Please can someone offer me advice with my 1 year old Newfie bitch. She is aggressive where food is concerned. It doesn't happen all the time. If you put down her food and walk near her or talk to her while there is food in her bowl she starts to snarl and turns and snarls at you. If you tell her off for doing it she 'goes' for you as if she is about to bite you. She is quite a well behaved dog other that this and it has been a problem from about 4 months. We make her sit while her dinner is being prepared and she doesn't eat it until we say 'go on then' and other things to install the heirarchy of the house! It's just not working though!

Prepare her food in another bowl/dish, put about a quarter of it into her bowl and give it to her, just stand up and take a step away, then ignore any staring or rumbling and let her eat that, do not stare or talk to her, when she has finished add a quarter more to the dish, by putting it in the dish whilst it is on the floor. Continue this twice more till the food is finished. Continue feeding like this until you sense that she is relaxing when you are around. Then start to add the extra food before she has finished, don't talk or correct just do it.

The idea is to get her used to the fact that your being there will mean she gets more food, not less, try not to make a big thing of the ritual of feeding her, it is good that she does not knock it out of your hand but if you make it a big deal it becomes all the more important to her. So pick up the quarter portion in the bowl and as you go to put it down say sit followed with ok eat, or whatever you say. So you are teaching that food is no big deal, that it is you that controls it and you are not being scared off. Of course if you feel at any time there is a real chance that you may be bitten then don't continue but call in a reliable trainer to take a look at the situation, you vet should be able to help you find someone.