Small Brag and a question. (kind of longish)

[anna&jacksmom]

We have been working very hard with Anna and her food agression problem, and we still have a LONG way to go, but we made so much progress so far. Yesterday I wanted to give both dogs a treat. I put them in a sit stay right beside each other and told Anna "Leave it" I tossed a piece of chicken in front of Jack and then one in front of Anna. I told Jack "take it" and he had his piece. I then told Anna to take hers and she did. I was very proud. She didn't like the fact she couldn't scarf up both pieces but she waited her turn and didn't try to take them. Today the siamese cat tried to get the dogs in trouble and batted down a pack of french fries (McDonalds variety) to the dogs. When I returned to the room I saw Anna and Jack SHARING the fries while the cat was sitting on the counter watching and waiting for the dogs to be fussed at. My cats are just devious that way.

Here is the part where I have a question and need a little advice.

Eventhough Anna will leave chicken alone and share french fries, she is still very agressive about kibble. She is hand fed 2-3 times a week and eats from her bowl the rest. She must sit and stay while I fix it and then wait with it at her feet until I tell her it is ok to eat (usually only 30 seconds or so). My trainer's advice to help the situation was to muzzle Anna so she couldn't hurt Jack and have her watch him eat correcting her for agression and rewarding ignoring. But, Jack won't eat if she is there I think even if she isn't growling, she is still sending agressive doggie vibes that he is picking up on.

Does anyone have advice on how to get him to eat so we can take the trainers advice? Yummies in the bowl doesn't do it I tried once but I dont want to make Jack into a pickier eater than he is already. He won't even eat kibble from my hand he just spits it out. I am really out of ideas. I will be asking my trainer the same question Monday but I would like your opinions as well.

[RottiMomCT]

When she is hand fed - are you holding her bowl in your hands, or feeding her with your hands?

Sounds like she might be guarding her food bowl. If she was sharing french fries and allowing the other dog to eat in front of her, yet she makes a fuss when her bowl is there, it could be the BOWL that she's guarding...not the contents.

Have Anna in a sit/stay while you prepare her food, but feed Jack first so he has his dinner in peace and Anna is concentrating on her bowl up there on the counter getting all sorts of yummies in it.

Just my 2 cents....hope this helps...
:)

[TrishB]

I don't know if this will help, but hey, it doesn't hurt to offer! ;)

I was watching Dr. Stanley Coren's television show, "Good Dog" a couple of weeks ago and they had a dominancy problem with a dog.

He had her place the dogs bowl on the table, so she could see it. He then had her place crackers behind the bowl. Before she fed the dog, she would take the crackers from behind the bowl and eat them in front of the dog. From the dogs' perspective, she was eating food from her bowl. ;)

Maybe you could try this with your girl? Put some crackers behind it for you, then some tasty liver bits or something for your boy. Eat some crackers yourself, then feed your boy some tasty treats, then give your girl her bowl. That way, she'll know that she's last on the totem pole and has to wait until everyone else has eaten their fill.

It's just a thought, but I don't think it could hurt. Of course, I would bounce the idea off of your trainer first. But as RottiMomCT said, it may have more to do with bowl protection rather than food protection. Although that may have been how it started in the first place.

Let us know how things are going! :)

[anna&jacksmom]

I will try to "feed myself" from Anna's bowl, but I really don't think that she is guarding the bowl. She has no intrest in guarding the empty bowl and she is agressive towards Jack when he tries to eat from his own bowl. She tried to attack in training class when there was kibble on the floor not in her bowl. THis is why I think that she is guarding dog food in general. I may also try handfeeding both dogs from Annas bowl (with help incase it gets ugly) and see if she gets the point then. Thanks for the help and please keep it coming.