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Almost 3, why am I getting growled at?

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  warpwr 
#1 ·
Hello all, it's been awhile. More than a year since I've been on here. Long story short, i switched Roya's food to Fromm recently. Since then I've been getting growled at when i go near her food (walk by, or put her water down). When i call her out on it, she's hackled, tail in between her legs and will start to pee a little. Usually I'll tell her to sit to chill out a second, which is when she pees. I don't make a big deal when she does it either, more of like a calm "oh relax" reaction. She also tries to inhale her food during the whole process. Very confused by this and given she's not a puppy anymore, concerned. I've never taken her food away, or denied access to her food. I should also add that her and I moved into another apartment 2 months ago, but she hasn't growled at me since she was a puppy. Other than that she's still the loving, velcro dog she's always been. Any ideas?
 
#6 ·
I've always tried to give my dogs their privacy when eating, the only thing I will teach them is I am allowed to pick up the bowl at any moment and they must be patient because I will always give it back.

If I linger, hover over my dog and pet him while he eats, he will pause and stare at me, if I am persistent he will begin to growl but will still allow me to pick up his bowl. If I pay him no attention he continues without noticing me. He will do the same thing if I wake him up from a deep sleep, he will growl if I continue to pet him but if I snap my fingers and say 'come here' he will lift his head and wake up a little better then goes back to his happy normal self.

Starving dogs will do this as well, the first few weeks maybe even a couple months they will scarf down their food and snap at anyone or anything nearby that they think might take it away, because they are not used to having food. Your dog perhaps is not used to having such delicious food so she must protect it. Don't feed into it by reacting to it. This kind of behavior is one that needs conditioning not necessarily corrections. After awhile of you giving her space and her getting used to the new high value food, she will feel less of a need to keep you from it.
 
#7 · (Edited)
When I have fosters who are food protective, I put the food bowl in their crate at meal time, and leave them undisturbed with it for a good long while. No one in the house bothers them at mealtime -- not even other dogs. They're entitled to peaceful, undisturbed eating. We're building trust with a resource that matters. After a while doing that, then I start dropping high value "extras" through the wire crate into their bowl when they're done with the main meal -- more good stuff. Me coming by the crate at the end of the meal is happy -- more good stuff is coming. When that association is made, I can start coming by to drop more good stuff in while they're still eating -- they tend to look up expectantly, wanting their meaty morsel (the good stuff), once they're conditioned to associate me coming to the crate to bring good stuff. And then we're usually good.

I also do a lot of hand feeding, once I know them well enough to be sure they won't take my hand off.

I've had a few dogs come into rescue because people freaked out over food protectiveness, and most of protectiveness was people-induced -- people mistakenly thinking they needed to take away the dog's bowl mid-meal to prove their own power or some nonsense, which created the need to protect the food. Definitely don't do that! All but one resolved by just creating food security (feeding inside a crate) and good associations (humans add more, not taking any away).

One thing about the growl....I'd much rather have a dog that growls (and tells me it's uncomfortable) than one who goes straight to snapping (or biting) without any verbal warning. A growl is a conversation - information I can work with. I'm thus not one to punish a growl. I'd much rather take the info and figure out what to do with it -- counter-conditioning, changing threat perceptions, etc.
 
#10 ·
One thing about the growl....I'd much rather have a dog that growls (and tells me it's uncomfortable) than one who goes straight to snapping (or biting) without any verbal warning. A growl is a conversation - information I can work with. I'm thus not one to punish a growl. I'd much rather take the info and figure out what to do with it -- counter-conditioning, changing threat perceptions, etc.
very true. On occasion my big boy will growl, not as threat but as simple communication. Usually it means, "I'm not done investigating this yet", but if I calmly insist he gets moving. Another time my hubby asked him to give me a kiss and when I moved in for the lick, he gave a soft growl. At first my hubby was upset with him growling at me but I told my sweet heart to wait and not correct him for it. From my view point I could see that my dog was backing up, not threatening. There was something about the idea of kissing me that bothered him. I backed away and all was right with the world. Evidently there was something going on in his mind about kissing me that we just didn't understand.

So always take a growl in context, much like barking and whining, etc.
 
#8 ·
I always put my hands on the puppies and on the food bowl from 8 weeks up while they are eating.
I wouldn't want any problems around kids or strangers or other dogs later on.
It has worked well for me and I would be very bothered if they started growling at me as they got older no matter what I was feeding them. No grrring at the daddy is allowed.
This is a link to a good article on ways to help correct resource guarding after it starts.
https://www.cesarsway.com/dog-behavior/food-aggressive/food-aggression-and-what-to-do-about-it
Good luck.
 
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#9 ·
Good thing it worked for you. However, this is an excellent way of setting a dog up to resource guard.

As for Cesar; didn't he get his hands torn up pretty good with resource guarding dogs - using his methods?

Just some food for thought (pun intended) - not to derail the thread or create a Cesar discussion.
 
#11 ·
thanks for the advice. she's honestly never had a reason to think that i would take her food away, as i never have, so it's weird to me that she'd start doing it. anyway, this morning i put a cup of food in her bowl, and the other half cup ready to be poured in. i sat in her spot where she eats with the bowl on my lap and she wolfed it down. while she was eating i was petting her, saying "good girl" and what not, and nothing. no growl, no hackling, no peeing, nothing. after she was finished with the 1 cup, i put the other half cup in, where i pet her, touched her face, put my hands in her bowl, and again, nothing. she still wolfed it down tho. probably will be the only time i do that, as i'll just leave her alone from now on, like i have been. Fromm must be some pretty good stuff, huh? gotta love some pork and peas.
 
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