Food aggression ... so upset, please help/share
About 6 weeks ago, when Loki was 14 weeks, he bit me very hard (enough to draw blood and cause a permanent scar on my knuckle) when I took a bone away from him. He showed no other signs of aggression. He did not warn me vocally – no growling or baring teeth - but looking back, his body language was definitely “this is MINE!” he had his paws on the bone and when I approached, he turned his body away from me, hunched over. It was extremely upsetting, but me and my fiancé had signed him up for puppy classes the week that it happened so we decided to seek advice.
The trainer was really helpful, and since we hadn’t noticed any aggression in him other than the bones, she suggested that we play the trade game with him and teach him the drop command. She also recommended only hand feeding. He was a really quick learner, and picked it up quickly. We never let him have the bully stick completely, we always have it in our hand when we ask him to drop. Then he gets a new one. Fun things happen when hands and people are around! I thought everything was fine.
Yesterday, while I was at the gym, my fiancé calls me and tells me that Loki bit him…twice. Not hard enough to break the skin, but it was definitely a bite and not his usual mouthing (he’s about he’s teething right now). My fiancé had decided to give Loki some food in his bowl, take the bowl away when it was empty, add more, rinse and repeat. Loki bit him twice, both times when he went to take the empty bowl away. The second time was hard enough that my fiancé got scared.
When I came home, I decided to recreate the scenario, as Loki definitely views me as more of a leader than my fiancé. Sure enough, he did the exact same thing – he lunged and tried to bite me when I removed the empty bowl.
Of note, I sometimes feed him kibble out of a bowl during lunchtime (I work a 9 to 5 job, and am usually in a rush to get back to work – this way I still have time to take him for a walk during lunch) and hand feed him breakfast and dinner – he gets about 2 cups + treats spread throughout the day. Of note, he WOLFS his food down when it is in the bowl.
I’m completely heartbroken, cried for probably the remainder of the day. Worst Valentine’s Day ever.
We are contemplating re-homing him. We are also in the process of contacting our trainer to ask if she knows of somebody who can come to our house and figure out what we are doing wrong.
The kicker is, nobody believes us when we say that he’s food aggressive. He’s the sweetest dog EVER to everybody. But it is now we are scared as we cannot even tell if he’s being aggressive with his toys (he does some of the same posturing with his toys - paws on them, runs away with them, but he’s always loved being chased and when I do work up the nerve now to put a hand on a toy, he totally lets me and will drop it if I ask) and we are becoming afraid to even take toys away from him. I'm also annoyed that his tail is docked, we literally cannot tell if he's happy or not, even when he is happy (saying hi to people) he NEVER wags his nub.
I’m completely heartbroken, doing my best not to sob while typing all this out… and while I know the best thing to do is get a professional, I’m really not sure if we can deal with this.
Some insight or if anybody has similar stories to share, I would really like to hear them. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tracy Marie on
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I like your idea about the food rationing, but I'm not sure that it will work because he lunged/bit us when we tried to take an EMPTY food bowl away to give him more. So it may not just be food aggression that we are dealing with.
Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Tracy, When removing his empty bowl I would use the "I am claiming this" technique. Very gradually move into it and over the bowl, as soon as he showss ubmission by moving away,turning his head etc pick up the bowl. Each incident you describe seems to me to be an escalation of him thinking he needs to train you guys how he wants things done. It will take a number of strageties to convince him that it is the other way around. Once he is convinced that you are the benevelent pack leader he should start behaving better.
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Got a laundry list of techniques to try and go over with a professional to figure out what might work best and added yours to it. In the mean time, I think we are just going to do the drop yummy treats in his bowl when we walk by for now. Thank you!
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Permalink Reply by Cathie on
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I was always taught, as a child, to leave the family dog alone when it was eating. Somehow, this was never a problem. It was simple, it made sense, and it avoided unpleasantness all around.
Today, the new idea is that we must insist that the dog tolerate people messing with its food, turning a simple act of feeding into a tense training issue where dog behaviorists need to be called in to help. Geeze! Can't we keep it simple and non-confrontational? Just tell him to sit, put the bowl down, go away, and when the bowl is empty and he walks away from it, pick it up. How hard is that?
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Your comment really hurt my feelings.
Loki BIT me when I took a bone away that he wasn't supposed to have. He BIT my fiance when we took away an EMPTY bowl.
Thanks for the help. /sarcasm
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Don't take it so personally.
I'm sorry your dog has bitten you and your fiance. Maybe you should rehome him if he's causing you so much grief.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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That's really a cruel thing to say. The OP is obviously upset about the issue and trying to get advice to correct it, why kick her when she's down? I agree that a dog should be left alone to eat, but if a dog is BITING when you take away an empty bowl or chews, that is an issue that should be corrected. Perhaps some helpful advice would be more useful than blatant criticism to a new and inexperienced owner.
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My helpful advice was to leave the dog alone when feeding. My helpful advice (in another comment) was to drop the food into the bowl, not take the bowl away. Where is the criticism in that? Others suggested the same things.
I said I was sorry the dog had bitten them. Nothing cruel or critical in that.
As for rehoming, Tracy mentioned it. Is it cruel to agree with her that may be an option?
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Wow. There are those of us on here that disagree at times, but we do it in an adult manner. What you said is not only cruel, but really uncalled for.
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It's fine. I expected a bit more class on here, since all of us are united by a love of Corgis, but it is the Internet after all. Some people tend to forget that there's an actual person at the other end of the screen.
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Jennifer, I disagree with your judgmental remark. Tracy, I apologize if I hurt your feelings and thank you for your tolerance.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I totally disagree Cathie. We have several grandchildren and my dogs need to tolerate a young child crawling up and into their food dish. Dogs run into situations all the time and they do need a leader to "teach" them the correct way.It is unacceptable to behave that wayin my home and we still practice this once in awhile.
Tracy....I believe that you can work through this. I think several people have given you good information and getting help now instead of waiting is good. Hang in there:)
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