Food agression in 18wk old pup :(

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*sigh* i really hoped i wouldn't have to write this post.
This evening whilst my rottweiler pup was having her tea (raw chicken thighs and wings) she for the first time ever displayed agressive behaviour. I only walked past and bent down to pick up something off the floor and was met with snarling, growling and an almighty bark. The loudest i've ever heard her growl or bark. I stayed where i was and didn't move, growling carried on.
I stroked her until she'd stopped growling and then left her to it. Was i right to do that?
I never noticed her be like that when fed dry, seems to only be when she has raw as she cant keep that in the bowl so has the whole kitchen floor to demolish her food.

Shes going to be a big strong girl and i don't want anyone getting hurt, i understand its just her way of saying, hey, that's mine back off. But it needs knocking on the head NOW. So, how do i do this?!
 
You stroked her until she stopped growling, what will that teach her. I would have told her off and made her go to her bed or crate. As she is only acting like this with raw i would feed her by hand( wear gloves if you want). Itsbetter to nip this in the bud now rather than down the line when she is a big girl.
 
B y not stroking her!

You have to make her understand right now that this is not acceptable, does she sit and wait until she is allowed to eat?

Rules in my house,

Dogs aren't fed until I have eaten, even if it is just a biscuit.

Bowls are put down and they sit and wait until I am ready to let them eat, then they are allowed to eat.

Anyone who gets possessive I get the food back, go towards them with calm intent, pick up the bowl, pick it straight up past their nose, not away from them, makes it easier to back them off again. once they are sat and calm again the food goes back down. Rinse and repeat until she gets the idea that food is yours and not hers.
 
I'd have taken the food away - showed 'I was in control of the food' "I can give and taketh the food!!!" - It's your food and you decide when and how!

Especially at that age I would make a big point of touching and poking her while she eats so she knows you are not a threat - before she is too big to do any damage!! If she growls, pick the food up and make her go to her bed - take control of her not the other way round but reward when she is a good girl and leave her in peace to enjoy her food once she is less 'touchy'
 
Big Ben said:
B y not stroking her!

You have to make her understand right now that this is not acceptable, does she sit and wait until she is allowed to eat?

Rules in my house,

Dogs aren't fed until I have eaten, even if it is just a biscuit.

Bowls are put down and they sit and wait until I am ready to let them eat, then they are allowed to eat.

Anyone who gets possessive I get the food back, go towards them with calm intent, pick up the bowl, pick it straight up past their nose, not away from them, makes it easier to back them off again. once they are sat and calm again the food goes back down. Rinse and repeat until she gets the idea that food is yours and not hers.
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I have to have a routine with her raw feeds because she goes nuts over them. She isn't allowed near the bowl with any feed until i say so.

I think where i went wrong was when i DID tell her off and told her to drop it, she then did. So i (probably wrongly) praised her for dropping it and she then continued to growl. Thinking back now i see what you mean about teaching her the wrong thing. I figured in my head if i continued touching her til she stopped growling then left her alone, she'd learn that she would be left alone and allowed the food when she had stopped growling.
If that makes sense at all!
 
HorseyLad said:
I'd have taken the food away - showed 'I was in control of the food' "I can give and taketh the food!!!" - It's your food and you decide when and how!

Especially at that age I would make a big point of touching and poking her while she eats so she knows you are not a threat - before she is too big to do any damage!! If she growls, pick the food up and make her go to her bed - take control of her not the other way round but reward when she is a good girl and leave her in peace to enjoy her food once she is less 'touchy'
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The touching and poking thing was where i was going with the stroking. Not the way its kind of been confused for me praising her for growling if you get what i mean?
 
My lab was food aggressive when a pup- we tried the whole take it away etc. I am giver of food- we already made him wait before being told to have it. It didn't help at all. So spoke to trainer- she gave us a New analogy, if you had chocolate cake would you want someone stroking your head- NO! We therefore left him to eat in peace, still made him wait to have it tho. Took about 8 weeks but now i can stroke him, pick up his bowl, put hand in bowl, and stop him eating using one command. He doesn't growl or anything.
However we can't give him bones unless we hand hold otherwise he is grumbling rather than growling. Especially in kitchen, but again i can stop him chewing even in this state. (i feed dry as main food tho due to intolerance to raw!)
So if your keen to feed raw i would either hand feed it, or maybe try what we had to do. I was sceptical as all previous dogs we have always taken away with no issue.
 
Tbh I would be playing swapsies. Swap bowls,of kibble for chicken, swap the chicken for....... Something better than chicken, etc. Then swap back. My old dog used to back away from his food bowl in a flurry of excitement when we touched it, cos he knew something delish was about to be added to it. I dont think it ever occured to him to defend it, as a result.

Pratting around poking/prodding and taking away the bowl when the dog is eating, or using punishmnet when it growls, IMO can quickly escalate the situation into a full blown "******* off" from the dog. Which I personally wouldnt be wanting from a rottie ;)
 
stargirl88 said:
Pratting around poking/prodding and taking away the bowl when the dog is eating, or using punishmnet when it growls, IMO can quickly escalate the situation into a full blown "******* off" from the dog. Which I personally wouldnt be wanting from a rottie ;)
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But she isn't a big Rottie yet she is an 18 week old pup, and at that age it is time that she learned that you can take food away. I don't do it the whole time, but I need to be able to take anything away from my dogs, from the JRT to the Doberman when we had them.
 
ditto star girl


with ours as pups i would take their food away when i felt like it (after all that is mine,,,!?)!, put it down, move it etc.... stroke them while eating...put my hand IN the bowl.

takes time, but ive never ever had a food aggresive dog,


i regularly (purely to ever stop agression before it starts)...take their bowls away, hand feed a couple of bits of food (rarely but i do).... put my hands in their bowl and sit next to them

i do not do that every night as frankly that would piss me off if i was them :D but i will let them know that that it belongs to me

they also get fed AFTER me, and get crated around my food when im eating so im not mithered.... works lovely as it also stops any dog to dog food aggression before it starts....

but i agree op - stop it now before she gets a big girl!
 
Dylan did this once (rottie x) at about 20weeks old over a pigs ear.

He was given a very firm no in his face and pig ear (which he had) taken away. I ignored him for ten minutes and gave him the pig ear back. Took it away again and swapped it for a bit of cheese. Never did it again. From a 8 week old puppy i had my hand in his bowl and moved it around a bit, but never took his food from him, he could eat but I was there too. Now at 2 years old I can ask him to drop his food if needed.
 
It is very natural but not acceptible, of course she will guard a higher reward for fear of losing it.
Like suggested it's like someone trying to home in on your fish and chips when you have been eating toast all months:D you would say "get off" and gather them up (same kind of thing) only she is an animal and has teeth.
I would not say what I would do as I am not you and I don't know how confident you are with your handling of her.
As suggested a swap maybe best for you (not kibble imo) but another piece of raw something or other or a tube of primula at the ready and ask her to come to you and show her the treat, and then "sit" and hold it high and get her attention (so she is openly looking /interested) rather than you homing in/bending down to her as she is chewing away and then ask her to "leave" or "give" whilst wafting the new bit around (confuse her somewhat) but at the same time let her know she has to give up when you ask (with a command) so eventually you can say "leave it" or "drop it", if she drops it on the floor and looks directly up at new treat, place you floor over the one dropped, then as she is eating or taking the primula (pick dropped piece up" and offer it up to her! dont over do it, just work on it each time you feed her.

In any other circumstance I would say leave the dog be to eat, but it sounds like she is being a a bit ott with this and it could esculate, not in the way she is turning into a beast, its just her food, but it could lead to this with other food/high reward things.
Also up your firmness/control in other areas, you get respect all round so that in these instances the dog still knows their is a constant boundary, food aggression is something I have never ever had with my dogs but them im constant in my handling/managing of my lot (hope that makes sense).
 
My Beagle pup was food aggressive after my sisters dog took a rawhide chew off her.

She would just growl if anyone went near her food. So i ended up just refusing to move and putting my hand in her bowl. Taking the food away from her, as i pleased.

Biggest help i found was just putting my hand in her bowl, whilst she ate. I have young nieces and didnt want that kind of behaviour when they visited.

Now have a very soppy Beagle, that isn't food aggressive at all and will even eat abit of her dinner and leave it and go back to it. :-)
 
I too have young nieces and likely will have children in my dogs lifetime all being well. However, i will feed him in a separate room from the children if any are present at feed time just to be safe. Its not worth the risk even in a non aggressive dog, food is a natural protection item for dogs.
 
No, wouldn't have used that approach and yes, I would have gone after her (but in a firm, fair way - not losing your temper, just in a way that will create future conflict)
My dog is a pushy little ****** but if I tell him to drop a bone, he WILL drop it.

As mentioned, start exchanging things and making her realise that you being in her zone does not mean the food will be taken away. You can start with an empty bowl and put things into the bowl when she shows correct behaviour - this is why I hand feed - I am the source of the food, ME not a bowl, that has to be coveted and guarded, I always put a bowl down and put the food into it.

I would NOT be sticking my hands in the bowl when the dog is eating, or poking the dog, especially with a Rottie, that will encourage aggression in my opinion, don't mess with the food WHILE the dog is eating it, it's counter productive.
 
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Thankyou for the helpful advice. I have been working on the 'leave it' command. Will try the swapping technique! It can be hard to get any kind of sense out of her sometimes where food is concerned. She gets so over excited. Keep the advice coming. I don't want to go back to just feeding dry just because she doesn't react when fed that. She looks so well on her new diet!!
 
Try putting just half her ration in the bowl,as she finishes that ADD bit by bit some more,it does`nt take long for you to be very welcome around her when feeding.
 
There will be many who disagree with me, but I would never allow any puppy to lay down the law to me. By the same token, once food is put in front of a dog, I would ALWAYS turn my back, and allow the dog to eat in peace. If I was within "The space" of a puppy , whilst it was eating, and it showed aggression, then it would be squared up, properly.

I would be seriously annoyed at anyone who tried stroking or poking me whilst I was eating, and would expect a dog to feel the same. It could be seen as winding the dinner up, and as for those who test a puppy by taking its food form it, done to me, then yes I would bite too. ;)

It's all to do with respect, and as it's shown, so I've always found, it's given (so far, anyway!)..

Alec.
 
EAST KENT said:
Try putting just half her ration in the bowl,as she finishes that ADD bit by bit some more,it does`nt take long for you to be very welcome around her when feeding.
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A very sensible suggestion. Avoids confrontation and possible escalation of problem. Much better to make the dog relaxed about having people around his food bowl than to make him fearful it might be taken away any time the owner fancies doing it. He may well stop growling a warning but act strongly one day to protect his food instead, a potentially dangerous situation depending on the dog.
Like Alec though, my instinctive reaction to a puppy growling at me would be the equivalent of a quick harmless nip from his mother.
I have never taken away food once I have put it down but I have taught all my dogs the commands 'leave' and 'give'. None of my dogs have been protective of their food but I can stop them eating undesirable items.
 
I think it's worth noting (reminded by a similar thread) that there may be disparities in breeds for those who are advocating either add and add, leave the dog alone, and those who give and take - in breeds like Rotts, GSDs, Dobes etc and terriers, you would expect a little genetic possession (think about original uses, guarding, going to ground for quarry etc) so it would be harder to come in and take stuff from them say compared to the people who are talking about their experience with spaniels or labs.
 
CaveCanem said:
I think it's worth noting (reminded by a similar thread) that there may be disparities in breeds for those who are advocating either add and add, leave the dog alone, and those who give and take - in breeds like Rotts, GSDs, Dobes etc and terriers, you would expect a little genetic possession (think about original uses, guarding, going to ground for quarry etc) so it would be harder to come in and take stuff from them say compared to the people who are talking about their experience with spaniels or labs.
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The generally subservient and compliant Spaniel or Labrador, but when around food, could be a different animal altogether.

I_shot_Santa said:
........ By the same token, once food is put in front of a dog, I would ALWAYS turn my back, and allow the dog to eat in peace. If I was within "The space" of a puppy , whilst it was eating, and it showed aggression, then it would be squared up, properly.

.......

Alec.
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Just as a footnote to this: The young (18+- weeks) puppy which is showing food aggression, really shouldn't be subjected to major discipline. That same puppy, when at say 40ish weeks, and now starting to accept the concept of being disciplined, may well, as it is NOW accepting of discipline, NOW be far more amenable where food's concerned.

Avoid the food/aggression situation is what I'm struggling to say. By avoidance, then as the puppy grows, so the problem will never arise. By the time that the puppy is a year old, then the installed discipline will mean that the food isn't an issue.

Does that make sense? If it doesn't, say so, and I'll try to make a better job of it !! :o

Alec.
 
That's why I said 'may'......some Spaniels are double hard, some Rotties are soft as butter but as a rule I know which one I would rather not poke while eating or stick my hand in their food (well, neither, but I hope you see what I mean!!)
 
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