Hey everyone,

I have searched the topics and got some info already but was hoping maybe some of you can help. My 3 month old puppy gets very aggressive with my father during mealtime. When my father takes his food bowl to add more kibble, my puppy will snarl, growl and full on bite my father. He never shows this aggression with me but does get territorial around his food bowl. I always make him sit and stay calm while I put his food bowl down but when my father attempts to do this, he becomes VERY aggressive. I want to nip this in the butt now before he develops this nasty habit as an adult. Has anyone ever had this issue and if so, any advice? Thanks!

Miya was this way, and on occasion still is with bones. I found hand feeding is the best way to solve the problem. Take the food rations for that feeding time and sit with your pup and hand feed nugget after nugget, talk soothingly, praise when taken from you in a gentle manner, use the word gentle. With Miya I would place a kibble in the palm of my hand and said Miya be gentle, get it, when she took from my hand in a gentle fashion I said good girl. You can do it at one feeding and then your dad the next. The idea is to show pup that you are the food givers and also to teach being gentle around your hands. We are currently doing this with Sofie, and with hand feeding it slows her down, with Sofie since she is just excited about food vs Miya being slightly aggressive, we hold out a piece of food and say Sofie wait, we make her wait for a duration of a few seconds just to slow her down and then say get it, and that has made a big difference with her not chewing our fingers off.

Probably being somewhat close to your fathers age (though he's probably younger than I) I'm going to suggest the hand feeding as well but for a slightly different reason. We older folks tend to get a bit impatient (understatement on my part) with dogs who "misbehave" which makes it more difficult to achieve the results we want and is (just lost the phrase - something that reinforces itself). If your dad will take part in the hand feeding, it'll help the dog realize that both of you are the source of the good stuff and help dad temper his own reactions (which may not really be needed, but thought I'd mention).

BTW I adopted a full grown Husky who was food possessive and have the scar on my arm, along with four stitches, to prove that it's much better to nip this early!

Thanks guys. With my previous husky, we never had this issue, even as a pup. We called the breeder last night and he said he needs to be calm before feeding. He also said when he lunges and bites, step back and don't feed him until he is calm. It's funny because my father can give him treats from his hand, pet him, etc.. and he won't snap, it's only around his food bowl and mealtime. He actually sometimes snaps at my mom too but not as much. My father fed him by hand last night and it worked. The breeder also said when he acts up or bites, scruff him at his neck (like his mother would do) and I noticed that works too. I just hope this is a puppy thing because aggression as an adult is no joke and not something I will deal with!

Archer was a terror as a young pup - snarfed his food down in one gulp, would growl over his bowl (don't remember any snapping, though) and would go after Ami's food as well. I started hand feeding him and had Josh do the same...he's not the same dog anymore. I can put Ami's food down first and Archer just waits for his to be put down, his eating has slowed down guite a bit and if I need to put something else in his bowl or move it, he just steps back and waits. I think if you attend to this now, this will be a puppy thing only. Good luck.

Sarah, The other thing you can do to calm him, is have him sit in a specific spot tell him to wait, when he is calm tell him to get it or what ever release command. I also had to get a slow feeder for Sofie, because she is always hungry and inhales her food. So with her, some meals it is a sit and wait and other meals it is hand feeding. I still do both with Miya. Let me add by doing this and why I still do with Miya, it reinforces me being food lady, haha, but also forms and continues a bond, so I think important that the whole household hand feeds.