# Puppy Food Aggression?



## thedispatcher (Feb 17, 2015)

Hello everyone.. This is my first post here, I didn't see another post about food aggression, so my apologies if there already is one..


Our 9 week old puppy is (in my opinion) becoming a little food aggressive. This is our second GSD pup and I honestly cannot remember if we had this type of reaction from our other boy... When we put his food down he will sit and wait for it but then basically attacks it. We are feeding Wellness Large Breed Puppy and following feeding directions. We have been doing the "pick up the food if he's not done in 20 minutes", but he always finishes in less than 5 minutes. He gets small training treats and I made him turkey jerky that he gets occasionally as well. He's not starving and he's growing well according to our vet.. So I don't want to give him more food than what is suggested, since he isn't starving... Today I really noticed how protective he is over his food.. If you come near him while he eats he'll angle his body against you, if you try to pick up his bowl he'll put both feet in and shove his nose to the bottom of the bowl. He has not tried biting or growling yet and he doesn't tense and stop eating when I reach for him or the bowl. 

If this is just a 9 week old puppy phase please let me know, we have two young children and I want to make sure he does not end up food aggressive for many reasons but especially that reason. Thanks in advance!

Also, he will react with the same gusto when given training treats and jerky, but not with bones (or hard treats-antlers, pig skin, etc).


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Start feeding him from hand or feeding him by putting small handfuls of food in his bowl when he is waiting politely. Put his meal in a baggy or tupperware and set down his empty food bowl. He'll probably go sniff it. Wait for him to step back and look at you before emptying a small handful into his bowl. Repeat the process until you've run out of food. It'll help refocus the idea that food COMES from you, it isn't something to GUARD from you.


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## thedispatcher (Feb 17, 2015)

He will sit and wait for me to give him his food.. But once he has it he gets very very excited and will basically inhale his food.. I'll try doing a little bit at a time and seeing if that works.


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## Persinette (Jan 31, 2015)

You should be able to take anything away from your dog at any time: food, toys, etc. While he is eating practice taking his food away. If he lets you you're golden. Give it back. If he gets protective, like growling or going for your fingers, he's still little enough to not do damage and you can work on fixing it early.

Have you trained the off command or leave it? Both are great for practicing impulse control/trying to get at food/any object.

Do you play tug? Tug, when played properly, can really help a dog learn to give you anything that they have/want when you ask for it. They learn with tug that so long as they give up the item, they get it back and can play. If they don't, no more play. I'd read articles on how to play tug correctly though or it can create dominace issues or break a dogs confidence if done wrong.

You can also get a slow feeder. One of the bowls that releases food slowly or has barriers to the food to force the pup to slow down if you think its just an inhaling food too fast problem.


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## thedispatcher (Feb 17, 2015)

We have been doing "off" for when he jumps against the furniture or if he's messing with something he shouldn't, he does pretty well with that. We'll try that as well with the food.

We do play tug, we let him win often, could that be a part of the "issue"? 

Maybe I'm overreacting.. I've just seen food aggressive dogs and that's one of those things that I will absolutely not tolerate, so I'm scared he's showing early signs of it.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Letting your dog win at tug does not create dominance issues. The only issue it can create is bad habits if you don't have rules in place (only tug when I tell you to take it, let go when I say, don't bite my fingers, etc). But if you are consistent about making sure he doesn't nip at you when you are playing and he's not being rude by jumping at you to start a game, he can win without there being any issues. Really, the only thing you'll do if you never let him win tug is you'll teach him it's a boring game because he will never win it. Which is unfortunate because tug is an excellent reward game.

I do agree that you should be able to take anything from your dog at any time, but you need to teach him that it is valuable to give up something he likes (like his food) because he may get to exchange it for something else (like an awesome piece of cheese!). But if you don't first TEACH him that it's a good thing for you to pick up his food and you just start picking it up, you are much more likely to CREATE guarding issues.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Read this: Preventing Aggression over Food | The Bark it's a really good explanation and also gives the how to's nicely. 

I've worked with kids who had been in the criminal justice system - many of them also ate hunched over their food, either because they had no food at home before getting into the system or had been in other placements where people had been allowed to take their food, so we were really strict about mealtimes and no one reaching towards plates, and staff were watchful, adding to, and not stopping a kid from getting what they were able to have. Anyway, I saw that some breeders are feeding separately so that the puppies don't have to fight littermates over food, in a way to help them see food as a plentiful resource, which I think makes sense. 

My youngest dog eats half his meals out of a bowl, the other half out of a Premier busy buddy squirrel. It was just something I started when he got here, and he liked it a lot - but he eats that in his crate. It gives him the chance to work for his meal.  

This website has a lot of good stuff, but if you are going to click one link, check out the first one: Free Downloads: Posters, Handouts, and More! | Animal Behavior and Medicine Blog | Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Persinette said:


> You should be able to take anything away from your dog at any time: food, toys, etc. *While he is eating practice taking his food away. If he lets you you're golden. Give it back.* If he gets protective, like growling or going for your fingers, he's still little enough to not do damage and you can work on fixing it early.
> 
> Have you trained the off command or leave it? Both are great for practicing impulse control/trying to get at food/any object.
> 
> ...


I do NOT agree with the bolded....taking food away after giving it will create resource guarding behavior. If you've given the pup something, it is theirs to enjoy. It is unfair to take it away. Puppies are competing with littermates for meals when they are all together eating. It is natural for them to eat quickly...high food drive.
After time, they learn to slow down because there isn't others eating out of the same food bowl. Many breeders will separate out pups during mealtime/others don't. Use meals for training time, or let pup hunt for it(track for it too) Bowls aren't really necessary, IMO.

TUG is only done if there is tension on the toy...the person holding the tug controls the game, not the dog. If there is no tension, no game. Who is in control?


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