food time aggression

[demertis]

Hello everybody,i have a small rottie 3 months old-apollo,i train him everyday twice about half an hour each time combined with game and free running,anyway the training goes perfect but for the first time today i feed him with beef (dog food) and i tryed to praise him as he was eating and started growling as was eating and then i took the food bowl and everything OK,soon as i placed it back and was eating i was praising him but was GROWLING wild.what to do?to be honest i got affraid,meaning that now his only 3 months and growls scary after 6-7 months what happens?bites me?....I heard a lot of times that rotties do such thinks but i need advise how to make him ok when eating. thanks

[Saginaw]

This puppy needs to be left alone when he is eating no praise no nothing till he is done eating. If you keep taking hi food away to show your the boss when he gets older you will get bit he feels like he has to guard his food because you take it away and pet him when he is eating.

[Anne]

Originally Posted by demertis

Hello everybody,i have a small rottie 3 months old-apollo,i train him everyday twice about half an hour each time combined with game and free running,anyway the training goes perfect but for the first time today i feed him with beef (dog food) and i tryed to praise him as he was eating and started growling as was eating and then i took the food bowl and everything OK,soon as i placed it back and was eating i was praising him but was GROWLING wild.what to do?to be honest i got affraid,meaning that now his only 3 months and growls scary after 6-7 months what happens?bites me?....I heard a lot of times that rotties do such thinks but i need advise how to make him ok when eating. thanks

Your pup was growling because he was afraid you were going to steal his food.
You proved him to be correct so don't be surprised if he continues to growl if you continue to pester him when he's eating.

The way to make him ok when eating is to leave him alone and let him eat in peace. The only reason you should be near the dog when he's eating is to throw some extra tasty treats in his bowl so he knows good things happen when you are around his food. Don't put your hand in the bowl. Drop the treats in or near the bowl.

Why would you praise him because he was eating his meal? What was he doing that was worthy of praise?

What you heard was nonsense. Most dogs will growl if they don't trust the person who is lurking around their food. This is not a trait exclusive to Rottweilers. Your dog will learn to trust you when you leave him in peace to eat his meal.

[demertis]

thanks people once more time for the advices

[Darin]

I'm going to give you a different point of view. You as the pack leader SHOULD be able to take away a food bowl at any time. The pack leader, you, is the boss. By training with obedience will set the pack rankings.

The dog growling and showing food aggression is him trying to be dominant and pack leader. You can not allow that. By briefly taking his food in no way is cruel to the dog. By taking his food will not make the dog resent you or make the dog scared of you.

If you have small children and they happen by the dog as it's eating is bad. If you establish the pack rankikngs then this scenario won't be a problem. Both of my Rotties were trained to let all the family members take the food bowl away at any time. My small children, with my supervision, could take away the food at any time. Children and dogs should be supervised at all times.

If you havent been to any training then I'd encourage you to go to obedience classes. It's money well spent.

This is my $.02 and has served me well with 2 well adjusted and behaved Rotties. Good luck!

[eminbrasil]

Hi demertis, I would have to agree with what Darin said, well it has certainly worked for us and I can only speak from personal experience. From day one, the first day we brought our pup home, we worked hard to establish who was boss. With food, we taught our pup to sit and wait and only eat on our command, and when she was eating, we would put our hand in her food and stroke her to avoid her becoming possessive over her food. Now (at only 6 months) as soon as she hears her food, she sits down and waits patiently, we can put the food infront of her and she won't touch it until we tell her she can eat - we can put our hands in the food, stroke her, or take away the food. Like Darin said, your pup needs to learn who is the boss ! They do also sense if you are a little nervous, they are highly intelligent and can be quick to take control if they are allowed to ! Our puppy is adorable, we are totally in love with her, but as with most Rotties (so I have heard), they can be very stubborn and certainly do have a will of their own at times ! Our pup was 4 months old when we got her, so you have plenty of time to train her out of this ! Hope this helps !

[shimmer]

I still DON'T understand the need to mess with a dog while eating. What would you do if someone every time you ate someone took/petted/ you. YOU would start to resent them and become protective of the food. What we did with Thunder from the start is letting him eat in peace!!!!. I also before letting him eat see me get food from his bowl sit down on the floor and hand feed him. then gave him his bowl and left him ALONE. To this day NOBODY puts their hand in my plate I give a warning and then I bite that hand hard! the only ppl who can get into my plate are toddlers and babies. Adult will be bit. What I learned growing up was this: Treat animals/ppl how you want to be treated and the rewards will come. Stop getting in your pups way while eating unless to drop a treat in his bowl. I can take Thunders food bowl any time I want, with no problem. Why? he knows that he will have a better treat when returned to him.

shimmer

[NikoJ]

My pup will let me do anything I want with his bowl while he is eating, because he trusts that I will not take his food from him. He learned early on, if I am near his bowl I might be dropping in some pieces of cheese or chicken. Now when I walk by, he pauses, wags his little stump of a tail and waits to see if a treat is going in. Sometimes I reach down and get his bowl, but this is only to stir in a raw egg.

He is happy to see me walk up because he has never had to associate me coming near with his food being taken away. I see no reason at all to prove you are the dominant one in the home by taking food from your pup.

The pup will learn the pack order through your training. Don't make meal time stressful.

My husband is the king of our castle... but if he tries to take my plate I might bite him. I will definitely growl and snarl.

[Harleys-Mom5332]

WOW! Two completely different views on this subject.

I start very early picking up bowls, taking bones, toys etc from my dogs at the same time teaching them that "give it" is a command to let me have whatever they have at the time, but I also always give it right back after inspecting it. Why? Because, I do not want to find myself in a situation where my dog has something (especially something that can harm them) and not be able to just walk up and take it from them for fear of being bitten.

As my dogs get older, I do this less and less because it is not necessary to keep bugging them for no reason. Each and every one of my dogs will not only let me take whatever I want from them happily but will bring me bones and toys etc. whenever I tell them to "give it".

It is not a matter of doing it everytime but enough to establish the desired behaviour.

[eminbrasil]

Great attitude Harleys-Mom ! I agree totally, well said ! We do the same, we just let our pup know that on occasions it is necessary to remove things with no fear of her being possessive or aggressive, we have never had a problem. It is not a case of pestering them more of making them aware of the guidelines. If they aren't used to you being near their food or around them when they eat when the occasion arises that you need to remove the food they won't be expecting it and could become possessive/aggressive. We do like you Harleys-Mom and can take toys from our pups mouth no problem. I too think this is very important if you need to remove something dangerous from their mouth. And as you say, the older they get the less you need to do this. Very interesting, two completely different view points. Who is to say which is right, at the end of the day all dogs are different and if it works for you great, it doesn't mean the same thing will work for someone else

[ElleTrixieB13]

I don't feel you need to train your dog that when you come by you may take their food. I did as Niko did with my Rottie (who was older) and my bulldog (from a pup), making me coming around their food a positive thing, dropping in items. I also hand fed and would stick my hand in their dish with cookies to add, so they don't see a hand in their dish as a threat (that part may be a little controversial). I played the trade game with toys/bones, etc.

Yes, I could walk up to either of my dogs and take away their food bowl without negative reaction, but I didn't train it by taking it away. And if I do need to take away their bowl, I call them off their food so I know I can pick it up safely, and when they get it back there is always a special treat.

[CIRC1977]

I HAD A ROTT DOBERMAN MIX that had a perfect temperment unless he was near his food bowl and usually while eating a high value meal such as canned dog food. It was like someone flipped a switch in this dog I did'nt even dare put my hand near his food , and he totally respected me.This dog had started off as a family dog when I lived with my mom and dad still. When I moved from a apartment to my house with my wife and sons my dad no longer wanted the dog and I was more than willing to take him. At my dad house as a teenager there were no small children around and he was never taught to not be aggresive around his bowl, we all just new better.Unfortunately my 3 year old got whacked on the hand when he went to pat him on the head while he was eating. I dont blame the dog, I blamed myself for not teaching him differently, it was just something that was overlooked while training him while he was young because my parent and myself never thought of the scenario cuz there were not small children around at the time. Lesson learned the rough way, my son was not bit that bad, i dont think it really drew blood, it hurt his feelings more than anything I think. This is one thing that im working to avoid with the new pup I got now , hercules 6 month full rott.Plan for all scenarios folks , this could have been much much worse.