food aggression in dogs

Ending Food Aggression in Your Dog

Food aggression seems to be a common problem with a lot of dog owners, but I think in most cases it can be a rather simple fix. Maybe give these techniques a try if you aren’t AFRAID of your dog. If you are afraid of your dog, you should probably get a trainer to help you conquer the fear otherwise you’re unlikely to have much success.

My German Shepherd Lizzie had tendencies to food aggression soon after I got her, and I am 100% sure that I had not addressed it immediately, it would have become a very dangerous situation. The techniques I used were intuitive, but I’ve later heard them discussed by trainers and was surprised to see Cesar Millan do similar things on a couple of his shows. I was 100% determined there was to be zero food aggression, especially toward me or one of my tiny Papillons.

I discussed in a previous post the major benefits in having a dinnertime ritual. Well, I realized that if you haven’t established that early, it’s probably not an easy thing to implement if you have multiple dogs. If you have multiple dogs, train them one-by-one separately until you can work on bringing them together.

Some simple tricks:

1. MOST IMPORTANT RULE: You can’t be lazy when feeding your dogs. You MUST stay and supervise as your dog eats. Don’t just put the food down and walk away! Feeding is a hugely important time, so make sure to put aside 5 minutes while they eat. Dogs don’t small talk during meal-times so it rarely takes long. If you have a finicky dog that refuses to eat, just put the food up and try at the next meal time. Dogs are just like us, if they are hungry, they will eat.

2. HOLD THE BOWL. If you have a dog that shows food aggression, use the dinnertime ritual to make him wait until you say “ok” to eat. Then, don’t put the bowl down. Hold the bowl up off the ground where your face is not near the bowl, you have complete control over the bowl, and if your dog makes the slightest sound or aggressive gesture, you can quickly remove the bowl. I used this technique with Lizzie and her growling possessiveness over her food bowl came to a grinding halt. She couldn’t feel possessive of a bowl she couldn’t control. Feed this way as many times as it takes for you to see the dog let go of possessiveness.

3. STAND CLOSE AND SUPERVISE: Once you feel comfortable that your dog has progressed with the holding the bowl exercise, start putting the bowl down. But do NOT go back to dropping the bowl and running or you’ll end up right where you were before. Put your dog in a sit-stay, place the bowl in front, and only when you release may the dog go to the bowl and eat. Again, DON’T leave. Stay right there close to bowl. You should be able to touch the bowl, the dog, stick your hands in the bowl, whatever. Don’t take the food away from the dog as long as they are ok with all this. The second you see your dog tense up and guard, use your feet and back your dog up off the bowl IMMEDIATELY. It’s your bowl and you paid for the food, so let him know that. If the aggression is still strong, maybe go back to holding the bowl. Keep doing this until you trust your dog 100%.

4. EATING AMONG OTHERS: When eating all together, you absolutely must stay and supervise. If you do not, whoever finishes eating first will inevitably try to go nab somebody else’s bowl whether they are still eating or not. Each dog has THEIR bowl and the do not eat out of anybody elses bowl. You are the referee. If one dog starts moving into another dog’s area, YOU back them up. If you do this consistently, your dogs will trust YOU to be the moderator and not feel the need to fight amongst themselves.

I hope those little tips are helpful. They have worked wonderfully with my pack, big and small!

Any other techniques or comments are very welcome!

The Doggie Dinnertime Ritual

In my experience, the dinner time ritual that I started with my oldest dog is the most effective behavioral tool in so many ways. It reinforces so many important dog behavior rules and training all in an exercise and it takes less than a minute a day. Your dog learns respect for you, it reinforces your place as pack leader, prevents food aggression, promotes harmony between dogs in multiple dog households, teaches restraint, good manners, sit, look, ok release, and stay. This is real doggie training bang for your buck.

Four dogs politely waiting to eat

I don’t remember why or when I started doing this with my first dog, Carmina, or even where I learned it. I learned it from somewhere, but it has been so long I don’t know where. Carmina, the mixed breed rescue dog who is now 12 years old was once what Cesar Milan famously terms a “red zone dog.” She is the reason I started learning about dogs, simply to learn how to prevent her from knocking me off my feet while attempting to attack any dog in sight. She was my only dog for 8 years, until I got Riyo four years ago. Obviously, by the time I got 4.5lb Riyo, I was comfortable knowing that I could trust Carmina.

Each dog since has been indoctrinated into the dinner time ritual. It is much easier training one dog at a time, as you can imagine. If you already have 4 dogs, it will be much harder to get this started.

Here’s what you do. You have their food prepared, and your dog is all excited to start chowing down. Usually, you put the bowl down and the dog’s head is in it before the bowl hits the floor. Many dogs immediately become possessive of it at that point. Instead, make the dog sit, then start to put down the bowl. As soon as the dog starts to move in, stand up again and put the dog back into a sit. If you have to put the dog into a sit, do it. Don’t let that bowl hit the floor until your dog understands it is not allowed to move forward. After the bowl is down, your dog will undoubtedly move toward it again. Stay over the bowl like you own it and put the dog back into a sit. You will be surprised how fast they figure this out. Do NOT let the dog move toward the bowl until you release it with “OK!” Most likely after a few days, they will get this ritual perfectly.

I taught each dog the same ritual as soon as they came into the house. Since Carmina already knew the drill, I could easily focus on training Riyo because she knew the rules already. Riyo learned within a couple of days. The Darcy came and the same drill. Carmina and Riyo would sit politely and wait until I explained the rule to Darcy. He got it within a few days as well. I also fostered a Doberman for a week that also learned the same drill within a couple of days.

Then, I added Lizzie who exhibited signs of food aggression, growling over the bowl, right off the bat. That stopped within the first week I had her and never returned. It was the same drill, the other three dogs waiting patiently and politely as Lizzie got schooled in dinnertime manners.

I also added the word “look” to the ritual. Carmina I did not bother with “look” as she is old enough that seeing at all is an accomplishment. The other three, as you can see in the picture, actually have to look me in the eye. They also learn the release word “ok” extremely well. You can talk, countdown, whatever, but until you say “OK!” the dogs wait. Start with 10 seconds, but work up to where you can do at least 30 seconds to a minute with no problem.

My four dogs eating together

As you can see, the result is four very different dogs eating right next to each other with no problems. Considering Carmina (lower left) came to me with the caveat “she needs to be separated from other dogs,” this is a great thing. Lizzie also could easily be an aggressive beast if left to her own decisions.

In conclusion, in less than a minute a day, this exercise helps with numerous behavior issues as well as teaches and reinforces obedience commands: “sit,” “stay,” “look,” and “ok.” It doesn’t get much easier and less time-consuming than that!

P.S. If you noticed Lizzie has very little food in her bowl, it’s because she already ate half a bag of chicken and a raw drumstick during her tracking run.