Food aggression occurs, because some dogs associate people or other dogs coming near their food, as being a bad thing.
- Maybe we have a rescue dog, that had to fight for his food in an earlier life.
- Maybe we have been inadvertently taking food, or other objects away from our dog by force.
Now, he thinks he needs to guard his belongings.
Certain dog breeds, for example protection dogs, may also have a higher tendency to guard.
To reduce food aggression, we want to make sure our dog associates people approaching him, with something positive.
Never try to take food, or other items away from an unknown dog. Even seemingly easy-going dogs, may sometimes try to guard their food and toys.
Note – The exercises below, help to prevent food aggression. Do not perform these exercises on dogs that are already food aggressive, and/or causing bite wounds. Instead, contact a professional trainer.
1. Add something really good to our dog’s food bowl
A good way to solve food aggression issues, is to show our dog that people and other dogs coming near him, during dog feeding time, is a positive thing.
When my dog is eating, I throw some good treats into his food bowl, for example little pieces of cheese or bacon. I keep repeating this, until he is looking forward to my visits.
Note – Do not reach down to pet or stroke, food aggressive dogs.
Once my dog is comfortable with my presence, I sometimes take the food bowl away, show him that I am adding yummy treats into it, then give it back to him. I also take other objects (e.g. paper, sticks) away from my Shiba Inu, add food to it, and return the enhanced object. Sometimes, I add food into his food toys, or help him get the food out.
This teaches our dog that having people around during feeding time, means more food. It also shows him that when we take something away, it usually comes back with an added bonus. If we do all this often enough, our dog will be looking forward to us coming over, during his meals.
My Shiba Inu sometimes brings a toy over to me, in the hopes that I will add some food to it!
2. Hand-feed our dog
Only do this if our dog is not aggressive, and does not have a bite history.
Hand-feeding occurs naturally when we use reward obedience training. I also hand-feed my dog during dog grooming and handling exercises.
Hand-feeding teaches our dog that the human hand is a really good thing, and yummy food comes from it. It can also strengthen our bond with him, because he sees that food comes directly from us.
Feeding with our hands, helps us establish pack leadership because –
- We can set the speed of feeding.
- We can demand good eating manners. For example no grabbing, and only take food from us gently.
- We can ask our dog to work for us. For example doing a Sit or Down, before getting any food.
It is generally a good idea to keep up with some hand-feeding, throughout our dog’s lifetime. This helps him maintain good bite inhibition.
3. Teach our dog the Drop command
- First, give our dog a fairly low priority and safe toy.
- When he takes it in his mouth, bring a high priority treat to his nose, and say Drop. Chances are, he will drop the toy, and try to get at the treat.
- As soon as he drops the toy, mark the behavior (i.e. say Yes), give him the treat, and give him back the toy.
- Let him play with the toy for a bit, before repeating the exercise.
Once he understands the command, we can use higher priority toys, and ultimately, food toys.
If my dog is refusing to drop objects, then I try using a higher priority treat. If he bites on me, then I usually do a time-out. I try not to overtax my dog, and keep sessions short and positive. In this way, he will be motivated to play this game again.
I also practice Drop sessions during walks, with sticks and other safe objects. This helps a dog to generalize the Drop command for outside the house, and for outside objects.
When we are out on walks, I try my best to keep my dog away from questionable objects. If he manages to pick up an undesirable item, I no-mark him (say Ack-ack), then hold a good treat by his nose. As soon as he drops the item, I praise him, and treat him.
If I really want an item back, I will hold firmly onto it (close to my dog’s muzzle), and give the Drop command. It is important that we do not pull back, and make it into a tug game. I just hold it still, and try to be as uninteresting as possible. My dog will usually lose interest, and drop the item. If he does this, I praise him, and treat him.
Do not try this technique if our dog is aggressive, and is likely to bite.
If an object is dangerous and is too small to hold, we may have to forcibly go into our dog’s mouth. He will probably hate it, but if we must do it, then we must do it. Make sure to do some simple commands afterward, so that we can treat him for his positive actions.
If we frequently remove items by force, our dog will likely get aggressive, and start guarding food and belongings from us.
This is why we want to set our dogs up for success, and prevent him from picking up dangerous objects in the first place. In this case, prevention is much better than cure.
4. Play the “object exchange” game
An alternative to simply teaching the Drop command, is to play the object exchange game.
- First, bring out several toys of about equal priority.
- Give one of the toys to our dog, and let him play with it for a short duration.
- Issue the Drop command, and exchange the old toy with a new one.
- Initially, it may be necessary to sweeten the pot with some additional treats. Sometimes, I stuff the new toy with some food. Therefore, not only does my dog get back a new toy, he also gets one with food in it. He is usually very happy to make that exchange.
Once we notice that things are going well, we may slowly phase out the treats, and just do the object exchange. If our dog is unwilling to give up his current toy, then we can try to lengthen the time that he gets to play with it, or add food into the equation again.
If our dog misbehaves in any way, for example bites on our hand, then the game stops, and all toys and food are removed.
5. Get strangers to toss food to our dog
When we have guests, give them some good treats to toss to our dog. This will help him associate new people with his favorite food, and lessen his food aggression when strangers are around.
If our dog has a bite history, make sure we have him on a leash, so that our guests are always safe. We may also place him behind a secure dog gate. Then, our guests may feed him by extending a chopstick or wooden spoon with food, through the gate.
6. Ensure there are no high priority food items lying around
To reduce food aggression, it is important that we do not let our dog practice that behavior, especially with people. Remove all food items, as well as food toys and high-priority toys, when we have friends and family over.
It is important to remove all food and all toys, when our dog is meeting with new dogs, or dogs that he does not know well.
7. Supervise our dog and prevent food aggressive behavior
Make sure we are always there to supervise and intervene, when our dog starts to show any food aggression. When I am not around to supervise, I remove all high priority items, so that my dogs do not guard food or resources, from each other.
I have a simple house-rule –
“All resources are mine, and I decide which of my dogs get what.”
Whenever I give them food toys, I keep them away from each other, to prevent stealing. In this way, they do not practice any resource guarding or food aggressive behavior.
If they start any guarding behavior, I remove the resource, and nobody gets it. If they show any aggressive behavior with me, they get a time-out, and the play and food session stops.
8. Do not give our dog constant access to food
If we leave food or food toys around, our dog may feel that he has to guard it, and become food aggressive. This can be very stressful for him, and may also lead to obesity issues.
Leaving food around may also weaken our leadership position, because our dog can get food by himself. He may decide not to follow our commands or house rules, because he does not need us for anything.
To be a good pack leader to our dog, we want to follow the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program. Only give him something, if he does something for us first. Stuff left-over food into his food toys, and make him work for all of the things that he wants. Remove the food toy once it is empty, or after a fixed period of time.
A busy dog is a good dog.
Hello Shibashake,
I have a 6 month old male shiba and got him at 8 weeks old. He’s generally an angel and quickly learned not to bite during playtime, where to go potty, and not to chew on anything that isn’t a toy. Since he was about 3 months old, however, he has growled during feeding time. I feed him twice a day (morning and evening) and have increased his food accordingly as he’s grown. I can’t seem to understand why he’s growling, other than that he’s trying to assert himself and guard his food. He’s fed in the open kitchen and sometimes he doesn’t growl, as he’s very aware that it’s something I don’t want him doing and he gets a time out after he does it. But there are times he growls even before I put the food bowl down, or he growls if I try to pet him, or he growls if he is interrupted for any reason. Usually, he recognizes that the growling is a bad behavior on his own and knows he’s going to be put in time out so he proceeds to start snarling and snapping at my hands when I try to pick him up (he occasionally growls when he does other things he knows are wrong like jumping up on the furniture). One morning when I called him over to eat, he barked and then charged at me, jumping up to grab my leg with his front paws and then biting my leg (all before I’d even set the food bowl down). Do you think that this behavior is due to his desire to be dominant or am I doing something else to trigger growling? My concern is that he knows it’s not ok to do but he still keeps doing it. I know shibas are stubborn, but it seems like my efforts to discipline him aren’t working. Any advice would help! Thanks!
Our 7 month old coonhound is good aggressive and we are not sure if he learned it because our elderly blind pug likes to sneak in and grab food or if he got it from litter mates but Whenever other dogs or my children go near he howls as loud as he can and growls and will bite if he can he won’t eat just guard until he feels comfortable enough to eat. I’ve tried weeks of hand feeding with kids helping and also dropping treats in his bowl having my kids help feed. Makes no difference he still growls and tries to bite even if they are handing him food! He particularly does not like my 4 year old near him at food time. Also if he’s in his kennel and hears dog food being poured he will start growling in his kennel and become aggressive. At this point Idk if he can be fixed we have to feed him outside on his own for fear of him biting the blind dog or my kids.
My 6 yo Cavalier KC Spaniel, Harry, is a rescue and was possibly abused the 1st year of his life. I also have a diabetic dog, so they are fed exactly every 12 hrs so I can give the other one her insulin on schedule. Harry has SEVERE food aggression & resource guarding. Hes become much more social and happy over the years, but this problem remains.
He lunges for trash on walks and I have to use tongs to get it out of his mouth bc he bites me badly if I try to take it from him. At meal time, he flips out. As soon as I start preparing their food bowls he starts screaming and barking and neighbors have complained. I have to slide his bowl across the floor so he doesn’t bite me as I put it down. As soon as he’s inhaled his food, he runs at the other dog and barks at her nonstop, and I have to block him from attacking her with a broom, which he viciously attacks instead (I don’t hit him with it; I just block his way).
He just goes into a RAGE. I’ve worked with private trainers, but their suggestions didn’t work–putting the dogs in different rooms or crates makes him bark worse. Squirting him or using a citronella collar had zero effect. Any reward based methods haven’t worked bc he is so flipped out he doesn’t respond or even notice. I even tried him on Prozac and sedatives but nothing helped.
I borrowed a friend’s shock collar yesterday out of desperation. It increases the shock with each bark within 30 seconds, and it did get him to sit and be quiet. I tried it again this morning, and after eating half his food and then barking at my other dog and getting shocked, he curled up in his bed and refused to eat. That’s NEVER happened, EVER. I think he associated the shock with eating, and I feel terrible for trying this bc he was probably abused as a pup and wasn’t suited for shocks.
I cannot afford a private trainer now, but I have no idea how to get him to relax at meal time, to not bark and be aggressive. I feel like he needs to be less wigged out before I can even try some of the reward techniques for food aggression. It’s like he goes to a dark, unreachable place! How can I get him to trust that he will get his food, as a first step on the path to teaching him to behave during meal time? Any ideas? Thanks.
Have you tried essential oils for you dog?
We saved a Siberian Husky, female, 2,5 years of age, about a moth ago from a life in a shelter. She was very jumpy and nervous when she arrived. The bench we got her, seemed a prison to her. She drools and vomits in the car every time we leave, but knows that the car brings her to other places to walk. This far, no problems. She is sweet and family minded. Very protective of my husband and me and of the 2 other, smaller dogs in our home.
Onfortunately, when we want to give sweets to all 3, Laïka, our husky, transforms into a monster. She gets this trigger with the smell of dogsweets or other foods that falls within her nearby reach. Her eyes turn evil and she doesn’t growl, to warn you. She jumps forward. Teeth first. However she will protect us and those smaller than her, even children, normally, when she is triggerd, she will attack the weakest first. She had attacked us both already in one of those moods. when she is calm, she comes and begs for forgiveness. It’s like, she knows she had done wrong, but that the need to be bad and evil is to strong.
The tips above are good, but what do I do, with my little girl? We want to be able to take her with us everywhere, as we have done with every dog we ever had before her. Now we avoid markets because she would attack everyone to get to the food, if she sees it. If it’s in a bag, she mostly leaves it. That is impossible right now to walk within a crowd or go to a restaurant. Having drinks works on the terras. but winter comes, and that means, for now, she can’t come, with the lack off faith she will behave. I’m afraid to say.
Doglovers as we are, our Husky is in our heart and we want to show her off, in good manners, for here they are known as dangerous beauty’s.
please help?
Guarding food is an important survival trait, especially for a shelter dog who has had to live in the streets.
More on why dogs get aggressive over food.
In order to help my dog be more comfortable with resources, I do two things-
1. Desensitization and counter-conditioning
I do desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises to help my dog re-associate having people and other dogs around food with positive and calm experiences. With desensitization training, I need to start small, in a structured environment, so that I can control the strength of the trigger stimulus, i.e. people being near food. For desensitization training to be effective, I need to get the timing, environment, and everything else exactly right. When I first started desensitization training with my dog, we did it under the guidance of a good professional trainer/behaviorist.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
More on how I desensitize my dog to people.
ASPCA article on desensitization and counter-conditioning-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/desensitization-and-counterconditioning
I also desensitize my dog to being in the car so that he can be more relaxed.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-anxiety-problems/comment-page-2#comment-643406
2. Management and success
The more successful (structured) experiences that my dog has (through desensitization), the more confidence, trust, and positive associations he forms. Similarly, reactive experiences will undermine that confidence/trust, set back our desensitization training, create negative associations, and worsen my dog’s future behavior.
Therefore, a very important part of helping my dog is to manage his routine and environment carefully, so that I do not expose him to situations that he is not ready for, and that will trigger an aggressive/fear response. I always try to set my dog up for success, so that he learns to trust me and to look to me for direction. If I miss something and we find ourselves in an uncertain situation, then we leave right away, before my dog becomes reactive.
I set up a fixed routine and a very consistent plan. In this way, my dog knows exactly what to expect from me and what I expect from him in return. Routine and consistency help to create certainty, which helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
For something like this, it is important to start small, set my dog up for success, carefully manage his environment, and slowly build up his trust and tolerance.
However, dog behavior is very context dependent. In cases of aggression, it is best and safest to get a professional trainer who can observe my dog in his regular routine and environment, as well as help me develop a safe and effective plan for rehabilitation.
Hello,
My lovely siberian husky is 1.5 years and is exceptionally affectionate and playful. She goes on play dates everyday and does very well with other dogs and is well trained can do anything I ask (in most cases). I have noticed, she is very territorial when in small spaces such as under the bed. Its not very often, but she does become aggressive when she is trying to hide a greenie and has bitten but not pentrated the skin and growls … When she has done this I usually Will tell her no but getting her out from under the bed is rough to punish her… I feel that I should just block the area but is that really the best solution?
Do you have any solutions for getting my husky to be less territorial of small spaces?
My Shiba Inu showed similar behavior when he was a young puppy. High priority food items that he cannot finish with one bite will really stress him out and he will run around trying to find a place to hide it.
With Sephy, I put him in his crate first, then I gave him his Greenie and shut the door. In this way, he can take as long as he wants to work on his Greenie, he doesn’t have to worry about it being stolen, and he associates his crate with getting high priority rewards. However, I stopped giving him Greenies because of possible risks of it getting stuck in a dog’s digestive system.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/
Management and prevention is best with my dog. If I let him go crazy, then take away his Greenie as punishment, he will associate people coming near him with losing his high priority items. This will worsen his resource guarding behavior. Instead, I want him to associate me with getting rewards, and keeping him safe while he works on his chew.
Sephy also learned very early on that if he ran to hide under the bed or under the papasan chair, it becomes difficult for us to get to him and stop him from doing his Shiba hijinks. It became like a game to him. He would start doing crazy behaviors and then run to hide under the bed or chair.
To stop him, I put a drag-lead on him (Only under supervision and only with a regular collar. Absolutely no aversive collars). This allowed me to effectively stop him from running away. It also allowed me to get him out from under the chair and bed easily and without physically putting hands on him.
In general though, I always want to set my dog up for success. If I know that a Greenie triggers stress and guarding, then I want to change the management process so that my dog doesn’t keep repeating those behaviors. The more reactive episodes my dog has, the more likely he will repeat those behaviors, with greater severity, and in a wider variety of contexts.
Careful management of my dog’s routine and environment has served me very well. I want to maximize successes and not expose him to situations he is not ready to handle. With my dogs, prevention is always better than punishment after the fact.
Curious if you have any thoughts for me on this.
I have three dogs. Two Shibas and a Corgi. One Shiba and the Corgi have been together and with me for 10 years. They’re old kids. Our other Shiba just turned a year old. We’ve had him since he was 8 weeks old. He went through all of the training classes and he passed with flying colors. For the most part, he is a very good, sweet boy. VERY smart too. But there are two things we have a problem with and I have no idea how to handle them.
The first is food or treats. When he was little, our Corgi (who is a food thief) took his food. I didn’t have a chance to stop it. Since then, I cannot feed him in the same room as everyone else OR give treats together. He has zero food aggression with humans or our cats. Its with other dogs. But ONLY if he thinks they got a treat and he didn’t, or food falls on the floor and someone else gets to it before him. All hell breaks loose and he is all over the other dog, snarling, growling and in some cases biting. No one has actually gotten hurt yet, but it looks and sounds horrible. I pull him off and then he is calm and he and the other dog are friends again. I have no idea how to handle this or how to break it. Its my own fault for not being able to stop our Corgi from stealing his food that ONE time when he was a puppy, but that sure set him up for issues as a adult. he especially gets mad at her if he thinks she has a food something. I fear taking him to a friends house for bbq’s or the dog park due to this. He is a great travel dog and loves playing with people and new dogs, but I worry about what will happen say, if we’re at the dog park and someone starts passing out treats (happens a lot, so I usually go grab him and leave before something happens). Like I said, I don’t tend to treat or feed everyone together because of this.
The other issue is with our cats. Our cats tolerate him just fine (They love the other dogs, because they just sleep a lot). But our young Shiba LOVES to chase the cats if they run (yay for high prey drive) and with one of our cats, he will tackle him and start trying to roughhouse with him, like he would with another dog. he is not trying to hurt the cat, he wants to play with him. And sometimes the cat will play back, but most of the time he won’t and he ends up with a chunk of hair pulled out and I have to physically pull the dog off of the cat. I don’t know how to stop this. He wants to play with the cat so bad and the cat is not all about this. Our older dogs really don’t play anymore. He has dog friends that live close by, but most of the time the owners don’t have time to get together for them to play, so my husband and I play with him. Its not the same for him. he wants someone to roughhouse with. The cats do have safe places to go. The upstairs is gated off and they have very high cat trees all over the place. We’ve tried water bottle, time out, reward for NOT chasing the cats and for listening and settle (where he lies on his side until he is calm). But they only work for about 10 seconds and then he is right back to it until he is bored or the cat has been removed from the room. He has gotten better about this in the last few months and I am hoping he just gets bored with it and stops.
I helped my Shiba Inu with his dog-to-dog reactivity by doing desensitization exercises. I do desensitization training in a structured and controlled environment. I use distance to weaken the other dog stimulus so that Sephy can remain calm, follow commands, and learn. The more calm and successful encounters my dog has with another dog, the more confidence, trust, and positive associations he forms. Similarly, reactive experiences will undermine that trust, set back our training, and worsen his future behavior. More on how I did general dog-to-dog desensitization training with my Shiba. This general exercise can be adapted for a food aggression type situation. Both dogs are on lead, and far enough away from each other that both are calm and able to listen.
However, desensitization training can be counter-intuitive especially at the start, so it was helpful for me to do it under the guidance of a good trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
As for roughhousing with cats, I do not have any cats so I do not have any first hand experience. Before we got a second dog, we used to take Sephy to our local SPCA for training and playing with other dogs. He really needed an outlet for his roughhousing energy. As you say, playing with people is different. He can’t do his usual chasing and wrestling, in the same way that he can with other dogs. Our SPCA play sessions were always supervised, structured, and I manage Sephy’s excitement level by throwing in many play breaks. He can get over-the-top when playing with other dogs, so it was good to train him to have some impulse control.
As for dog parks, they really were not appropriate for Sephy. He learned a lot of undesirable habits and his behavior worsened from going there. More on our dog park experiences.
Dog daycare is another possibility, however, the experience will depend a lot on the temperament of the dog, the experience of the trainers at the daycare, and of course how good the facilities are. Sephy did not do well at daycare because they were too strict with him during play, and he got stressed being in an unfamiliar place without his people. Therefore, it depends a lot on the temperament of the dog.
I do not leave my dogs alone together, until I am really sure that there will be no issues. Sephy can get pretty crazy when playing with other dogs, and even my larger Huskies can get overwhelmed.
Hope this helps. Big hugs to your furry pack!
My dog is only aggressive about his food (and toys) with other dogs. He is an only pup, so it’s only when we are visiting friends or family with dogs that he displays this behavior. Our temporary solution is to hide all toys and tennis balls in the home, and everyone goes without play things for the duration of the visit. With feeding, we are able to feed only when supervised because my dog must practice his amazing “stay” commands to give the other dog space, and then the food gets put up when either dog begins to lose interest in eating. What’s the most confusing for us is that he seems to have no problem sharing a water bowl with other dogs – so it is just food and toys that trigger his aggressive behaviors. Is there any advice you could give in how to help address this behavior? We would love to have another dog in the future, but stuff like this must be addressed first so neither of them are stressed out when that day finally does come. Again, it’s only towards other dogs that this behavior is presented. He has no problem sharing his toys, or having his bowl moved around, when it is one of his parents doing so.
With my dogs, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, and one very important rule is the no-stealing rule. I supervise my dogs closely during periods of high interaction, e.g. eating time, and make sure that everyone is following my rules. Each dog gets their own food toy to work on, and they give each other enough space to be comfortable. As soon as I notice one getting a bit close to another, I interrupt and redirect or body block him away.
In this way, my dogs know exactly what to expect from each other, what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return. This creates certainty, and certainty helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
More on what I do with my dogs during meal-times.
I have done this from the start, and now my dogs have learned that I will protect their resources, so they need not do so themselves. In the beginning, they needed more space around their food to be comfortable. As they gained confidence through positive experiences, they became more relaxed around each other. However, with really high priority items, e.g. bully sticks, they may still get protective. This is something that they really like and do not get often, as opposed to regular food like kibble or boiled chicken which they get very regularly. Therefore, for high priority items, I keep them separated. Also, they are comfortable with each other, but they may be less so with a new dog that they are not familiar with.
I also did dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with my Shiba Inu. This helped to raise his comfort level to other dogs. A variation of this can also be performed with food in the vicinity. We did desensitization exercises in a structured environment, with trainer chosen dogs, and under the supervision of a good trainer.
With my dogs, I always try to set them up for success and not expose them to situations they are not ready for. The more positive meal times they have, with no incidents, the more they learn that I will take care of things and they do not need to concern themselves with others stealing their food. Similarly, negative or reactive events will undermine that confidence and trust, and worsen their guarding behavior.
Dogs protect their valued resources because they know that other dogs may take them away. Different resources may have different values to a dog based on temperament, past experiences, rarity, etc. New dogs that they do not know, will be viewed differently than dogs that they already trust.
Dog behavior is very context dependent, and things become even more complicated when there are multiple dogs involved. For this reason, we got help from several professional trainers during Sephy’s difficult period.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
Hope this helps. And yeah, I also got dirty looks from strangers, and got embarrassed with Sephy’s behavior. More Sephy stories.
Big hugs to your Shar Pei!
Could you give me advice on stopping my shiba’s food aggression? I’ve considered calling a trainer, but (1) she gets very excited about visitors and would hound the trainer for attention as she does with other guests, and (2) she’s not always aggressive around her food so I feel like I can’t demonstrate it at home (she’s the only dog).
She only shows aggression towards my teenage brother and other dogs when she thinks they’re a threat to her food. It doesn’t help that my brother’s a bit skittish and is definitely a flight (vs fight/defensive) kind of person. Sometimes she can have food around them just fine, sometimes she starts screaming and biting when they’re around her and food. The aggression started after another dog (an untrained, aggressive one) bit her as a puppy, I think. Before that she was just fine.
I’ve tried putting her in time out in another room or in her crate but it hasn’t worked. Having my brother hand-feed her and be the only one who gives her treats doesn’t seem to help. Our dad’s been suggesting that my brother defend himself and just hit her in the face and I don’t want it to come to that!
When it comes to dog-to-dog food aggression, she kind of holds a “grudge” and I have to keep her in time-out for a while or she’ll go hunt the other dog down to give them a piece of her mind. When food’s not around period, she’s a good girl and plays nice unless a dog is otherwise aggressive to her first.
How do I properly desensitize her? My brother wants me to just magically fix her without him putting any effort into it, and I just can’t do that. Making her not bite my brother is my main goal right now.
Dogs get aggressive over food and other resources because they associate people and other dogs coming near their stuff with something negative.
http://shibashake.com/dog/why-dogs-get-aggressive-over-food-toys
I help my dog by starting small, with very low priority food/objects, and slowly teaching her to associate people and stuff with positive and rewarding events. The more positive and structured experiences my dog has, the more positive associations she makes, and the better her behavior becomes. Similarly, negative experiences will undermine that progress, significantly set back training, and worsen her behavior. Therefore, I manage my dog and her environment very carefully. I *do not* put her in situations that she cannot handle, and where she will resort to aggression.
Desensitization training can be complex and counter-intuitive. Therefore, I got help from a good professional trainer at the start. In addition, if there is younger person involved, it is best to get professional help to keep things safe for everyone.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/desensitization-and-counterconditioning
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I also wanted to state that she does attempt to eat from everyone’s bowl. more so cheekos because he will grab food and leave because of her stare. or not eat at all. when I correct this with “ack-ack” she is non aggressive. only when cheeko stays to eat does she become….angry ]:
I have a year old pit, roobie, who displays food guarding/aggression only towards my 8 year old chihuahua, cheeko. I have another pit who is 5, Penelope, whom she isn’t bothered by.
during food consumption I am present and I observe their behavior because she is a new dog to the house and I noticed she focus’ on cheeko to the point where cheeko will not eat as he normally does. food time is usually after we go running for about an hour. when I notice the staring begin I will attempt to redirect her attention and then she will take a bite at me for intervening. she’s done this numerous times. she’s also bitten my daughter cammi who’s 4 years old over her picking up a bone. this was months ago when she wasn’t my dog. help!
Given that you have a very young child in the house, I would get help from a good professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I always try to set my dog up for success. I manage his environment so that I do not expose him to situations where he feels he has to resort to aggression. I do structured desensitization exercises with my dog in a controlled environment, where I can keep everyone safe, as well as help him start to associate resources and people, or resources and other dogs, with positive experiences. At the same time, I want to minimize negative experiences where my dog becomes reactive and starts showing aggression. During retraining, I start small, with very very low priority items and *very slowly* build up my dog’s tolerance. I make sure to keep him *below* his aggression threshold at all times.
The more positive experiences my dog has, the less he sees other dogs as a threat to his resources, and the more comfortable he becomes with them. Similarly, negative experiences will undermine that trust, significantly set back retraining, and worsen his behavior. I.e. I want to prevent reactive or aggressive incidents by managing his environment, rather than trying to “correct” his behavior after the fact. Trying to physically correct an aggressive dog is dangerous and can lead to redirected aggression, as you have observed.
I separate my dogs during meal-times if necessary, I use a lead if appropriate, and I always supervise and manage very closely and very carefully when there are children involved. I also remove *all* items of contention so there are no accidents with people or other dogs. Management is a very important part of retraining my dog.
However, dog behavior is complex and very context dependent, so each dog and situation are different. In a multi-dog household, things become even more complicated. Based on what you describe, I would consult with a professional trainer as soon as possible. In the meantime, I would take every precaution to minimize aggression incidents by managing the dog’s environment and routine. I keep my dog on a leash and close to me when there are children about.