A case of Redirected aggression?

[alessadry]

I have a multi pet household, 2 six month old Rotties and 2 kittens. Everybody gets along well, at least most of the time. My main concern is that I have heard my male Rottie growl while eating a bone twice in these past two months, once as I passed by I thought I heard him growl and to confirm i pet him and he did it again and the other time as he was chewing a bone next to me and I moved to get up. In both instances, there was some other pet nearby, not too close but enough to make him nervous,. Before I get all upset, I was wondering if there are chances he might have been growling at my other dog or cat that were nearby as he normally does or if he growled at me as a form of redirected aggression, like getting confused.

My dogs are well obedience trained and show in many instances that they know I am the leader, they sit and stay before their meals, before being pet and before drinking.They are familiar with the "drop it" command and release the bone so I can exchange for something else. After both growling instances, I have taken him out alone, offered him a bone and let him sit next to me while chewing. He never growled again, at last, I pet him and to praise him I handed him a treat and let him finish his bone.

I can also say that he has suffered from a fractured toe lately where it hurts him to bend down to eat and eats very slowly. This has made him a little more grumpy, growling more than usual at my kittens if they get too close while he is eating. Also I am teaching him to stop chewing sticks as he eats them too so I have been saying no everytime he chews and sometimes squirt him with a water bottle, so perhaps he feels like he needs to guard more his stuff now that I do not allow stick eating?

Do you think he was growling at me? If he was wouldn't he be consistent and growl at me everytime? Should I perhaps give up giving bones or perhaps avoid keeping all pets together so I will never wonder again if the growling was directed to me?

I am really upset and in doubt, perhaps I will never know the truth, I would feel terribly heartbroken if after alla this training I have a dog with a guarding problem..

[hokisteph5]

Many dogs find bones, bully sticks, etc. to be high value. If you do a search of the forums on resource guarding, you'll find it's not uncommon what your male's doing.

One thing you can do is always crate him when he's chewing on a bone. That way he gets to enjoy his high value treat in peace. It will also protect you and the kittens.