Hi there. I need some advice/training on food aggression for my male husky Coby. He is 2 and we think he didn't have the best start in life. The people we got him from had only had him a month and openly admitted that they did not research the breed before getting him. They also told us that the people they got him from (were assuming we are his 3rd owners - and his last!) used a shock collar on him!!

Well we have only had him a few days, he is very calm and generally a lovely dog. We also have a female husky called Mia and they have taken to eachother well. (Mia is also 2, we have had her since she was a puppy).

Ok so on to my problem...the first night we brought Coby home, he had found Mia's bone, which wasn't a problem as Mia had no interest in them anyway. Well when we went to let him out to do his business for bed he didn't listen, so my partner stood up and walked past him to go and open the door, well he growled and scrunched his nose up, like protecting HIS bone. We just assumed that this was because it was his first night in the house and it was a new/strange environment for him. Until last night Mia went to go and have her food and Coby followed, which resulted in a fight and Coby practically pining Mia in a corner. Needless to say it was scary as hell!

We have also noticed that he doesn't like people grabbing his collar, i.e to lead him to the door or to put his lead on and he moves his head sharp like he is going to bite.

We have two children too and our son is very boisterous around Mia as they have grown up together. I'm terrified Coby is going to attack one of us or attack and hurt Mia. We really love him and just really need advice on how to tame this habit. Also if someone had any suggestions on why he is like this it would help us loads. We are aware that food aggression is common in huskies however I dont want to be scared to go near him or obviously have the difficulty of not getting him to attack Mia.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!!

Must add that when he followed Mia to the food. It was Mia's food in Mia's bowl. Yet Coby attacked like he was protecting his food in his bowl.

We just got a new puppy, Royce, as well. We have a 12 pound shih-poo, whom we have raised as a puppy since she was 2 months. She is now 2 1/2 and royce is 3 1/2 months old. She is an extremely well-trained dog and she's very cuddly, but Royce, we assume, see's her as a bit of a threat. We had to separate their food bowls into different rooms, because whenever she would go to eat, Royce would hip-check her out of the way and scarf down her food, but when I say scarf, I mean, he would violently eat her food and his food as fast as he could. Ever since we separated their food, they both seem to be doing better, but he's still incredibly aggressive with his own food. Like, if we try to reach for him, he digs his face in the food even more. My wife, at one point, tried to stick her hand in the bowl to cover up his food, so he would learn to be patient, but he chomped down on her hand.
We're in the process of purchasing a tool that forces the dog to eat around this giant ball, so it'll teach him to take his time. I recommend the same thing for you, and as for your two dogs, you need to assert your dominance to the new one. One tactic i've learned that works, is pay attention to Mia, while slightly ignoring the other dog and when he comes over for his attention and starts to act aggressive, tell him "no" and continue to show affection to Mia. That way, he'll realize that if he's being mean to either you or Mia, that he won't get shown the same respect.

Wow, sounds just like Odin! Collar sensitivity and everything!

What I would do until you can get this 100% under control all toys/bones need to be picked up. It's best to do this every time a new dog is being introduced into a house regardless if they have issues or not. Food time should be made very structured. My dogs each have areas of the kitchen that they eat in and it NEVER changes. They know where they need to be and they know what is expected. Creating a routine and showing the dogs that you are in control and they don't need to worry about their food being stolen is very important.

If you are free feeding, you need to stop. Depending on his level of food arousal you may have to separate him from Mia while preparing food because at that time you aren't capable of concentrating and managing him to prevent issue. Once food is ready I would have him sit first and wait while you put Mia in a sit and wait away from him. If he pops out of his wait, put him back in it. It WILL take a while initially but if I can do it with 5+ fosters... I think you can handle it with 2

There are quite a few things to do with working collar sensitivity, but what I would do for now is have a leash attached at all times to be able to move him without having to grab for the collar. I'm going to pull up some work on collar sensitivity...

Thanks alot Danny & Kristina! I had already decided that I wasn't going to free feed now we have two dogs and all toys/bones were removed last night to eliminate the problem. I have started getting two treats and making them both sit together and giving them the treats at the same time. I will try the same with their food tomorrow.

Does anyone have any idea why he could be like this? Could it be from being mis-treated previously?

Well, you seem to be taking all of the right steps when it comes to training, so it's definitely, 100% not your fault that he's acting the way he is. If he did have a shock collar, at such a young age, that's going to leave a huge imprint on how he's going to act when someone touches his collar. It might take a VERY long time, but every so often, tug on his collar to let him know that he won't be shocked.
A puppy shouldn't have a shock collar, as in that phase, he is supposed to be trained by a human for that, not an object. Shock collars are for dogs who are probably 8 months to a year old, when they're pretty much completely trained and in reality, a shock collar is a last resort.
I would almost guarantee that he was trained by someone who works a 9-5 job, who thought it would be great to own a husky, even though they're one of the hardest breeds the train, and literally didn't have any time to train him, so he left it to the shock collar and the easy steps, instead of taking their time.
This might sound bad, but with this new dog, you pretty much have to hit the reset button of the 2 years of training he's already had. It's going to take work, but it's more than possible.

Don't blame yourself for any of the bad acts he pulls. Just correct him and make sure he understands that he's getting a brand new set of rules from you.

Thanks again Danny. I really hope I can sort out his problems. Obviously if we think he has had a bad start in life then we were expecting some faults. I'm going back to basics with training as he needs to understand the same rules that applies to both him and Mia.