the A** as I turned to walk out of the kennel after setting his food down. For this, he got lifted off the ground by his face and held against the kennel until he looked away from me.

Like clockwork, a couple weeks later he would do the same thing. In this case it could be food guarding, or dominance. He has his food and I am leaving, yet he feels the need to bite me. It could be situational...there's a crate in his kennel which is 6'X 8', plenty of room in my mind, but maybe not enough in his. So, if he's uncomfortable thats one thing...to bite me for no reason is entirely another.

This did not happen over night. The dog was 7 months old when I got him and it started about 3-4 months later. He was pretty darn tough and although fun to train, could be a real hard head. He was never allowed to display any dominance over any of my family members, or the other 3 dogs in the household.

So now he is maturing and feeling his oats and decides to take a run at dad. My question is to you is, do you think this was discomfort on his part or dominance/aggression?. And, in your opinion did I handle it correctly?

He was only around for another 4-5 months after that so I can't give you a final outcome.

Howard

 Quote:

So now he is maturing and feeling his oats and decides to take a run at dad. My question is to you is, do you think this was discomfort on his part or dominance/aggression?. And, in your opinion did I handle it correctly?

Not seeing the dog but having a similiar situation IMO it's a combination of both . I think you did the right thing . I'm for setting boundaries . Like I've said earlier some(a minority in my opinion) may take not correcting them for growling over food as a sign of weakness and test further. So this guy did and you set boundaries . That was disobediance (biting your a**) and you dealt with it .

I've been feeding him with the food in my lap like Jennifer suggested. He has no problem with this, or being touched or petted while eating. Connie, he has no other signs of aggression just the food. Toys I can tell him drop, and he drops. I have no fear approaching him when he has a toy and taking it if I need to, he doesn't care, especially if you trade him with a treat. We practice obedience, and he is a loving, playful dog. He is a hard dog. Corrections on a flat leash while make him just look at you as if to say that's it? That's why I use the e-collar he responds to it well. He has always been fed in the crate unless we took a trip somewhere couldn't.

 Quote: Chris Green

Corrections on a flat leash while make him just look at you as if to say that's it? That's why I use the e-collar he responds to it well.

Hey Chris, I have a question for you - when you decided to use something other than a flat collar, what was the reason? And, when deciding what to use, why an e-collar?

Sorry , I didn't have time last night to answer your question fully . Like I said I think you handled the initially incident the best way you could with what you had at the time .

I'm not sure how you handled the 2nd incident but for me what I would do would be to work on good solid sit and/or down stays . Once dog is solid on those he's put in put in either position , bowl of food is put down , walk out of kennel . I'm not saying rush out , everthing is calm and confident . Once out release dog to eat . Good OB on dog and dog doesn't get the idea he won anything .

I think it's more of a thing where I'm invading his space as opposed to a dominance issue. Because it's not a kennel but a 4X3 crate. In the future I'm just going to set the food down then release him. It should simplify things.