Can anyone offer me any advice I have an 19 week old bull terrier puppy who has been as good as gold but today he was eating his food when my son went over to him to give him a stroke and he growled at him, therefore we intervened and pulled him away from his food to try and let him know that what he was doing was naughty because he has been trained as a small puppy to let people stroke him whilst eating  so that we dont have this problem when he is older.  We picked him up and my son stroked him again and he growled at him again and bit him quite hard on the hand.  Luckily he hasnt got many teeth at the moment as they are still coming through, therefore he didnt do much damage but he still frightened us, how can we stop this from happening again?  Please help.

As I see it, part of the problem is that, for whatever reason, your pup thought he had to defend his dinner. So he growled. And was instantly proved right - he didn't get to finish his dinner. :(

What I would do at mealtimes (this may not be what others would do) is put an empty bowl on the floor and either you or your son add the meal, a handful at a time, into his bowl. When he finishes the first handful, give him another, and repeat that till he's had his meal's ration. He needs to learn that the presence of people means that he is given food, not that he is denied it.

Good luck.

(PS. That's a heck of a topic title - I nearly choked on my cup of tea!)

Ok thanks for your advice jean I will try that starting from tomorrow.  Had to laugh when I read the bit you wrote about the topic title I didnt realise what it cam across like!!!
Hope this works because it has really frightened me its good job his other teeth havent come through properlt yet.

One of the first things you must NEVER do when dogs are resource guarding is try to remove them from the food; this will only give them the idea that it is EXTREMELY important to guard their food as everyone wants it!

Imagine if you were mugged in the street one day; would you not be even more obsessive about guarding your handbag etc? 

Dogs are from Neptune by Jean Donaldson is an excellent book to give you some ideas on this and is more easily available than Mine! a practical guide to resource guarding by the same author.

You will need to instigate some exercises to counter condition this problem starting with you and your husband first before involving your son.  This will involve using many bowls, using empty ones and putting in food and/or extra tasty bits so that the dog associates the presence of humans with ADDING things rather than taking away.  But this takes time.  Growling is a warning; please do not underestimate the potential seriousness of this situation; you might well be advised to employ the services of someone who is very experienced in dealing with resource guarding to help you. 

It can be dealt with easily but you must not use confrontational methods which will only exacerbate the situation.

Good Luck

Ok thanks for your advice I have phoned the breeder afor some advice and also my dog trainer to see what kind of advice they suggest. 

Good grief, I thought this post was about canine cannabalism! How relieved I am now. :D

Oh dear i must change that heading!!! I really didnt realise how it came across was in a bit of a state after little ollie took a bite out of my son!!!!!

Sorry, I didnt realise your little lad had been bitten. Hope you all feel better now. :)

Yeah he bit him quite bad like I said it would have been worse if his big teeth had come through.  But hopefully he will stop this growling business when he's eating we're gonna try the feeding him a little at a time by us putting the food in the bowl.  wish me luck.
jackie

Good luck, Jackie, a problem recognised early is half solved. :)

Jackie is this the first time the pup has showed aggression. it may be a one off but untill your sure that he wont bite the child again never let them alone together.In fact children should never be left alone with any dog .It is always safer to be sure then sorry.
In my opinion it is unusual for  a 5 month pup to start biting.
I would tolerate it  in a younger baby but at five months the character of the dog should be coming through.
I hope this is not a sign of how he will turn out.
Carry on with the advice you have got from the others but dont let the child be a part of that in case he is bitten again. It could well destroy his trust in dogs and make him frightened of all dogs.
Most dogs love children but there are exceptions and thats when tradgedy can occur.
Good luck with training Mari

.

He did growl once before when we went near him whilst he was eating this was about 1 month ago but other than that he's normally as good as gold apart from the other night.  We have been advised to put half of his feed down stroke his head and then walk away and then put the other half of his food down and do the same again and theres been no trouble at all we have also feed him bit by bit with us putting the food into hos bowl a handful at a time and he's also been very good with no problems but im hoping it was a one off.  I wouldnt leave him alone with any of the children anyway just as a matter of precaution and he's 4 months old not 5 months (19 weeks)how old are they when their personality comes through??

You could try holding the dish when you feel him that way he will see you as the source of reward & that you will not take away his food or tease him

OOps that should read feed not feel him