Female aggression towards male while eating.

[DixieandHadeesmom]

Our female rotti gets aggressive towards our male rotti during feeding time. We can have him attached to his lead at one end of the cage with his food, and her at the other end with her food, and she will always keep an eye on his and "bitch" at him while eating. Even if he is no where near her food bowl. The aggression is only towards him. I can put my hand in front of her face when she's eating and growling at him and she won't bite me or anything. I wonder if he's teasing her in doggy language. LOL. anyway any advice?

[Kawakaze]

I think its a dog thing. Your female is just reminding him the food is hers. So long as its not towards you i wouldnt worry to much. Although all the dogs i have ever had have never been that protective of their food. Is the female the boss of the male? If yes, maybe you should try feeding her first and the male after she has finished eating.

[Shelby427]

Separate them. If you keep them completely separated during meals, she won't have the chance to be so rude. I keep both dogs in separate rooms when I feed them. It's not something that is funny to me, if one dog is being rude and aggressive.

Your best bet is to feed one at a time and keep them apart.

[moondog]

Are they in a kennel run or a crate when you say "cage"? Why the need to tether? There is obviously something going on between them, and I'd think the restriction of tethering would play into it. Stress between dogs over mealtime will only build animosity between them, so I'd feed them in completely separate areas to remove visual access as well as increase the distance between them so they each can eat in peace.

[jlhnokc]

How old are they? Are these issues present with their toys and or bones? How do they play together? Does the female push the male around? What type of training have they had? And like Moondog asked, why do you have him on a leash? Did he used to bug her while she ate? If that's the case, then yes seperate them when you feed them either in different kennels or rooms. If your male used to bug your female that explains her behavior, if not, then she's just being rude and I would look into correcting the behavior.

[DixieandHadeesmom]

They are a year old. I put him on a leash because he will go over to her bowl and eat her food. She's aggressive with her bones as well. I've tried separating them, but then they won't eat at all, and wine. And when I put them back together where they can see each other, they eat, but she growls and barks at him again. They are in a dog run. She's been protective of her food since we've gotten then at three months old, so I'm not sure if its just him or if it was the whole litter she's done so with.

[jlhnokc]

I would separate them. I know you say they wine, but I promise they will not go hungry. Feed them seperately out of sight of each other. Give them 10 or 15 minutes, if they haven't eaten, take up their bowls until the next feeding. Sounds like they may be a little too attached to eachother. Have you had them into any training seperatly?

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by DixieandHadeesmom

They are a year old. I put him on a leash because he will go over to her bowl and eat her food. She's aggressive with her bones as well. I've tried separating them, but then they won't eat at all, and wine. And when I put them back together where they can see each other, they eat, but she growls and barks at him again. They are in a dog run. She's been protective of her food since we've gotten then at three months old, so I'm not sure if its just him or if it was the whole litter she's done so with.

Have either of these dogs had any training? The fact that she's possessive over her food is not a good sign - you should be working on that behavior issue. What are you doing to curb her behavior?

Also, separate them when you feed them. Leave the food down for 15 minutes, if he/she doesn't eat it, then take it up until the next scheduled feeding. A healthy dog will not starve itself. Do the same with the other dog, put the food down for 15 minutes and oh well if they don't eat. They will soon learn to eat when it's available.

It seems to me YOU need to be in charge here and make the decisions on when and where they eat. They need leadership from you.