Very Naughty Lab

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dyl

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My friends dog is a 9month old lab, she has recently started growling when approached whilst eating her food which is very naughty. Every time she growls we take the food off her but now she has started growling whilst the food is taken off and after!! we have conforted her and she has put her hackles up and attempted to bite us. if we hand hold the bowl she is better, and we can hand feed her without any problems.
we r really worried about this problem and wondered if any one has got any ideas???
 
you could try this.


Handfeeding is a really useful tool in the dog tool box. I recommend it for several issues...
It can be used to reduce fear of humans and increase acceptance of contact;
To establish a bond between puppy and owner or newly adopted or brought into foster rescue dog;
To restate the importance of listening to the owner for the dog. Some people may use the term respect.
When a dog starts being unresponsive to training.
A dog cannot misinterpret food either as a reward (which is why it can be a good training aid) or to restablish pack hierarchy (if you believe pack theory).

Essentially simple, the negatives are that it is time consuming and potentially messy.

You need the dogs dinner in one bowl (which is out of their reach ),
another empty bowl;
yourself (and whoever else is handfeeding);
rubber gloves (if desired, you might be a vegetarian) and ...
the dog!
Clear away any distractions, especially other dogs. It is best done when things are quiet and you are calm.

Grab a chair and the bowls, while sitting down, take a handful of their dinner and offer it to them from your hand which is placed over the empty bowl, to collect any spillages. Repeat until food bowl empty or dog full
Thats it, job done.

Remember that this method of feeding will take longer so allow time for it, say 10-15 minutes per meal. You can add verbal praise.. "good eating" when they are eating.

You can also use the time that you are preparing for the feeding to install a sit or a downstay before they are invited to eat, which you can cue with a "go/come eat"
 
Sorry, I would advocate giving her a tap on the bum if she growls at you, to make it clear that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable. Dogs need parameters set for their behaviour, otherwise how do they know what is OK or not? Your friend is the 'pack leader' as far as her dog is concerned, so the pup just needs reminding of that (without being cruel obviously)

And after thinking about it, why are you taking the food away? The pup is now getting even more protective over its food, as it sees the food disapearing when a human approaches! I would just give the light smack to show growling not acceptable, then leave pup in peace to eat its meal
 
could this not add to the problems, maybe making the dog hand shy also
confused.gif
 
It hasn't done with any pup I've ever know, granted not labs but a wide range of other breeds. Sure, if the pup is very nervous and spooky anyway you would have to be careful, but a 'normal' pup should be fine
 
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Sorry, I would advocate giving her a tap on the bum if she growls at you, to make it clear that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable. Dogs need parameters set for their behaviour, otherwise how do they know what is OK or not? Your friend is the 'pack leader' as far as her dog is concerned, so the pup just needs reminding of that (without being cruel obviously)

And after thinking about it, why are you taking the food away? The pup is now getting even more protective over its food, as it sees the food disapearing when a human approaches! I would just give the light smack to show growling not acceptable, then leave pup in peace to eat its meal

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I disagree that this dog sees his owner as 'pack leader' as no dog of 9 months should be growling at its owner. so he needs to re-learn that his human controls when and how he eats and with Jackies method he won't see it as having food taken away, just that good behaviour means food and it's the owner that supplies the food....so be nice! I don't think a tap on the bum will teach him anything
 
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I would just give the light smack to show growling not acceptable, then leave pup in peace to eat its meal

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PS forgot to say, what happens when someone else tries to take the meal away, say a visiting child or a kennel hand, if he's not learned the lesson that humans are allowed to take his food away?
 
I have to say that a dog protecting their food is a pretty basic reaction - and taking the bowl away is only going to compound that fear. I have always been taught from a very early age (we had dogs when I was a child) that you don't interfer, pet or go near the dog when he is eating, and I still wouldn't even with the most mild mannered of dogs, as it isn't fair to them.

By hand feeding you could be encouraging bad habits - we were advised to do this with one of ours when he was having difficulty keeping weight on, and it was a very difficult cycle to break, so I would avoid it where possible. I suggest you leave the dog to eat their food, in another room if need be, and work on strengthening the relationship in other ways - we have a great relationship with our lab, and should I want to (and I wouldn't ) take his food away, he would never think of biting me.
 
It has to be said, as a child I was always taught to never annoy a dog eating food. In saying that, you should be able to take food of it without him reacting. My dog will let you take her bowl (allow trues to eat out of it at same time!) but would never ever be aggressive. Even when she is given a bone if you ask her, she will give it up.
 
yes that is exactly what we want, we feel we that she should give up her food to us as we should be at the top of the pecking order, however she obviously does not. her manners are impeckable in every other way, but even just you or any other walking passed her she wil growl which is not acceptable
 
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yes that is exactly what we want, we feel we that she should give up her food to us as we should be at the top of the pecking order, however she obviously does not. her manners are impeckable in every other way, but even just you or any other walking passed her she wil growl which is not acceptable

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teach the dog the word leave...then when mastered teach dog to leave the meal, then remove..... if she has started to growl when the bowl is being taken away, and carrying on while it's moving further away from her, then the next step for her will be snapping or biting, which you don't want.

teach her to leave, and back off before removing the bowl, otherwise the person's hand will be dangerously close to the mouth.


How often do they remove the bowl when she is eating? if it's everytime she has a meal or even just once a day, i'd imagine the dog is getting p'd off with it and so therefore can't eat in peace.

while i hasten to add it's not good for the dog to be p'd off, it's also not good to be doing this all the time!
 
I guess all this depends on whether the dog is getting the food back? If it's being taken and not given back, or taken time and time again just to tease the dog then it will growl and it would be wrong to expect otherwise but taking a dogs food is part of the learning process. It's not the taking of the food that's important but the fact that the dog realises you can and he has to accept it. Don't take the food off him more than once at the beginning of a meal and then he knows he will get it back and be free to enjoy the rest of his it.
 
Don't take the bowl away in future but it sounds like you've made a rod for your own back here. Out of interest are there any other dogs involved? We introduced a puppy bitch boxer as a companion to our flatcoat a few years ago and more through ignorance he would steal and bully her out of her food. The result was major fighting between them, it's a lot better now but you may like to try separate feeding sessions if that is the case - best of luck.
 
My dog lets me put my hand in her bowl (she stops eating and sits down) and lets me very gently take a bone out of her mouth. She's not an angel, by any means, but I have always been adamant about teaching her that food is a luxury, so to speak.

So, when she was a pup, I fed her only when she had done a command (i.e. a "sit" got a few pieces of kibble, another command, some more). This way, she learnt that it's "my food" not hers. To this day I make her do a *wait* before putting the food down, varying the length of time until I say *take it*. No need for tapping her bum, no need for shouting. (And my dog is a dominant alpha who *thinks* about challenging the boundaries often, so it can be done.)

It's also better to have set feedings if you already aren't doing that.
 
yes once the food is taken away she is quickly rewarded with it by giving it back to her immediately when she has finished growling, she is the only dog within the house. we have started making her sit and wait for the food whilst the bowl is being placed on the ground however she still begins to growl once she sees the food bowl, we place the food bowl on the floor and when she has stopped growling we let her eat the food! do you think she will grow out of this???
 
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do you think she will grow out of this???

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NO!!!

You are getting too much conflicting advice and if it's left to fester you will have an aggresive dog who thinks she's in charge of the food and it could spill over into other things. Get a behaviourists expert advice and nip it in the bud.
 
I have seen a friend go through the very same thing as yours and I used some training I'd learned while working for the Hearing Dogs for the Deaf to help her. This has also worked on our 'rescued' Staff cross who considered herself the Alfa...

Ask her to sit. Wait different lengths of time before putting the food down (not too long at first). Tell her she can have the food (good girl, eat now, get it, whatever command works for owner and dog). Growl at her if she growls at the owner. Don't stop growling until she stops. That is the key! Don't start taking her food away until she stops growling when the food is put down. One step at a time.

I know growling at her seems a little over the top but you need to talk to her in 'dog' not 'human' when she's trying to raise her status in the hieracy. This is what needs addressing. (Sorry to sound like a teacher!)

This method works well with our Staff and I only need to raise my lip to her now (much less stressful on the throat!). It has also worked on a Fox Terrier who lived on the streets for goodness knows how long and I was recently asked to 'help'.

Another thing you can try is not letting her through the front door before you (the owner!). The 'top dog' always goes first. It takes time but perseverance always pays off. It only took a few days for ours to learn but it took the Fox Terrier nearly four weeks. Phew! Whenever they step through the door first, bring them back and start again. Don't try this unless you have the time and make sure you do it every time you go through the front door. Ours now waits at every door and the stairs!

The key is to not give up. I have seen it all too often: Friends come to visit and comment on our dog 'behaving'. She's no angel but she understands not to push my buttons too often. They always say the same thing when it comes to their dogs behaving - it takes too long - no instant results.

One more thing: I don't know if you have children but, if you do, would you let your children order you to feed them by hand and be disrepectful? No? There you are then!

Take care, don't give up, and keep reminding them who's boss.... it's natural to them.
 
HI , I WONDER WHAT ELSE SHE IS ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH IF SHE IS GROWLING AT YOUR FRIEND AT 9 MONTHS OF AGE!!!
DO YOU ALLOW HER TO GET AWAY WITH OTHER BAD BEHAVIOUR.
THIS DOG IS CLEARLY DISRESPECTFUL OF YOU.
I.E IS SHE ALLOWED UPSTAIRS, ON THE FURNITURE, HAVE TO MANY TOYS, GET TO MANY TREATS, DOES SHE GET FED B4 U, GET ATTENTION ALL THE TIME.
PROBLEMS LIKE THE ABOVE LEAD TO THE PROBLEM YOU ARE MENTIONING.
U SHOULD ADVISE YOUR FRIEND NEUTER THIS DOG ALSO.
 
Yes I agree you need to tackle the dogs behaviour as a whole not just with food.Labradors are notoroius for being food orientated but can you remove toys,bones etc from the dog without her growling?? Is she allowed on the sofas? If so, does she get straight off when asked,does she sleep on the bed? if so does she get straight off when asked ? If she does all of or any of the above and answers are no you will find that you have a dog that is challenging the owners place in the pack and will only escalate into more problems aggression etc later in life.The dog is now at kevin the teenager stage in its life and wll be seeing what it can and cant get away with.You need to be strong with her but for gods sake dont smack her as if you smack a potentially aggressive dominant dog IT WILL BITE YOU EVENTUALLY.You need to use voice commands and enlist the help of a reputable trainer.Even just basic obedience classes will help.
 
Mine will let me take his food etc, and I absolutely agree that the dog should be respectful and obedient enough to do this - however, this situation seems to be causing a lot of conflict, so rather than focus on the food as an issue, and making the dog even more tense when eating, leave the dog to eat alone away from any children, and work on the trust and compliance issues away from food - maybe it is starting with a toy (we used to pretent to chew my dog's toy bone and ball, until he realised we were just playing, and he would always get them back) then a bone, and working up to a dish of food - approaching it from another angle will build the trust between dog and owner, at 9 months there is definitly time for this to work for them.
 
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