Walter, my 5 mo puppy has been acting quite aggressive lately to the point where we really need help. He guards objects and food fiercely. We can’t tell what he is guarding and when and worst of all if we take something away that he is guarding or make him angry in any way he will stay angry at me for a lengthy period of time and if I get close to him in that time he will snarl at me or lunge at me. We practice nothing in life is free and have been working on training touch and stay but that doesn’t really stop the aggression. Our trainer thinks part of it may be because he hasn’t be neutered yet and is currently teething and getting over roundworms (combo guard didn’t adequately protect him I guess)so he may be frustrated but I was just curious if anyone has dealt with this extended aggression time and how they dealt with it.

What has your trainer suggested in terms of how to deal with it and what have you tried? Did your puppy come from a reputable breeder?

Basically she said to practice come and stay to keep the puppy out of problem areas. Also to start using a drag line in case he gets into a bad area and we need to get him out. With the food aggression we are walking by and putting in treats and more food into his bowl as we walk by. For objects we are practicing drop it.

The breeder probably wasn't the best, his kennel is pretty prevalent in SoCal and there was no indication that his lines are bred with a bad temperament but I guess it was hard to know.

I used hand feeding method to resolve food aggression with my shepherd when she was puppy. It worked in a few weeks. Also, I'm not sure how a drag line helps with aggression. Essentially, the dog is very upset and may be ready to bite you, so you are pulling the dog towards you away from what the dog considers a "safe" place? I'm not a trainer, but I would not do that with my dogs for fear that it would actually increase aggression or result in a bite.

If drop it was not good, I would offer more rewarding item to coax them into dropping what they are guarding or coming to you. In this regard, you can get what you want from the dog and work on the drop it command. Have you tried maybe things like hot dogs, peanut butter, or other high value treats?

Also, my puppy won't play fetch very long outside, but he will inside. Fetch is great for practicing the drop it command and making it fun for the dog to give you things. It helped a lot with my shepherd and now she loves giving me lots of things to throw. Many huskies won't play fetch, so not sure if this is a option. It may help that my husky puppy is around another dog obsessed with fetch.

Somebody recently posted on this topic, and I'm feeling kind of lazy this morning, so I'm just going to copy and paste from that thread. I hope you don't mind.

Well, I had a little guarding start to develop with my puppy when he was 3-5 months old. I noticed it with a pig ear first, hair up and growling if I approached when he had one, or he would try to run off with it. Those are his absolute most favorite things. Since yours has been going on for a while, this may not work for you, but I was able to nip his in the bud rather quickly thank goodness! I did two things that really helped. Basically I just started teaching him the command 'off.' Which for us is like 'give' or 'drop it,' I didn't start with food, I started with toys, and toys he liked, but didn't love. If he had the toy in his mouth, i'd say 'off' and show him i had a treat, as soon as he let go, I marked and treated and ALWAYS gave back what I took from him, so he got that if I asked him to give me something, he would get a treat and the thing back. I slowly increased the value of the toys and started incorporating objects he wasn't allowed to have. Even those I would give back to him for a few seconds after he released, I think giving the object back was the MOST important aspect of this.

For the food guarding, I did something similar to an idea suggested on the other topic. I would give him a pig ear and sit beside him and toss kibbles of dog food to him as he chewed (he loves his dog food). At first he displayed guarding body language and would tense up, but eventually he realized that I didn't touch his pig ear when he dropped it to eat the dog food. I did this for a week or so and didn't try to touch the pig ear. Next step was instead of tossing the kibble to him, I would hold my hand out with a kibble, and he would have to drop the pig ear and eat out of my hand. Once he was relaxed with this step and realized i wasn't going to steal his pig ear, I moved on to the next step. I touched, but didn't move the pig ear, then I progressed to picking it up, letting him eat the kibble and handing it back to him. Then I integrated the 'off' command, and would tell him off, give him a kibble and not touch the pig ear, and then progressed like before. Now, I still practice with him every once in a while, but just say off, take the object, and praise and give back right away, getting the object back is the reward in this case. My pup absolutely loves his dog food, if yours doesn't, you'll have to find something higher value that you pup does like.

I think the biggest thing is to take your time and build trust, I'm sure you've never given him a reason to doubt you, I know I didn't with my pup, but for whatever reason, he thinks that someone is going to take his food if they get near. If he reacts, then you know you went too far, too fast. It could be an issue of insecurity. For now I would totally leave him be during feeding time, give him at least a few feet of space and pick up any toys/bones. And if you give him something that is high value to him, plan on letting him have it until he's done with it and give him space. When you start working on tossing treats his way, approach from the side, when you approach from the front it feels like a direct confrontation. I don't think its a good idea to try and take things from him, touch him, or get close to his food bowl until he is less reactive overall. Even now with Dizzy, I put his bowl down pet him once down his back and walk away. If I do have to get close to him for some reason now, he's comfortable with it since he trusts me, but I worked to build that trust. You could always separate with a baby gate when you are working on it as well, so that if he does react, you are on the other side of the gate and safe. If you go slow and be patient, he will come around eventually.