Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and I'm desperately in need of some help. I have a three and a half month old Labrador puppy who has been the loveliest puppy in the world since we got him at eight weeks old. The only problem we ever had with him was toilet training, normal puppy mouthing and being a bit grumpy if you tried to move him while he was sleepy. Suddenly things have took a terrible turn and although I know it must be something we had done I have no idea. Since day one he was been so good with obedience and has never been slightly aggressive even. The other day my partner went to stroke him while he had a kong and he growled so ferociously it shocked is both. We have noticed this also occurs around his food bowl and treats such as dentastix. We have been practicing with giving him treats at meal times and when he has a kong so that he would get used to us being around but we have seen no change yet. Today, I went to pick him up and he growled at me. Now if I touch him in certain places he growls and stiffens. My amazing little gorgeous puppy has suddenly become so aggressive and I am terrified. My partner has been bitten when going to give him a cocktail sausage to distract from his kong and there was blood everywhere. Is this situation rectifiable and has this happened to anyone else?
Hello there, and a very warm welcome to the forum. Your puppy is not aggressive. It sounds like your pup is resource guarding - this means he fears that you are going to take his food away from him. Why was your partner trying to distract him from his kong? If you have given him a kong, view it as his to eat until he has finished it - do not try to distract him from his kong. So do not give him a reason to fear that you are going to take his food away. You should only approach your dog when he is eating in order to give him more food - at first, throw this to him from a distance, so you are not close enough that he fears you are going to take anything away. There is an article here that might help: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-t...ing-over-food/ The purpose of this is not to ever be able to take your puppy's food away, it's to get him to trust that you will never take his food away. Best of luck with it.
As Julie has said it sounds like resource guarding. The only other thing I wondered about is when you said if you touch him in certain places he growls and stiffens. Is this when he hasn't got food ? If yes could he have hurt himself somehow ? Sudden changes in behaviour can sometimes be caused by pain or feeling unwell. However from everything else you've described I would say it's resource guarding and to follow Julie's advice.
I agree, I'm sure your lovely pup is still there. I would pop to he vet to check out the being touched thing and then I'd do some work around resource guarding. My lab would let anyone take anything off him, my spaniel does not. With his kongs or chews if I want them and he hasn't finished I've taught him to give them to me in exchange for something awesome in the food department. I'm at the stage where I'm recalling him from his food bowl again for a massive reward. I try very, very hard never to take things from him. I want him to make the choice for which he's duly rewarded.
I agree with the good advice you've got already: 1. Vet check for the hidden pain issues 2. Never take anything he values, but practice swapping with him. Start with what he considers low-value items (a couple of similar balls or toys) and play swapsy, always giving him back his first thing. "Hands come to give, not to take" is a good thing to remember: chuck extra goodies towards him from a distance when he has anything he values. 3. Never challenge a resource guarder - you will get bitten! Some dogs are resource guarders, most are not. But that doesn't mean you don't still have a lovely puppy! He just has an extra lesson to learn: he doesn't need to guard anything because you will never take it from him.
The article linked above is very good EXCEPT for the parts about putting your hands in the food bowl and touching the dog while he is eating. There is animal behaviour science, Skinner, to show what a bad idea this is. If the dog did not have food guarding issues to start with this could actually create them. Food and eating is one of the most important things in your dog's life, give him his food and let him eat it in peace. There is a group dedicated to safe child/dog interactions. It strongly advises against messing with the food or dog while the dog is eating. It does support hand feeding and the treat throwing but once the food is given it is never taken away again or messed about with. Safe dog interactions apply to adults too. http://www.doggonesafe.com/ Here is an article from the founders of that group on food guarding: http://www.cappdt.ca/UserFiles/File/articles/kids and resource guarding.pdf
Which of Skinner's studies are you referring to, Snowshoe? You're right to say that this kind of thing must be approached very carfeully and I think the article makes that really clear too, because food is so critically important to a dog. The article strongly recommends against taking food away and spells out a very, very gradual training-based approach (several days for each step if needed) to helping a dog learn that a human nearby during a meal is never anything to worry about. It's about taking the worry/fear out of it for the dog, even to get to the point where they think that a human approaching might mean more food. It's very sensible to train this kind of thing (ideally before a problem ever arises) to minimise the chance that your dog will feel threatened when inevitably some human (visiting child?) approaches and touches the dog while food is involved. As the article points out, it has to be done very slowly.
Rachael, I am unable to copy and paste from the first article linked but it definitely DOES advise the reader to put their hands in the bowl, lift the bowl, pet the dog while he is eating. Animal behaviour studies show animals, dogs, remember the first thing a person does when first approaching the bowl - THEY TOOK away food. Putting it back is not strongly remembered and that's what makes this method so dangerous. It's like my financial planning clients who invariably react more strongly to a negative (markets falling) than they do a positive (gains), they overemphasize the parts they don't like. I will have to search for my background information anew. It was saved on the hard drive that crashed. However, my view is that children should be supervised around a dog that's eating, especially a visiting child. I do not understand the logic in taking an animal with the intelligence of a two year old child and relegating to it the responsibility for a child's safety. A child's safety is an adult human's responsibility. How long does it take most Labs to eat anyway? A couple of seconds? The adult can spare a couple of seconds from their busy day. The food messing idea does work with some dogs, maybe even most dogs. Till you get a dog it doesn't work with and then the repercussions can be catastrophic, for child and dog.
Yes, the article does say the end, final step, once you have successfully completed a programme of behaviour modification is that you should be able to pet the dog while he is eating, and add food to his bowl. This isn't the first step, it's the last step - if you have been successful in changing the dog's perception of people approaching him while he is eating.
I understand where you're coming from and I think it's the same place the article is coming from. It's all about understanding the dog's perspective on this, and using a slow approach to training, going at the dog's pace, with the ultimate goal being a more relaxed dog and a safer situation. Safety is critical. I know you see avoiding touching or lifting the bowl as really important, and it's definitely not something to march in and try - that'd could be a disaster. The bowl lifting described in the artifice is done at the end of a lengthy process of getting the dog used to the human being around the food bowl, and it's only done to add food, starting with the bowl being touched while food is added, then lifted a couple of inches while food is added. The idea is to proceed very slowly and only while the dog is comfortable, otherwise back off. If the dog is not ok with this, then the process hasn't been slow and careful enough. I agree that children should never be unsupervised near a dog with food. I don't think that anyone is recommending otherwise though. Sometimes, despite the best efforts, it can happen. It's best to train for the unexpected. I think the main point is that it's natural and right for a dog to expect to keep his food and we need to be respectful of that and not blame the dog for behaving as nature intended. Instead we should help them to feel comfortable with life in a human household, which involves people being around their food sometimes.
Hi, I think a trip to the vets would be your first stop, just to check if he has anything wrong with him. If that's all clear, the link that Julie has given is worth reading and trying. I have trained Harley to allow us to take / add food to her bowl from a very young age and swap her Kong etc for a toy. I have a lot of young family members who visit and unfortunately children are unpredictable even if you are watching them closely. I wanted to get Harley used to us touching her and her and her food just incase this were ever to happen. She has never been food aggressive, allows the children to give her treats and takes them very gently. I do not allow the children near her when eating her dinner but once my goddaughter managed to get off her mums lap and ran off towards Harley. Harley stopped eating, backed away from her bowl and sat down. We quickly grabbed my goddaughter and gave Harley the ok to keep eating. It is for situations like that which is why I have always touched her food etc.
My approach with food with Juno has been the same as Naya . She takes treats and food very gently from us and has no concerns about being stroked, patted or touched while eating or having her bowl touched. We even take bones away from her with no fuss. With Juno she won't approach her food bowl, even if given permission, if one of the cats has wandered up and is having a sniff. She just looks at me with a pleading look for help but she won't move from her bed to her bowl until the cat has moved away.
Very wise advice from JulieT and the others. Never take food away from dogs or pups. If they have taken something they shouldn't which is food, swap it for something smellier and tastier (tripe sticks are always good for this job).
I concur. I very occasionally give mine a chunk of fresh marrow bone, under strict supervision, not allowing them to chew the bone, just lick out the marrow. Once they're done, obviously, I have to take the bones away, but they are more than happy to exchange it for a nice smelly bit of dehydrated tripe. I use the tripe to get them to drop and move away from the bone, so I can pick it up without them noticing. They're not in the slightest bit protective of their food, but I wouldn't want to cause any problems later down the line.
Now, not only is my old hard drive still in repair, I have lost the internet as well. I'm on a different computer. Arrggghhhh. I'd just like to thank folks for such a civilized discussion. Sometimes when others present differing opinions there is a bad reaction on some forums, especially when the poster is a newbie like me. In case you are curious, yes, I can take food away from my dog. I do not make a habit of it but once I dropped another critter's pill in his food bowl and had to grab it back quickly. He's a well bred Lab and temperament is key in most lines but in cases like this, which do happen depending on how dumb, sloppy and careless Mum is the advantage of surprise works well. Gotta go, I'm on the OH's computer and he's taking it back.
