Hey Everyone, Karma is 11 weeks today and has MAJOR food aggression. We feed her the recommended amount of dog food labeled on the bag (eating taste of the wild) and she goes NUTS in the morning and night for her food. We have worked on her sitting and me saying "release" before she is allowed to eat which she is doing well; BUT she scarfs the food down, doesn't even chew it and while she's eating if you come within 10 feet of her she starts to growl and bark. Talked to the puppy K instructor about it and told us to put a kong or tennis ball in the bowl to help slow her down and to be on the side feeding her treats so she knows it's ok to have a hand there. Tried that this morning, kong was a FAIL, still able to wolf it down and she BIT ME!!!!! she grabbed the food out of my and and bit my finger and still growled at me. I am at a loss of what to do, and I know she's getting enough food but we shouldn't be afraid of the dog while she's eating and I know she's not getting the nutrition since she's scarfing the food vs chewing.

PLEASE HELP!

I would start hand feeding her and saying gentle. Take away the food when she tries to bite your fingers or take it too fast. Tell her to sit, and to wait. Don't give her any food until she's calm and gentle. Be patient with her. Once you can hand-feed her with her being calm, and not trying to nip at your fingers, I would try separating the food portions into 2 or 3 separate portions. Rather than wasting money on a slow feeding bowl thats what I did with Yuki, she ate 3/4 a cup per feeding and I'd give her 1/4, make her sit, wait, give her 1/4, make her sit, wait, etc. I slowly increased the amount and now I can give her a full serving of food and she doesn't try to scarf it all down at once.

There has actually been a correlation noted with dogs who are already "food aggressive" and who are made to sit and wait it actually exacerbates it. Just think of it... You know the dog is already very protective and centered/focused around it's food... Sitting and waiting is only going to build that drive.

This is what I do with all my dogs who come in and are food aggressive. Axe the bowl, the bowl adds a barrier and something to guard- get rid of it for now. Start sitting next to your pup and dropping pieces on the floor. Don't let her crawl all over you and if she does just stand up. Sit back down and continue to drop food. This is NOT cured over night. No matter what method- it is NOT cured over night. This is a process of retraining the dogs eating habits as well as maintaining trust that you will not "steal" or "deprive" them of food. Once she gets the idea that you're giving her food when she doesn't crawl all over you, try dropping the food in the bowl. Slowly. Control the amount of food she's taking in at once. Once she's more comfortable with that, start dropping in more pieces at a time. If you feel that she is *comfortable* with you being close to her bowl (because all of these exercises are done with you sitting on the floor with her) start dropping in a few pieces at a time (whatever amount you were up to) and while she's still eating, drop in a piece or 2 every few seconds. You want your presence next to the food to be non-intrusive and positive.

At this time during her re-training do not attempt to touch her face, pet her, or touch her. You will have a regression. Leave dogs alone when they eat. It's a common safety practice as well as a respect practice.

Also please make sure the dog is free of intestinal parasites as being so focused on food and having such a hunger drive for it can of course have a medical related background issue.

arooroomom wrote:

There has actually been a correlation noted with dogs who are already "food aggressive" and who are made to sit and wait it actually exacerbates it. Just think of it... You know the dog is already very protective and centered/focused around it's food... Sitting and waiting is only going to build that drive.

My apologies, I suppose I just assumed at 11 weeks old I didn't take it as being aggression, my tips were more for getting her to slow down with her food. Thank you for correcting me.

It wasn't meant to correct! A lot of people (myself included) often implement that as a tool to combat food aggression. The study or observation was shown to me about 6/8 months ago just sharing info

thanks so much! FOR SURE am going to try it. We also with treats practice "licking" for them instead of using teeth. I try to pull it away when I feel her teeth grab for the treat, but sometimes she gets it. Thank you for the tips!

my pup was like this, she is still breaking the habbit, i just hand fed her, along with petting at the same time and she started to get use to it. after i got her use to feeding from my hand for a min, i let her eat out of her dish with my hand in her dish(it was a little ballsy) but she stop with in a week. another thing that worked was taking stuff from her and replacing it with a higher valued treat or toy. it got her to understand that if somebody takes something its not always bad and you can come out with better

Okay my helpful suggestion is not based on aggression but the scarfing down the food.

We gave Bourbon the reccomended feeding amount for his puppy food from the bag and he would scarf it. The vet (not always all knowledgable but..) said he is a puppy up the amount of food so that he is feed a little more than said. But Bourbon was on a lower calorie food than TOTW. 340kcal/per and he had worked from 2 1/2 cups aday at 9 weeks to I think 3 1/2 cups by 12 weeks just increasing a small amout (1/8 cup) a day and he started to calm down. The vet thought he was scarfing due to hunger. He was not aggressive with the food. We also started feeding him in a calm stressfree place His crate and that helped cause he was not looking at the other dogs. If the dog is highly active the reccomendd amount could be too little.

Now some dog eat fast, my aussie to this day eats fast and she has to have a feeding ball (metal ball in boel to slow feeding) or he wierd space slow down the feeding bowl. However she is the type of dog that would eat the whole bag of food if left out. So she eats fast wether it is the real feeding or the husband accidental feeds her right after me!

Not sure any of the above will help you but I figured the info could and the support is always good.

I think part of it is just age related as well. She has almost no ability to control her impulses right now. So she sees food and makes a jump/grab for it. My pup was like a little wild animal when it came to food when he was this age. I just fed him in his crate and walked away or hand fed him. Now, I feed him in the living room with us and he's fine. He did have some guarding behavior but hand feeding and trading exercises helped. Now he'll talk to me when I take something from him (last night I had to take a bully stick away), but its not aggressive, he just has something to say about everything. He grumbles at me lol. He is a such a talker it took me a while to learn what his vocalizations mean. Everyone has given you great suggestions, and absolutely follow their advice, I did and it helped me with my little monster. Also be patient, she's just a baby. Plus, if I remember correctly, she's a Karnovanda dog correct? I know they are a great breeder, but because they are such a large kennel I'm guessing the pups don't get a ton of one on one attention. My pup was from a mid sized show kennel, so he was not raised in the house and had to learn that he couldn't just make a grab for whatever he wanted. He's much more gentlemanly now, but an impulse does slip through every once in a while.