Our new puppy(4 months old) is snapping at our older dog(he's 3). If he comes near her food bowl, water bowl, or crate, she gets very territorial and aggressive. I've tried to break them up if she goes at him and she ended up biting me once or twice.

How do I break this bad habit before she gets older?

What if you don't intervene- will the older dog put the puppy in her place? I really believe sometimes you have to let them work out their place in the pack.

JillC wrote:

What if you don't intervene- will the older dog put the puppy in her place? I really believe sometimes you have to let them work out their place in the pack.

Our older dog will mostly step back when the puppy snaps at him, and has only showed teeth back at her once. She'll also snap at him when some of my family members are around him too. He's mostly just keeping his distance from her right now.

Is the puppy aggressive to you? My Lexi was very territorial of her food when she was a puppy. She was to my other dog and us. I hand fed and did it with my other dog close. It got better over a few weeks. My dogs have separate dishes now and she is fine as long as another dog does not try to put their nose in her food.

No she's not aggressive towards us at all! She's just aggressive when our other dog goes near the stuff or people that she has "claimed".

Probably she's trying/acting to be an alpha/dominant dog which is normal for dogs that are leader of the pack, so being under your supervision, you should be the leader above them. Maybe try to interrupt her act of growling by spraying water or dropping a can that could produce loud noise. I read somewhere others even train their dog's submission to them through their meal.