Oh no!

[iBaman]

So, the other night, Sheldon attacked my boyfriend's sister's beagle when she got too close to his bowl (I was getting ready to feed him and put him to bed). I felt soooo bad, because I didn't think he'd have any issues, as I can stick my hands in his bowl, rub him, pet him, take his bowl, all that without any problems. I guess that's what I get for getting a pet store puppy...

The only thing that REALLY worries me about this is that we were planning on getting another dog in the future. He plays well with others (until he's ready to calm down, and if they don't leave him alone, he'll snap a little), is eager to meet any dog he comes across...but food is a serious problem with him. Suggestions?

[gsdraven]

Feed in crates or different rooms. It's the best way to prevent problems. Kaiser has been with me a year and he still eats in his crate even though Raven shows absolutely no signs of food agression. Fosters eat in the gated hallway. I don't take a chance and just let them all eat in peace and not have to worry about competition.

[x0emiroxy0x]

Did you scold him after he did it? (I use an "eh" noise and Rocky knows the thing he did was not good)

In the future do not feed him around other dogs. This wasn't aggressive behavior, just resource guarding.

Animals do it in the wild. You can't always train them out of it. Feed him in his kennel.

Should have no problem with a new dog, as long as this is the only incident of resource guarding. If he has the same problem with toys, toys are allowed only in kennel.

If he resource guards you, that is a problem.

[Todd]

A friend of mine has that issue between a couple of her Bassets. She feeds them in different rooms...literally behind closed doors. I guess that's the dog equivilent of neutral corners. They get along great all day other than that.

Wish I had something better to offer as far as socialization or something but that is a quick fix until someone smarter than me offers something permanent.

[BlackPuppy]

Every puppy I've brought in has done this. It's easy enough to train out, but better to train each dog to only eat out of it's own bowl.

Even though my dogs are fine, now, I still give each their own eating space. It's pretty annoying to have a fast eater hovering over the slow eater waiting to see if they forgot anything.

[iBaman]

Originally Posted by x0emiroxy0x

Did you scold him after he did it? (I use an "eh" noise and Rocky knows the thing he did was not good)

Yeah. he got a loud "HEY!" and we waited until he had calmed down to get dinner. This is the only thing he resource guards...He brings his toys to other dogs and people to get them to play. This was just totally out of the blue. good to know this is fairly common though.