Really need some advice. I have a 4 1/2 month old male beagle called Mowgli. He is a handful but he has been a lovely dog until about a week ago. He has started to become aggressive. It started with dirty plates in the dishwasher, he would run up and start licking the plates and if I tried to stop him he would growl, snap and bite me quite hard. This behaviour has now got worse, both more aggressive and more frequent. Im at a loss of how to stop it. I have been shutting him away every time he does it but its hard to get near him and it does scare me a little. Most of the time hes a very affectionate playful dog. He never does it to other dogs just me and my partner. Please help!!

Sorry to hear you are having trouble with your pup, Beagles are normally very safe and friendly dogs although there may be an exception.

For a start if the main problem is the dishwasher then do not let him into the kitchen where he will learn how to push his luck, should he do it else where walk out of the room immediately, say nothing just go and don't return for about 10 minuets. If he is destructive when you leave the room put him into a cage instead to calm down. The idea is to show him that he will not get the attention he is seeking by biting or being pushy.

Take it you are taking him to training classes so tell your trainer the problems you are having and they should help you.

Please do not think of it as aggression, it is not likely, more a puppy pushing his luck so it is very important that you get the training right now or you will be training your dog to be demanding.

PS never be heavy handed back just be quite and determined, and shouting or arm waving will make matters worse. Tell him to sit take his collar and lead him to his bed. If he has not been taught to sit then you need to start from the beginning and teach him how he should be behaving, a dog has to be taught it is not something it will know instinctively. Also remember he does not speak English you have to teach the action required and the sound that goes with it.

Yes, unfortunately he is behaving with you the way he would with a sibling in finding a food prize, where he would warn off and even nip and make aggressive noises to defend his chance to lick the plates.

In most other behaviours putting him in time out works, but when it comes to removing him from a food source it is the wrong thing to do and may perhaps make him even more defensive to stand his ground and get to the plates, which is why you are becoming afraid to remove him.

The best and fastest recommendation is to just not allow him near any plates or food sources in the first place, whilst you are eating put him behind a dog gate or in a crate, give him a treat and a good boy, keep him in there until you have put all plates in the dishwasher and tidied everything away. Problem completely solved. :-)

Then as Nova has suggested practise with his commands giving treats or big fusses when he complies. Practice putting your hand in his bowl whilst he is feeding to hand feed and then by adding more food,  and make sure you stay calm and precise in what you wish him to do and most of all show no fear, you are the master here, you never allow a dog to rule you.

He is very young and is only acting as he would naturally, so don't be worried or afraid, just remove the temptation for his natural instincts to take over and to help him fit into the human world. :-)

As well as the other responses you could also attach a short light lead to his collar when he is in the house as it makes it easier to calmly take hold when he is doing something naughty, and lead him quietly and calmly away, so you don't have to chase after him to get hold (he would enjoy that game).

Just a thought, but have you been increasing his food gradually since you got him? If he is hungry it could lead to food aggression problems.

I dont think it is because he is hungry. He does it in other situations aswell not just food. He jumps up onto the computer desk to find paper to rip up and becomes aggressive if i try to pick him up or lead him off, or if he steals a sock/slipper and runs under the sofa. Ive tried distracting him with his favourite toy that seems to stop him but I didnt want it to seem like I was rewarding the growling by giving him a toy. Although I have had dogs before he is my first puppy and its hard to know what to do as there is so much conflicting advice out there.

It sounds like he is 'resource guarding'.

In basic terms, if a dog has something in it's mouth, as far as the dog is concerned, it is the dog's property. if he has something you want, exchange it for something he percieves as higher value. A tasty treat will usually work. Try not to chase him if he has something you want (hard, I know!) as it will make him thinkt he item is more valuble. Teach him to come to you when you call his name, then if he has something you want, call him and swap it for the treat, saying 'give' or another command you want to use.

Basically, you need ot teach him that you approaching him when he has somethign he likes is a good thing, as it means he gets something better.

A few good books you might want to invest in are:

'Before and After You Get Your Puppy' by Ian Dunbar

'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey

'Puppy School' also by Gwen Bailey.

You'll find them all on Amazon and between they cover pretty much all you need to know about owning a puppy.

Agree with Jackson.

Training should be specifically tailored to the dog associating humans near his food or items of importance to him with something pleasant - if you alter the emotions so he enjoys and even happily anticipates humans near his food, you will start to have a more relaxed dog again :)

I'd also suggest "Mine" by Jean Donaldson, very good book about resource guarding, however a bit "behaviouristy" perhaps with some jargon.

I'd also suggest contacting a reputable behaviourist or trainer to help - I'd not leave this too long, as the longer it goes on the worse it may get. I'd also not confront him  as this could escalate into more confrontation and a far more angry dog as he gets older. Try to avoid him practising the behaviour so close the door if he can get near the dishwasher for the moment until you have help.

I'd suggest www.apbc.org.uk or try www.apdt.co.uk, the latter are mostly trainers but some have behavioural experience with various problems.

Good luck :)

Do you folk really think at four & half months it is necessary to call upon the services of a behaviourist? Surely this is a relatively common behaviour in a pup of this age and just needs firm and positive handling. Think perhaps the normal training regime has been a bit lax but sorting that should also sort the 'help myself' attitude this pup is trying to establish.

I personally seriously doubt a behaviourist is warranted. However, a bit of reading up won't hurt, especially if this is the OP's first puppy.

> I personally seriously doubt a behaviourist is warranted. However, a bit of reading up won't hurt, especially if this is the OP's first puppy.

Agree, it is always best to read up on the subject and bog standard training classes are essential.

>Training should be specifically tailored to the dog associating humans near his food or items of importance to him with something pleasant - if you alter the emotions so he enjoys and even happily anticipates humans near his food, you will start to have a more relaxed dog again<

I agree totally Lindsay and having taken your advice in the past, along with positive re-enforcement behavioural courses, on several 'behavioural matters' -  IMHO - you speak VG sense :-)

Regarding 'resource guarding' I have been there, done that and moved onto more positive behaviour. ;-) No mean task with a 60 Kilo dog who was intent on resource guarding everything.

>Try to avoid him practising the behaviour<

Yes, it's simple common sense - the more that he gets away with the unwanted behaviour then the more that he will practise it. The first stage in training is to try and prevent the unwanted behaviour - commend the good and ignore the bad, to an extent. By confronting the behaviour in a 'negative' way this will do more harm than good.

In an ideal world everybody would be able to train their dog accordingly without unwitting negative association - but in the real world this isn't always possible and just sometimes, the assistance of a behaviourist is necessary to prevent ongoing, often dangerous behaviour that eventually ends in death.

IME, sometimes just reading up on a subject/new puppy and taking them along to 'generalised classes' is just not enough when they start to display something that comes 'outside the bog standard, puppy behaviour box'.

I would certainly be concerned about this behaviour even though he is a puppy still.  I have gone through this with my dog from when she was a puppy and it isn't something that goes away.  My dog has snapped but never bitten - I understand her behaviour much better now but I have never been able to train it away completely.  She accepts me around her food bowl now although I am careful to avoid situations where a snap is triggered.  She snapped at my granddaughter a few weeks ago because she has become to believe it is her right to sniff around the high chair after my granddaughter has got down from eating.  My granddaughter has had to learn to respect the dog and was quietly stroking her at the time (Bluedog game helped) Now I must make sure that any tidbits are fed in the dogs bowl and the chair is out of bounds.  Not easy with a baby and 3 year old around.  I should not have let her scavenge in the first place!

If his health is fine, he is just pushing his luck! boundaries! he is only a baby, he will also be finding his place in the pack.
Change the tone of your voice when displeased. Send him out of your sight. He will sneak back to say sorry.
But! don't forget to tell him when he is a good boy, with lots of love. He will soon find out what he prefers.
Most dogs love to please.

Denese

I've had my adult rescue dog snap at my toddler over food (toddler walk past dog while dog was eating from his food bowl - dog turned and snapped)- it happened the once and didn't get chance to happen again as we got on top of the food guarding issue ASAP.

A couple of things that helped - dog is to be moved away from children when they are eating - the dog needs to respect the childs right to eat in peace and it also removes the opportunity of the dog stealing food etc.
The dog gets no attention from children while they're eating, the dog doesn't get touched/spoken to/looked at (I know this sounds like a Cesar Millan thing, but this worked, long before we saw Cesar on TV!!)
Dog doesn't get to pick crumbs/food off floor that children have dropped.
The dog never gets fed tidbits and does not get to eat leftovers, even from his own food bowl. If they are used to eating left-overs they get excited with anticipation - this can be removed by them learning they don't get food other than thier own (this may not be general, but worked with my dog).
Kids get to put dogs food bowl down.
Most important, the dog needs to know that you will not put up with it, it's hard to explain but if you believe it, the dog picks up on it (I know I sound like a loony, but they do know when they are faced with a push-over or not).
9 years after that first snap, the dog has never done it again, & I'd trust him with my kids as much as you can trust any dog, and he has no problem with anybody going near his foodbowl.

Glad I posted - that is a very good analysis - yes  I have been lax with the dog - because she has laid low waiting for bits to drop I have not given it any thought but I can see it all adds up to making the situation happen.   My granddaughter just loves doing the wrong thing and has dropped bits overboard just to get a reaction from the dog or any adult in the room.   I take on board what you say about anticipation when fed bits in the dog bowl - won't do that anymore.  I keep saying to other family members not to give her something for nothing but haven't kept to that myself.

I'm glad you found it helpfull :) I'm always a little wary of giving advise when it isn't asked for, because typed out, it can come accross as being nasty/condensending when it's meant to be helpfull & friedly.

The thing we've found with food aggression, is it can be sorted with a number of little things, the things seem so insignificant that you wouldn't think they would work, unfortunately this also makes it harder to remember to do them :(  but when you all get into the habbit it can make a huge difference.
Like I said, our dog never snapped again after that 1 indident, but he would given, the chance, steal food from the kids - that's the only thing we haven't been able to sort out - blatent stealing :(

Good luck with your dog, I'm sure you can make huge progress :)

Sounds like he needs to go on the NILIF programme. It works wonders. Jax

Do you folk really think at four & half months it is necessary to call upon the services of a behaviourist? Surely this is a relatively common behaviour in a pup of this age and just needs firm and positive handling.

I understand where you are coming from as they say; however, my view is that the owner has already stated she is a bit scared and she doesn't really know what to do. Advice on forums is sometimes helpful, but there's nothing like someone actually visiting and assessing and just giving a good bit of advice there and then. In the long term, the visit could be worth its weight in gold.

If the problem grew, and continued to get worse ... in say 8 months time the dog could be a severe resource guarder. Or not - we can't predict. I therefore try to err on the side of caution always when giving advice just "in case" :)

|People in my breed have got "behavourists" in at this age who have said that the pups are "aggressive", they weren't just bored pups and trained incorrectly, ending up in these dogs having to be rehomed!  Once in a home where they've become active they've been happy sociable dogs.

Not saying that this is what's going on with this dog but the word behaviourist does worry me sometimes.

Not saying that this is what's going on with this dog but the word behaviourist does worry me sometimes.

It's wise to be cautious - there are too many behaviourists and too many have been on a short course or similar.

I tend to recommend these here http://www.apbc.org.uk/ but I'd always suggest asking questions about hands on experience
as well as experience in the actual problem :)

Sometimes a good trainer is all that is needed - I then recommend these http://www.apdt.co.uk/ some do also have a behavioural interest.

In every organisation there are likely to be the odd "bad apple" but overall people from these should (IMO) be OK.