Why do people think my dog has been abused ?

Question

My two year old Lhasa is food aggressive. He started this when he was 10 months and now I cannot seem to stop him. He does not like for you to walk by his plate while eating or wash his plate after eating. He growls and will try to attack. I am not scared of him as he only ways 14 pounds, but I talked to a behaviorist and he said dogs act like that if they were starved at one time or when they don't get enough to eat. I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He has been with me the majority of his life and I feed him till he gets full. He gets two meals twice a day plus snacks. Why is it that people have to think up some psychological reason why a dog acts the way he does. Can't he just develop a bad habit?

Answer 1

...Get a second opinion from a more reputable behaviorist. Seriously. The one you talked to has NO clue what they're talking about.

Food aggression is about DOMINANCE. Very rarely does a dog develop food aggression from starvation or 'having to fight to eat'.

Think about it... and look closely at the behavior of wolves (given all dogs descended from them). The dominant male of the pack controls the food---when food is available he determines who gets to eat, when, and how much---even if another member of the pack actually found or killed the prey...it automatically belongs to the leaders. The alpha then viciously prevent all others from partaking unless they are of similar stance (in the pack) to him---this usually means he allows his mate (the alpha female) to feed with him, but all others are kept at bay--ESPECIALLY the omega (lowest ranking). It's a form of rationing out the kill---the strongest get to eat first because they're most important...the lesser ranks eat last because they're not as important for the stability of the pack (though omegas do play a very important role in keeping pack harmony).

Your dog is displaying dominant behavior...he's basically telling you that HE is the alpha...that despite the fact you brought the food to him HE is now in control of it and you're lower than he is in the pack rankings, so you must wait until he says it's OK for you to touch/be near the food (which may be never).

So it is a psychological reason---most dog behaviors are, of course. It just takes a well educated person to understand those behaviors properly and help others understand them. Training can be done to eliminate food aggression (dominance) so long as the dog doesn't display other worrying dominance behaviors.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Many abused dogs are food aggressive. In fact one of the tests humane societies and shelters do while determining the dog's suitability for adoption is checking if he is food aggressive. If he is, he is further socialized (depending on other scores) or if the aggression is very severe, he is deemed unsuitable for any home and put to sleep.

Not all dogs with food aggression are abused. Like yours. But because it is so common with abused dogs, people are making that generalization.

However, it is more than a bad habit when a dog shows food aggression. When he does, he is saying- I do not trust you around my food. That is not a good sign because he is showing that he does not see you as the leader of the pack. This should be discouraged just in case it causes other forms of aggression. Maybe a kid will visit, or you will have a neice or nephew in the future who might get bitten. Then your dog will be in very serious trouble and it won't just be a bad habit. Even a small 14 pound dog can do a lot of damage. There are many ways to deal with this, if you so choose. If your dog growls when you try and feed it, take the food away and ignore him. When he calms down, put down his food, and put one handful at a time. Spray him in the face with water if he shows aggression. Aggression, especially towards his owner, you, is something that can rapidly spiral towards very sad circumstances.

But he is your dog and you know best if it is going out of hand. I'd advice you fix it, but you are free to disregard it.

Answer 3

he can develop a bad habit, but those bad habits are based on psychological reasons. in your case, the food aggression may be the result of something he learned as a puppy. maybe he learned that he was dominant in your household and that the food was his 'territory' that he feels he needs to protect.

when we had our dog, i was very little when we got him, and i used to play this game where i put on gloves and chased the dog around the house. when he bit me, it didn't hurt b/c i had the gloves on. but he developed bad habits b/c of this and that taught him that it doesn't hurt when he bites me. he eventually got very possessive - growling and biting when he'd get something that we wanted, and he would chew it up or eat it. i tried to break him of this when i got older (and he wasn't a puppy anymore), but never succeeded, and he died suddenly before i could try anything more. i tried yelling at him and trying to show that i was dominant; i tried being submissive - nothing worked. i eventually decided that something was going on that we couldn't figure out and he really needed help from a professional animal behaviorist.

no matter what, don't just live with the biting! our dog was 14 pounds too, and his biting caused us lots of tears and embarrassment (when others would come over, he would steal from guests' purses and create an embarrassing scene when we couldn't get the item away from him!).

maybe you need a 2nd opinion? are there other behaviorists in your area?

some things you can try to alleviate food aggression are feeding the dog by hand, so that he learns a positive association between you and food. also, make him work for his food. tell him to 'sit' before you feed him, and to 'stay' while you're pouring his food into his dish - and then praise him excessively and present him with his food when he does!

you can also start with extremely simple tasks - sometime when he's not eating, call him over to where his food bowl is. calmly touch his food bowl, and every time he doesn't react aggressively, praise the dickens out of him! this helps him establish a positive association between your hand and his food dish - teaching him that it's ok if you touch his dish.

hope this helps!

Answer 4

How many pups were in his litter?It's possible that he did'nt get to nurse enough
to fill him up and till now you've not given him a sense of security about having enough to eat.
I'm just going to assume you're giving him canned food since you wash the dish after he eats.After he eats his canned food toss a handful of dry food in the bowl.And every time you notice the bowls empty toss another handful in for him to snack on.Within a few days he should realize that food is in plentiful supply and will stop being nasty about the dish.Altho you'll most likely notice him walk by and check out the bowl to make sure foods there frequently.
Don't worry about his over-eating.Exercise will keep the weight off him.

Answer 5

Dogs do not have "bad habits", generally any behavior problems a dog does seem to develop is due to psychological or enviroment issues. Is your dog any type of medication or anything "new". The reason I do say this is one our dogs was on medications and it changed his behavior. You might also want to look into the show Dog Whisperer, and his website, he has great tips on how to change your dogs bad behavior back into a good one. Good Luck!

Answer 6

try feeding him 3 times a day.. small dogs can get this way... particualarly small spoilt dogs like Lhasas.. who often are given the nick name "elastic arseholes"
dont feed a dog until they get full - feed them the appropriate amount of food for their desired size.. a good quality food will help - my guess is this food is lower quality - probably one from grocery store or wal mart.. not enough nutrition - too much filler - so the dog doesnt feel full

Answer 7

Sheesh, abused aye? Then I must be cruel cus I have 3 like that.. HOWEVER, I can take their food no problem.

You will have to work with him by starting with making him sit for his food, then eating from your lap with his bowl. remove it, then give it back. There is a series of things to do, I will have to look for the web site..

Food agression is normal, but you have to teach him he cannot do that with you. even at 14 pounds a dog bite can do some serious damage...

Answer 8

Sometimes purebred dogs get habits like that too. And the way it was treated in the first 8 weeks of life can have an affect too.

Answer 9

I think your dog is showing perfectly normal behaviour. If you want to try and cure the habit, you might try just leaving food available all the time (but if he gorges, take it away). My puppy started exhibiting the same behaviour, but because she always had food in her bowl, she eventually stopped doing it. Don't believe the psychologists -- they have to make stuff up to earn a living.

Answer 10

hes probably always been aloud to act like that. I'd give him a good smack with a newspaper if he growled at the hand that feeds him.