More Food Aggression..

714 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Turtle11, Apr 11, 2016

wideturn

Discussion Starter · Apr 11, 2016

Hey guys! I haven't been on here in a while, Pax has been a superstar in most regards. He's a year old now and will be getting tested for CGC this week! I've moved out and now rent a room out of a house that has another dog that is the same age as him. They play so well, it's really cute. Pax has always had food guarding issues towards dogs and strangers, so I try to control it as best as I can. My boyfriend and I go through the seven steps to treating it periodically, and while I've never had him guard anything from me, he's still shaky with my boyfriend at times. I believe it's because when he was really young, the rescue fed all the babies in one giant bowl, and I think it's been programmed into him. I hand fed him for a long time and I still give him treats while he eats. For me, he'll freely go away from his food to get a pat and he seems relaxed when I approach the bowl.

So anyways, at my new place, after he's finished eating, I lock up the bowl he eats from as well as the bag of food, so there's supposedly nothing to guard. It's happened twice now that Huck (the other dog) has weaseled his way through the door to say hi and Pax attacked him for going near where the food was. I believe that Pax just needs to sit and relax for a moment, maybe be given treats at a down-stay while huck is in the room to realize that there is no food around and he can relax. Huck is kind of a nutball and hardly has any boundaries which I don't think helps much.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do? or what I can do differently?

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Buster

· #2 · Apr 11, 2016

I would try feeding him in different areas, so that he doesn't associate one particular spot with the food bowl.

It also may help to have both dogs do sits and stays next to each other in a neutral area like outside and feed both of them treats. One treat for Huck, then one treat for Pax and so on. I would do this in short sessions once of twice a day until you notice the problem has subsided.

Also try giving Pax a treat any time he sees Huck. This will cause him to associate Huck with him getting yummy food instead of him being fearful that Huck is there to take his food.

Good luck!!

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Turtle11

· #3 · Apr 11, 2016

Buster said:
I would try feeding him in different areas, so that he doesn't associate one particular spot with the food bowl.

It also may help to have both dogs do sits and stays next to each other in a neutral area like outside and feed both of them treats. One treat for Huck, then one treat for Pax and so on. I would do this in short sessions once of twice a day until you notice the problem has subsided.

Also try giving Pax a treat any time he sees Huck. This will cause him to associate Huck with him getting yummy food instead of him being fearful that Huck is there to take his food.

Good luck!!

This is good advice. I suggest this too.

Yes, when Pax is eating out of his bowl, if you use a clicker, click and treat Pax when Huck is close. Work on it slowly over many days, so Huck can get gradually closer to Pax while clicking and treating Pax.

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