Does Your Dog Have Food-Guarding Issues? – Part 1

Posted by Jeanne on October 5, 2009

If you’ve never seen a dog with serious food-guarding issues, it’s difficult to appreciate the potential severity of the problem. Food-guarding issues are not necessarily a reflection on the personality or training level of the dog: it’s an instinctive thing, and although dogs with a general aggression problem are naturally more prone to demonstrating the condition, it’s also exhibited by otherwise-sweet, well-behaved, well-adjusted family dogs. Like an evil djinn, the problem can rear its ugly head only when food (or the food bowl) is present: a real case of Jekyll and Hyde.

A dog with serious food-guarding issues can be a real danger to anyone who should approach her during a meal: it’s not a scenario in which you can expect to train your dog to “play nice”. Instinct is what’s compelling her to act in this undesirable, and even dangerous, way – you need to take steps to turn the behavior around before your relationship with your dog suffers or somebody gets hurt.

There are different degrees of food guarding. In the mildest case, a dog will merely tense up a little or freeze if somebody approaches her while she’s trying to eat. She may even continue eating, but her posture will be rigid and stiff: she’ll clearly be uncomfortable. Signs that the problem is more severe would include a marked increase in eating speed, a direct, hard stare right at you (often accompanied by a still, tense, “watching” posture), a lifted lip, a snarl, a snap, and finally a real bite.

NOTE: A dog exhibiting any of these last three symptoms has a pretty severe case of food-guarding aggression, and may be prepared to inflict actual harm. If this is the case with your dog, hiring a hands-on trainer may be the best answer for you: it’ll ensure your safety, and they’ll be able to examine your overall relationship with your dog and see if there are other areas contributing to the problem.

A food-guarding dog is a pretty confused one. In her mind, she’s got your role mixed up. She fails to recognize that you are the dispenser of food (which should accord you automatic alpha-dog status, ensuring your immunity from any kind of aggression or dominance), and instead is viewing you as a threat: a blackguard who might be going to take away her precious food. Hence, the possessiveness.

The degree of aggression that a food-guarding dog is capable of might be hard to understand, until you consider the fact that food is one of the greatest pleasures of your dog’s life. Dogs are scavengers by nature: they’re programmed to eat just about anything they can get their jaws around. As well as the instinctiveness of this gluttony, most dogs also simply enjoy the tactile and gustatory sensations that come with a good meal (or an indifferent one .. and sometimes even a bad one). They just … like to eat.

And it’s this overwhelming importance that’s placed on food that gets some dogs a bit mixed up: their grasp of the situation gets a bit thrown off, and they begin to wonder, miser-like, who might happen upon them and take away their cherished food. The obvious conclusion: you. Or anyone else who comes along at meal-time.

To cure her of this frustrating and antisocial habit, you need to remind her that you’re actually the purveyor of that which she holds so dear: to make it clear to her that you’re the one in charge of the kitchen, and of all the delightful morsels contained therein.

Dogs can develop food-guarding instincts at any point in their lives: some will have had the problem since puppyhood, but for others the tendency lies dormant until it’s awakened by an item of particular juiciness. For most dogs, the deciding factor is meat, in some shape or form – whether it’s a marrowbone, a mutton hock, or cast-off scraps from the dinner table. Meat to dogs is like money to humans: it can change them, make them do things they otherwise wouldn’t do. So it’s not entirely surprising that the intrinsic value of meat-related foodstuffs can give our dogs a new, unpleasantly skewed perspective on the sanctity of the food bowl.

Because of the possibility of food-guarding becoming an issue in your dog’s behavior at any point in her life, prevention is obviously the ideal path to take: whether you get your dog from puppyhood or adopt her as an adult from a shelter, you should make a point of approaching her during mealtime.

Have you ever heard a friend with dogs ask you to “leave her alone when she’s eating”? This is a short-term solution at most: it’ll prevent anything untoward from happening, provided that all the humans play by the rules and ensure that they don’t disturb the dog – but the dog is still the one calling all the shots. And what will happen if the unexpected occurs? What if a toddler charges full-tilt towards the dog and makes a playful grab for her bowl?

In a wolf-pack, the alpha dog is never disturbed when he or she is eating. Not only does she get to eat first, and eat the lion’s share of everything; but he or she also eats undisturbed. This is why a dog that’s permitted to eat in solitary splendor can actually become more food-aggressive, not less; without anyone to take her down a notch, she begins to assume more authority than she actually has.

To prevent your dog from getting an overinflated sense of her own importance, make sure you disturb her plenty while she’s eating. Don’t make a point of tiptoeing around whenever the food bowl‘s out; it’ll just accustom her to solitude and silence when she eats (which are things that only the alpha wolf or dog is entitled to).

At the other end of the spectrum, don’t make these disturbances a negative experience for her either, or else you may actually create a problem where none previously existed. All you have to do is approach her from time to time while she eats – starting from the very day you bring her into your home – and add something tasty (and small!) to her dish while she’s eating, to make the connection in her head that ‘humans approaching food bowl = good news’. A spoonful of scrambled egg, a piece of liver treat, a few chunks of cheese – anything that she’ll enjoy, and that has a greater “food value” than the kibble she’s eating, will work perfectly.

How to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Posted by Jeanne on July 21, 2009

Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, must not have owned a dog.  If dogs are anything, they are extremely intelligent and can learn many new things given the chance to show you.  When training your dog, keep in mind that yelling, hitting, cursing, or punishment is uncalled for, as dogs will retreat backwards the more they are yelled at.  Besides, you wouldn’t treat a child like that and dogs are essentially just little children with tails and four legs!

The first thing to learn when training your dog to do anything new is to never change your verbal expression, tone or volume.  If you say, “come here, boy” then do not change to “Fido, come here.”

By doing this, your dog will become confused and it will cause unneeded frustration for both of you.

A couple of tips to take into consideration when training your dog is to reward him with treats for good behavior, however be sure to also give a lot of praise and patting to ensure he does not rely totally on the treats when being good.  You may also think about enrolling your dog in an obedience class.  Even if training is going good at home, this will give him extra practice with interaction between other animals and people.

When training your dog don’t cram everything into one day and expect him to remember it.  Dogs have short attention spans and will quickly become bored, so try to keep training time down to short sessions throughout the day.

Here are a few of the easier and more popular commands to teach Fido:

• Come – Use a toy or treat to encourage him to come towards you.  Say “Fido, come.”  As he makes his way towards you, praise him.  Once he is in front of you, hold onto his collar for 30 seconds and then let go.
• Sit – Press gently down on his backside and say “sit.”  You can also hold a treat above his head.  When a dog is forced to look upward, he will automatically sit on his hind legs.  Just as he bends to a sitting position, say “Fido, sit.”  Remember to praise and reward.
• Down – Get your dog into a sitting position.  Slowly guide his legs straight down in front of him until he is flat.  As you are doing this, repeat “Fido, down.”  Keep him in this position for 30 seconds and then praise and treat.
• Stay – Have Fido sit.  As you slowly take a couple steps backward, say “Fido, stay.”  Hold your hand out as you do this, palm facing him.  If he moves from position, tell him “no” and return him to the starting point.  If he stays, praise and treat.  Don’t forget to find a ‘release command’ like “ok”, or done.”  This will tell him it is okay to move.

By using persistence, consistency and patience when training your dog, you will almost effortlessly be able to teach new commands and tricks.  The ‘trick’ for you is to always praise and treat.  Start with these easy commands and before long you will have him doing somersaults!