My 2 year old BC is becoming increasingly agressive towards other dogs. She was well socialised and alright with other dogs as a puppy, although she has always been nervous and reactive. When she started snapping at other dogs i thought it was nervousness, which i still believe is sometimes the cause. However, over the last few months she has got noticeably worse and the more she does it the more it appears to be food related. We started agility classe in november, and this is when it became most noticeable as she twice went for the same dog, the first time it was over a crumb on the floor and the second time i bent down and the other dog sniffed my bumbag. The trouble is she reacts if someone rustles a bag, if another dog sniffs my treats or if she knows there is treats on offer, and even if there is a crumb on the floor. She is not food agressive towards humans and she knows 'off' and 'leave it' and i can take any food away from her. She also lives with a 10 month old retriever and they happily eat side by side with no problem. Occaisionally meg (BC) will remind ellie who is boss by putting her teeth around ellie's nose when i am preparing food, but it doesn't cause her any pain and is mainly excitement on megs part as before we had ellie she would try to nip at someone, which we did manage to get under control. (she never did actually make contact, she just seemed unable to control herself, so it wasn't agression per se.) And also they will have the occasional short argument over megs ball or a bit of food, but it is dogs at training which are the biggest problem, although there are a few that she accepts totally. THe other day we were out on a walk and met up with some friends. At one point my friend was handing out biscuits to 6 dogs (meg included) and she didn't bat an eyelid. It is really spoiling classes for us as i constantly have to be on my guard watching her and i have to keep away from everyone, making me feel like a bit of an outcast!! As i say she has always been around dogs before and this has never been a problem, but gets worse with every class we attend. I am considering training discs and am also changing her food to a better brand (burns, as it has a lower maize and protein level, which i believe could be hyping her up). I don't think it is a medical problem as she is fine in herself, although it her behaviour has gone down hill since she was spayed. Any suggestions welcome!!

Waht do you do/say when she starts playing up?  I've heard of many bitches who aren't dog friendly before being speyed getting worse afterwards :(

when i last spoke to the vet i mentioned that her nervous/agressive behaviour had got worse since she was spayed and she claimed that spaying wouldn't have an effect, but i'm not so sure! I can tell if she is going to snap as she goes rigid, often with her head turned away, but looking at the other dog out of the corner of her eyes, then her teeth start to show and then she will lunge. She rarely growls. Usually when i see her start to go, i move her away, try to distract her or say 'no leave it'. today she was trying to have a go at a rottie and she created an awful fishy smell, i believe this could be from her anal glands. She has done this several times in the last few weeks when she has got worked up about our cats. Does this have a specific meaning or is is just due to excitement?

Resource guarding is a natural dog behaviour and one that I personally do not get worked up about; I just manage dogs so that it is not an issue.  Obviously this is different from resource guarding from humans which is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Apart from managing the situation have you thought of exploring either homoeopathy or Bach Flower Remedies either/both of which can be of great assistance when combined with behaviour modification.

Gosh - she sounds so much like my own dog - the 'freeze' is dog language for 'go away I'm not feeling friendly!'  I manage this by keeping her recall excellent and working her exercise around other dog walkers - I'm happy to put her back on the lead while others pass and have taught her to position herself behind me if there isn't enough room.  She's actually better with other dogs off lead so long as they aren't too 'sniffy'. And having our other dog with us helps too - a friendly face if you like, somebody on her side. It was once described to me as being confronted by the nutter on the bus when you're feeling particularly vulnerable - the sniffy dog just won't go away so my girls smacks him in the face!

Yes, that sounds just like meg. She is fine with some dogs that don't pester her, and is generally fine with other dogs when off the lead, i guess because she has the option to run away.
Regarding the back remedies, i have tried rescue remedy, mimulus and aspen for her nervousness. I've also tried valarian compound. (none have really produced very noticeable results) Is there any thing else you would suggest?

Hi,

Have ahd the same problem with my Lurcher. When we got him he had bad food aggression. Still have a couple of scares to show for it. He hated people even coming close to him when he was bing feed and would fight over a piece of rice. I tried a number of things none of which cured it completely but now only have problems with very largew beef bones wgich I only give when supervised. First thinmg I did was try different food. Much more aggressive over MEat then dired food, so tahts what they get in then main with meat added in. Increased what I feed him, OKay so now he near tht top of his range for hius size but the decrease in aggression was pretty good. But the first thing I did was smoething my uncle, who trains gundogs suggested, this may not be advisable for everyone, but when we first got him he was SO aggressive we had to put the food in a room and then let him in and not approach him until he was away from the bowl. Boiled up 2 large boiler chickens and removed meat, boil up a bag os rice and a vat of Gravy and just kept feeding him. I swear he went green after a while. He didn't eat again for about another day and then repeated. After this second interaction I has able to stand next to him and even remove the empty bowl with nothing but a quick quiet growl. Once he was OK I used to leave a full bowl of food all day and although initially he put on a bit of weight he is now almost back to normal. It's what my uncle called the sweet shop mentality, if the food becomes an important part of there day will fixate. Not sure this would be encouraged by the vet but at last checkup said both my dogs were two of there nicest and healthiest patients adn with the exception of bones the house is food aggression free.

Meat does not make dogs more aggressive they just value it more (like bones) and so will resource guard; the same way we will guard jewellery more than cabbages!

The sweetshop mentality actually has nothing to do with resource guarding and they do not "fixate" over food. This is not how dog's minds work!

Hi

I think your dog has a problem knowing who owns the food resource.  Its actually yours until you give it her and so she should not feel she has to guard it when it is on your person.  As she guards food from your other dog and muzzle grips her when food is about I'd start using indoors as the first place to start teaching your BC that food is YOURS.  Everytine she muzzle grips ellie, or she stares at her or curls her lip and grouwls I'd send her straight out of the room without saying a word.  Leave her out for a minute or so and then let her back in.  If she again shows signs of warning off your other dog from food put her out and repeat as often as necessary.  Then start having food on your person whilst both your dogs are around and if the BC gets uppity about the food send her away from you or put her inside.  Always banish the dog from the food and the dog that is behaving so she learns it is she that is at fault.

Once your dog learns that food belongs to you until it is given and that you are capable of guarding your own resource your BC shouldn't feel she has reason to do it for you.

If she than has a problem guarding food that she has been given you will have to deal with that but at least other dogs should be safe around you when YOU have food.