feeding aggression

[roushlionhearted]

Hi I am new here and I was looking for some help

We have a 6 month Rotti and at every feeding we have mixed his meal with our hands and made him sit and wait before allowing him to eat and petted him while eating..
He was wonderful about this.
This am when I went to feed him,he glared up at me,would not eat anything and simply growled,barked and was very aggressive towards his food,and would not let us in the room.

We gave him the sit and wait command and he did listen,but stayed growling,and barking at us..
I took the food away,tried feeding him in his crate and he buried the food,with his crate mat....and still will not eat.

Any suggestions?????

Thank you in advance for any help I can get...

[stale]

hi roush

only have general advice for you, nothing concerning the whole burying his food thing.

there's no real reason to bother your dog while he's eating. if you want to be sure you can be safe with food, instead of petting him while he eats, have him trade his bowl up for something really good, like a piece of hotdog or chicken. that way he learns that if someone is bugging him while he eats it's to give him something even better than puppy dinner!!!

to bother him while he eats can create resource guarding. just taking his food away without trading for it is an excellent way to teach him he can't trust you.

like i said, i've no clue what's up with the burying the food thing. that's just strange. but if you truly want him to be comfortable with people around while he eats, make his next week's worth of meals hand fed.

seriously. make him sit, give him a handful of kibble to eat from your palm. then make him lay down, repeat. rinse and repeat till he's finished his meal. the hand feeding approach is an excellent way to teach him that all good things come from you. and the fact you make him work for it reinforces that he gets good things when he does good things.

hope this helps

stale

[aldelgreco]

you need to stop petting him while he eats.
i make my dogs look me in the eye, and once they have settled down from the idea that they are about to be fed, i make them sit and stay, then i just stick the food in the crate and leave them alone until they are done.

i know some people say that messing with them while they eat is a good way to keep them from resource guarding, but...to me it seems like it would really annoy my female rott. her food time is really important to her, and i wouldn't want her to think that it is some kind of test. she is very smart, so i know the kinds of things that seem to "annoy" her. The last thing I want her is for her to associate me with a negative feeling during food time, to me that seems like a recipe for disaster on so many levels....you should be a part of it by providing the food, letting them know that it is not free (making them sit, stay, get in your kennel, etc) then let them have their reward free of any distractions.

[Lola B Marie]

When Lola began doing this, we had to begin NILIF,a program for food aggressive dogs. Do a search and read what you can. Some very wise members here explained it better than I can but, basically, we feed every morsal of food, treats etc from our hands. She gets nothing unless she sits politely and does not push, grab or growl. She has learned respect and manners. NILIF stands for nothing in life is free.

[roushlionhearted]

Thank you all so much for the advice
The petting while he eats is what we were taught in his obedience classes..
we make him sit and wait when we release him and he starts to eat it is only a quick pet down his back,then we leave him alone...
Guess I made it sound like we pet him thru the whole meal..sorry(

As far as burying his food,I have no clue either,I threw it out and started over later in the day and he was perfect!!!
Thank you again,I can see that this is going to be a wonderful site,and full of info, from a lot of knowledgeable dog owners.....


He did eat later in the day and I used the suggestions you gave to me and I thank you all.
I fed him from my hand and he took it, and was really well behaved..
NILIF >
Carol and Roush GT

[larryvw2007]

My boy is now just about 7months old. He has zero food aggression toward me but toward my 2 year old female rotti he does. He is about the same size as she is. I make sure I interveen but he would take her food too if he food. He like his food.

[mamamia1]

Originally Posted by stale

hi roush
seriously. make him sit, give him a handful of kibble to eat from your palm. then make him lay down, repeat. rinse and repeat till he's finished his meal. the hand feeding approach is an excellent way to teach him that all good things come from you. and the fact you make him work for it reinforces that he gets good things when he does good things.

stale

I feed two out of three meals per day like this. Works great and gives a little extra time for to reinforce her training, which is always a good thing.

[roushlionhearted]

I guess the 4th was a strange day for Roush..
That is the day he acted aggressive towards his food,but since that episode ,and following what you all have suggested he is wonderful!!
I have been feeding him by hand at his mealtime,I give his commands and he does all I ask..
Thank you for all your help...
This site is just what we needed...