Food agression towards other dogs question? Please only considerate answers!!?

Question

I am asking only people who have real, honest answers to answer this question. I have a 60 pound, 3 year old labrador. He is a complete food hound.

I had to leave him with my parents this weekend as my husband and I had to go out of town. My mom has two Italian Greyhounds, each only about ten pounds. I have always been so careful with him around these dogs as have my parents. We are always diligant to feed them seperately. However, my mom this weekend had to run outside for a minute but before she did she gave my dog and one of hers a dog treat. As soon as my dog finished his, he went to grab my moms dog and accidentally got my mom's dogs leg. The injury wasn't life threatening as it was only two small puncture wounds. And my dog was in no way attacking hers, only attempting to eat the treat. And as soon as he got it he acted confused as to what had happened to the other dog.

Is there any way to fix a dog of this behavior? I am desperate, he is not a bad dog!!

Yes, he is already trained to only take treats or food when I tell him too. I can get him a milk bone and in the middle of him eating it tell him to drop it and take it away. I can also put his bowl of food down in front of him and make him wait until I say ok. The problem comes when other dogs are around. We don't have another dog, so we don't run across this issue very often. And no he didn't attack, I am being very honest with that!!! Trust me if he had, I would be speaking directly to an animal behaviorist or a vet about his issues!!! And, no he would never and has never gone after a person!!!

Again...My pet is only food agressive when it comes to other dogs being around!!! I can come and pet my dog, pull him away, and remove his bowl while he is eating. He will let any person take away food from him at any time!!! This problem is ONLY when other people are around!!!

Thank you to those of you who are really reading my entire question!!

Answer 1

you sound as if you have done a great job so far so what you can do is do what you did to train him by him self but get someone to bring a dog around like your mums.
put a treat by the outher dog and when your dog goes for the food tell if NO and take him out of the room. then bring him back in and repeat. when he ignors the treat and other dog give him a reward.
i beleave you that he didnt attack the other dog as when this
hapens they go for the head first not the legs.
as long as you make it clear to him that this behaviour is not accecpabul then it should be ok

Answer 2

Food aggression is serious especially if it dogs from dogs to people. This kind of aggression usually goes from food to toys and if not checked could result in an attack of this nature on a regular basis.

With toys they say best thing to do is only give dog one toy at a time and take it off dog after short period. This let's the dog know that you are the Alpha leader. About the food though -
I suggest that you continue to feed the dogs seperately. I also suggest that you see if the dog will allow YOU to stroke him whist he is eating the food. If he does then see if he will let you take the bowl away from him whilst eating. I suggest you use a stick or something for this so if he does bite he wont bite you. If he allows this then put your stick into his dish and move it around whilst he is eating. This will show you if he is Human aggressive or dog. If it is dog then I can only suggest you feed them seperately. If it is human then you have a very serious problem and you need special - proffessional help.
I suggest you speak to your local animal shelter and see what they suggest you can do. Also phone dog training schools in your area and ask them what they suggest - I'm sure most would give you the information over the phone.

Answer 3

Food aggression is a serious issue, I have a dog with it. But it doesn't seem like your dog was knowingly attacking, unless you weren't being completely honest in your description. It seems like he was just going for the treat and made a mistake, ... but it could be something else, who knows. You just have to see if he tries it again, then you will know for sure. There are many books out there that cover resource guarding. If it is only with animals and not people, you don't have a serious problem. IF he comes after you or any other human, that's when issues can arise. Just keep him seperate from other animals when he's eating or around food.

Answer 4

Maybe try using your mom's dog as training aids (though they may be a bit skittish now). You should give the other dogs a treat and not allow your dog to have one...keep him on a leash obviously. If he shows any signs of aggression towards the other dog, correct him with a tug at the collar and a firm "no". When he calms, tell him he's a good boy and reward him with praise and petting. Do this until he doesn't show any sign of aggression when you give the other dog a treat, then reward him with a treat. This may take several sessions and some time.

Another option is to feed the other dogs from your dog's food dish...of course with you dog on a leash. Correct any misbehavior and feed him last. If he displays any aggression, remove his food and scold him. Reintroduce the food a few minutes later..and keep trying.

The trick is to teach your dog that it is not appropriate to steal other dogs food and that he will get plenty of food and there is no need to "steal" food from another dog.

Answer 5

my pup lost an eye to this same thing. we had a 6 year old belgium shepherd and got an 8 week old springer. within about 4 weeks of having her my mom tossed them both treats across the kitchen floor and turned her back only to hear a cry and turned to see the pup run across the floor to her while pawing at her face. my mom picked her up to see her eye bulging out of the socket. we will never know what happened, wether the older dog snapped or swipped with a paw, or maybe the pup went after the old one's cookie. that was 15 years ago and the older dog has been gone for almost 4 years now. but we were really scared about feeding for the longest time, smokey (the elder) would get vicious about food! we ended up just keeping their food dishes further apart and making sure smokey didnt go after middy's dish while she was still eating. they eventually got use to each other and it wasnt an issue, and we knew better than to try to take smokey's food, but midnite never had an issue with it, which we thought was weird because we thought she would have copied how smokey acted.

now i have a new pup and have learned from that mistake ( i was the only person smokey ever bit) so we started the new pup by taking her bowl away while she was eating. if she was good (which she has always been) we would give it back. then i would pretend that i was eating her food and she would come to see what was going on and put her face in mine but has never shown any aggression. now i can put my hands in her food while she is eating with no problem.

is your dog only agressive towards the other dogs? or you too? if its just the other dogs, i would feed the greyhounds while keeping yours on a leash, then when they are done, he can have his food, because the others arent going to be as likely to try to take it. its going to be a slow process and you are going to have to take baby steps, but it can be fixed.

Answer 6

You are asking for a law suit. This dog not only has food aggression, but excessive prey drive. What will happen when she gets out and kills someone's small dog? A cat? An aviary full of birds?.... a child? This dog is best euthanized. No, you will not be able to take her to a shelter or rescue. You are right, she will not pass the temperament test. Due to the extreme overpopulation, most shelters are finally being realistic in their expectations and eliminating the behaviorally challenged animals to make room for the good dogs who have not done anything wrong- nor have any problems. Don't get me wrong... I love dogs! But why waste the energy and resources on a dangerous dog when so many great ones need homes?

Answer 7

I had the same problem. I had three dogs the oldest male would eat all his food and then go after and take the other dogs. The older male was a 6lb poodle-x breed and the two dogs he bullied into giving up their food were chow/pit mix, pits and chow are mean ah right. Size really as nothing to do with it. I never did break my dog of it and I tried everything. Luckily the two I have now are not like that.

Answer 8

Have you ever watched "The Dog Whisper"? He gives many great tips on changing your dogs behavior. Fixing it consist of putting yourself in the Alpha possession. What I have done in the past is to set a treat (or food) and tell the dog to "wait". I don't know how many time I wore my dogs food (I trained all of my dogs, but am by any means a dog trainer) because she would jump up and knock it out of my hands. As your dog "waits", start to set the food down. If he moves, pick it up and again tell him to "wait". Continue to do this until he "waits". Then once it is on the ground, and he has waited patiently, tell him "OK". Also incorporate a sound to let him know that you do not approve of his behavior. I like "AAANT" (a sound my mother used as NO for our horses) I don't know how else to spell the sound, so forgive me, but any sound will work.

Also when you feed him (with other dogs)..make him wait while they eat a few bites, then allow him to eat. You will need to supervise every feeding until this habit is broken. I am glad to here he is not food aggressive.

Good Luck, and I hope this works for you.

Answer 9

Maybe when you feed him, treats or food, you can sit him in front of the food/treat and not let him eat it until you say "OK" or whatever codeword you want to use. That way he learns to only eat what is put in front of him and only when he is told to.