i really could do with some advice, ive got a 14wk lab x collie bitch whos getting verry agressive when you feed her (had dogs for 15 yrs it is agressive)however ive never seen it in a pup so young, on the advice of the rescue center we got her from we tried a different bowl,stroking her when shes eating,with a firm no when she trys to bite,but all to no avail .i have three sml children and know tihs is not acceptable behavour from her .shes verry smart and allready knows ,sit ,stay,lie down ,ect .however shes now started to draw blood and its getting to be that if you take anything from her or go near her when she eats she will growl and bite. thanks for any advice .

With a dog like this you need to teach her that human hands near her while she's eating is a *good thing* - to do this I'd suggest that you put half her normal meal in her bowl, and when she's nearly finished that, put another spoonful (or handful - but let her see that you have food and allow her to smell it) in the bowl - repeat it until she's had her normal ration. If you do this each time she has a meal, for several days involving all the family, she will learn that humans near food bowl is not something to worry about.

I do get concerned when i hear of rescue centres giving out appalllingly bad advice such as you have had. I doubt if their suggestion would work with many dogs, if any :(

When you say that, if you take anything from her when she eats, can you remembe why or when that started? It's just that if you were told to take her bowl away or something, that may have started the problem. Just surmising :)

Best wishes

Lindsay

I think its a natural instinct for a canine to protect food - thats not to say I think it acceptable - perhaps she has good reason to be overprotective, I'm not suggesting from you, but maybe her previous home????? I would get clicker training with her - once she is familiar with a clicker I would then teach her to give up treats and toys on request. I would do this by initially swopping whats in her mouth for a tasty piece of chicken (for instance) and clicking her for the release. Providing she does release I would give back the item that I had got her to release - this way she knows she will always get it back and that you are not a threat to her 'bounty'! Eventually once she has the hang of this you could add a release command. The aim being for her to not see you as a threat to her food/toy items?
Sarah.

I've heard (and for that matter seen) very young puppies over protective with food many times in the past. For the reason you need to look no further that the nest! Food is put down for the puppies and they soon learn that if they do not push the issue the other puppies will push them out of the way and they will loose it! When my Anna arrived almost the first thing she did was to growl at my older Labrador Lucy. Once she found that her food belonged to her and her alone the problem went away. There is a certain amount of trust involved and once that trust is there then the puppy KNOWS it is not going to loose it's food.

Regards, John

That is the reason why I always feed my litters from individual bowls, which are handheld. The pups have never had to compete for food, and people's hands have always been in contact with their dishes, so they are not possessive over food at all.
:)

Agree, my friend's Goldie was an "angry little pup" (her words) over food and items, and she had done nothing to fuel this....some pups/dogs are just born like it aren't they - blighters.....!!! (and her pup was so "butter -wouldn't- melt -in- his- mouth" too :D )

Wish more breeders would do the individual bowl thing....

Lindsay

I agree Lindsay. My dogs always have seperate bowls although close together (A couple of foot or so). I always supervise until they really know their manners.

Best wishes, John

i got her at seven weeks old from a rescue center,they had the whole littler given into them at about five weeks old (aparently from a local farmer who just see the pups as waste as it means they cant work the bitch) anyway we got her home and every thing was fine till she hit about 12 wks when she started to growl if you go near her when she eats so i phoned the rescue center . i cant see any reson why it started but it started to progress to toys(not hers i might add)say barbies or something when i go to take them from her she will growl,but with her toys shes fine,but we seem to be getting that under controll now .we were advised to take her food away if she growled or snaped but we diddnt take that advice ,i thought that would fule the problem . shes fine if you hand feed her, gentle as a lamb in fact ,its just shes got it into her head that someone might take it .not that im into eukanuba lol . well ive been trying what digger segested and it seems to do the trick thanks great idea. dani