Food Aggression

[sowczar]

Hello all...This evening my wife and I went to dinner and we brought our steak bones home for our dogs. After a half an hour I went to take the bone away and our male boxer growled at me. I lured him away from the bone with some kibble in the other room while my wife threw the bone away.

We rescued the male and don't know much about his past. He is roughly 2-3 years old. He has never done anything like this in the past 5 months we have had him. My wife and I always use the NILIF techniques at feeding time and treats. Obviously, we want to nip this in the bud ASAP.

any thoughts..?

 

[Jan]

He probably thought the bone was pretty valuable and was willing to protect it. Not that he should of course. The leader of the pack (you), should be able to take anything away from him.

At least part of his food every day should be fed by hand. I would also start practising NILIF (Nothing in Life is free). Make him work for everything. Have him sit before going outside, before giving him treats etc.

Here are a few articles that might help you out:
http://www.newhopecattledogs.com/foodguarding.htm
http://www.newhopecattledogs.com/alpha.htm
http://www.newhopecattledogs.com/nilif.htm

You should also never give your dog a cooked bone. If you want to give them bones, they should be raw.

Good luck!

 

[Louie's Mom]

also, you shouldn't just take the bone from the dog, you should give it the command to "drop it" or "release" before you take the bone, otherwise you suprise them . and to suprise or do something shocking is a good way to be growled or snapped at.

I am not saying that you did just take it. It just some advise just incase you did

 

[sowczar]

Thanks for the info...I will try those.

Haven't had any problems since so that is a good thing.

so