# Free feeding/food aggression



## capella008 (Aug 8, 2012)

My 4 month old pup has been having food aggression issues since the day we brought her home. She has come a long way, but she does still growl sometimes while she's eating if we try to pet her and her body gets very tense. Our trainer has suggested trying free feeding.

I'm kind of hesitant to try this because she has been having some digestive issues lately that we're working on resolving. She was having soft stool, and now we have switched her food to Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy with 2 tbs canned pumpkin, and it seems to be working well. However I know that overfeeding can lead to digestive problems. We believe she is 15 or 16 weeks and she weighs about 38 lbs. She gets 1.5 cups 3 times daily.

On the other hand, the food aggression is so frustrating. We've tried so many different things, I'm not sure what else to do. She scarfs down her food so quickly, we started giving her about 1/4 c at a time and making her sit and wait and coming up to us and eating the food out of a bowl on our lap, which seemed to work, however it would sometimes take 30-45 minutes to feed her (getting her calm in between portions). Then, we ordered one of those bowls that makes dogs slow down while eating and make her wait til we say ok and then pet her while she's eating and if she growls, we tell her no and take the food away until she's calmed down. I feel that her growling while she's eating has decreased significantly from the beginning, however her body language is still very very tense and guarded while she's eating. I know that she probably had to protect her food at some point in her life, which is why she's doing this now. I don't know if taking the food away when she growls or acts aggressive is contributing to her feeling as if she needs to continue doing that, however I want her to know that she can't act that way.

Any suggestions? Thank you


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

Make a training session out of meals and make her work for it. Everything comes from your hand and she has to follow through for the reward. I used this method with my pup to begin foundation training and now I alternate meals, but I think he prefers to be fed during training.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

We have a food guarder here too. She's come a long way, but she still has to be fed in her crate. She eats so fast, I'm sure if she were free-fed the feedings wouldn't be any different than they are now, since the food would still be measured. With my puppy, I never interupted his meals, but I did add goodies to the bowl halfway through his meals. He not only learned that my hand coming near his bowl was something to look forward to, he also learned to stop eating mid-way and sat and waited for the extras. Yikes, they're smart, lol!


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

I'm not sure why you need to bug the dog while she's eating. I wouldn't react so nicely if someone stuck their fingers in my food while I was eating either 

This is what I would do: 
-crate the dog during meals
-if she growls as you approach her crate with food, don't put the food down, take the food away and try again the next day. If she does it again, remove the food once again. After a day or so of fasting, I promise you she won't growl as you approach her crate. Healthy dogs won't starve themselves and soon learn the way it works. Growl and starve or act right and eat. 
-Leave her bowl down in her crate, close the door, leave her alone for 15 minutes and come back to remove the bowl. 

That's it. No reason to complicate it with fingers in her bowl while she's eating or petting her during her meals. Let her eat in peace. If you want to bond, feed her kibble one by one while you're sitting on the couch watching tv. I like doing that with my new dogs to establish a bond. If you want her to eat slower, get a slow feeder bowl or put her food in an atomic ball so she can work for her meals.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I completely agree with gbchottu on this. Feed her in her crate and leave her alone. Growling before putting down the food, means no food.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Some other ideas for slowing her down (in addition to qbchottu's post):

- Do a quick vacuum out of the bottom of the crate before meal time to pick up any hair clumps, then throw her food all over the bottom of the crate. She will have to slow down because she will have to pick up the food off the bottom of the crate.

- Feed her in her own room (alone) tethered to something so she can't have free movement. Use either a cookie sheet or a muffin pan and spread her food out over the sheet or a small amount in each muffin spot. Leave her to eat her food alone and come back when she is done. Have a treat in hand to trade her for her bowl.

- Bring her outside on a long line, throw her kibble in your backyard (somewhere fenced where no one or dogs can bother her), release her to go get her treats, stay at the end of the long line and sit down and don't bother her. She will track her morning meal through the grass, which is a mental workout and she learns that you can be in the vicinity of her food and not be a conflict for her. When you think she has found it all, call her into you and reward her with a high value treat, then take her away from the area.

Hope this helps!


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## capella008 (Aug 8, 2012)

We did feed her in her crate and leave her alone when we first brought her home, but if we walked past or got near her while she was eating, she would react negatively. This is why we wanted to address this behavior. Our 3 year old husky/gsd mix doesn't react if we come near her food while she's eating, and as the pack leaders we should be able to touch her food or even take it away from her whenever we want. Basically we just do not want to see that behavior at all. I don't want to "bond" with her during meals, I just don't want a food aggressive dog. She also had some dominance issues when we first brought her home, but those are getting better with the help of our trainer. She has an excellent "wait." We can put the food bowl right under her nose, walk out of the room for a few seconds, and she won't touch the food til we say its ok. I will try putting treats in her bowl while she's eating though! Thank you everyone


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

You are making the problem worse by taking the food away when she growls at you. She is growling b/c she's afraid you will take the food away and when you actually take it away it confirms her fears. I created a food guarding issue with my dog Chama and it took a long time to undo. I never totally trusted her so when there were little kids around I would feed her in the bathroom or somewhere I knew she wouldn't be bothered. 

I don't see the purpose in petting her while she's eating. Free feeding is never a good idea, especially with a dog who has digestive issues. Have you tried randomly adding yummy tidbits to her food while she's eating? That means tossing things like pieces of real chicken, cheese, smelly treats, etc. into her bowl while she's eating. STart out as far away as you can and make it casual. She should learn that you coming close to her food means good things, and not bad things (food getting taken away) will happen. 

When she is no longer growling at you when you come near her, praise her. Until that happens, ignore the growl. The danger of correction a growl is that the dog will go straight to a nip or a bite. A growl is a warning signal and it is a useful tool for them to have.


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