Hello, new here. Just wondering if Huskies are inherently food aggressive? My 9 month old Husky/Malamute mix is very food/bone aggressive. Especially when it comes to my older dog's good. He will try to snag anything she drops and be aggressive toward her about it. I'm trying to train it out of him but he's being pretty difficult. He can be aggressive over his own food when he's not bored with it but we're going through a boredom stage right now. He is MOST aggressive when he has a rawhide bone. I'm not giving them to him anymore because rawhide is not good for dogs, I've heard. But he would even try to snip at us if we tried to take it away from him, which I will not tolerate. I'm just wondering if it's maybe because he hasn't been neutered yet (next week) or if he is just going to be aggressive. Any tips are much appreciated.

I'm definitely not a good resource on this since I have three Huskies, 2 Siberians and 1 Alaskan.

My larger male Alaskan, Avalanche, generally doesn't care - if one of the others is more interested in his food then he'll just let them have it.
On the other hand, one of my Sibes, Sasha, over the course of several years has bitten me, I think 5 times, to the extent that one time I headed to the emergency room for 5-6 stitches (and yes, she's still with me).  Sky, my other Sibe, is protective of her food but not aggressive when it comes to Avalanche's - they get fed on the porch so that Sasha can eat hers in peace.

I think the biggest problem I've seen and that I've had is not so much aggression as possession.  That translates to "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine if I can get it!"  Your description as I read it, btw, is one of possession not aggression.  In my mind the difference is protecting what they have as opposed to actively trying to drive the other away from their food so he can get it. Possession is normal, aggression is not acceptable. I've stood between one dog and the food belonging to another to help get that point across.

In my case, feeding them separately and treating them with the same treats at the same time has helped resolve the possessiveness.  Oh, if Sky tries to grab something of Sasha's there's apt to be a minor discussion but it's not violent, just loud sometimes.  I'm also a proponent of letting the dog work things out by themselves.  If Sky grabs something of Sasha's and Sasha objects then she's going to let Sky know that this isn't acceptable, sometimes it's a growl, sometimes it's an air snap and sometimes it's pushing her away - "It's mine, now behave, go away and leave me alone!" They talk each others language, something I don't.

As far as taking something away from one of my dogs - well, any of them allow it now but it's been a building of trust. If I give them something, it's - with very rare exceptions - theirs. They now know that if I take something it's for a reason and they'll get it back after I fix whatever the problem is.

We had one member on the forum who was trying to teach her<?> dog to allow her to take things by just randomly taking them - the best way I know of to build a protective dog. When the dog realizes that you're not going to take it and keep it "just because" they become a lot more tolerant of you taking something.

BTW, I agree, I dislike rawhide ... I've never had a problem with it - other than them trying to engulf the entire thing at one setting.

aljones wrote:

I'm definitely not a good resource on this since I have three Huskies, 2 Siberians and 1 Alaskan.

My larger male Alaskan, Avalanche, generally doesn't care - if one of the others is more interested in his food then he'll just let them have it.
On the other hand, one of my Sibes, Sasha, over the course of several years has bitten me, I think 5 times, to the extent that one time I headed to the emergency room for 5-6 stitches (and yes, she's still with me).  Sky, my other Sibe, is protective of her food but not aggressive when it comes to Avalanche's - they get fed on the porch so that Sasha can eat hers in peace.

I think the biggest problem I've seen and that I've had is not so much aggression as possession.  That translates to "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine if I can get it!"  Your description as I read it, btw, is one of possession not aggression.  In my mind the difference is protecting what they have as opposed to actively trying to drive the other away from their food so he can get it.  Possession is normal, aggression is not acceptable.  I've stood between one dog and the food belonging to another to help get that point across.

In my case, feeding them separately and treating them with the same treats at the same time has helped resolve the possessiveness.  Oh, if Sky tries to grab something of Sasha's there's apt to be a minor discussion but it's not violent, just loud sometimes.  I'm also a proponent of letting the dog work things out by themselves.  If Sky grabs something of Sasha's and Sasha objects then she's going to let Sky know that this isn't acceptable, sometimes it's a growl, sometimes it's an air snap and sometimes it's pushing her away - "It's mine, now behave, go away and leave me alone!"  They talk each others language, something I don't.

As far as taking something away from one of my dogs - well, any of them allow it now but it's been a building of trust.  If I give them something, it's - with very rare exceptions - theirs.  They now know that if I take something it's for a reason and they'll get it back after I fix whatever the problem is.

We had one member on the forum who was trying to teach her<?> dog to allow her to take things by just randomly taking them - the best way I know of to build a protective dog.  When the dog realizes that you're not going to take it and keep it "just because" they become a lot more tolerant of you taking something.

BTW, I agree, I dislike rawhide ... I've never had a problem with it - other than them trying to engulf the entire thing at one setting.

Thanks so much for your reply. It definitely sounds like possession. Knowing this, I can approach it differently.

It sounds like to me your dog is trying to see who is alpha, and see what he can get away with. My huskies done this between 6-8 months old both Skye Apollo Storm and Bolt, and I do the same thing with all of them when ever they growl at me I bite their ear and pin them to the ground by their neck and don’t let them up until they submit and stop moving. Sound strange but it’s works on 3 huskies and a husky mix for me it also puts me as alpha “dog/human” and I won’t take any aggression. After I do this a couple of times they will walk away from any thing when I give a stern drop it And when ever my dogs get into a squabble with each other I can just shout Storm Apollo and they will stop I hope this helps!x

Alpha thing not really recognized anymore. And this kind of forced submission really not the best way to confront food aggression. I suggest hand feeding and "trade up";method , starting with hand feeding only. You control the food. Dog in sit or down. You offer only bits of kibble in your outstretched palm or bowl, feeding his whole meal this way. After at least several days of success with this, graduate to putting the bowl on the floor with just a piece of two of kibble. Let him eat that, than you approach and offer another piece or two. Continue that for at least several days, working up to a whole bowl at once. Then begin with walking to bowl and offering a high value treat - hot dog, chicken, cheese, whatever appeals, and trading the treat for the food bowl. Then replacing the food bowl.

I wasn't gong to say anything @Liv_Skye but since Ami put her two pfennig's worth in, I think I'll expand on it.  What may work for you not only may not work for others and depending on the animal may be dangerous.

I made a comment earlier about the cat who always goes out when I take Sasha for a walk and someone replied that they want to be with their pack.  We also use the phrase that "they're a part of out pack" when referring to our pets.  But they're not, not really.  My three dogs make up their own pack - I'm just the human who feeds them, takes care of them and, from time to time, lets them know that they're doing something that I don't appreciate.  When they get into a scuffle, depending on the severity, I may yell "enough!" (that's my key) and generally they stop - sometimes I need to get a bit louder but normally one "enough" is enough.

The male in my pack is NOT the alpha, that position happens to be help by Sasha, a female.  That's unusual in the wild and uncommon in a household pack but Avalanche is my "happy go lucky puppy."  If you only have one dog, then there really isn't an Alpha, there's the human to whom the dog looks for guidance but that doesn't make you the alpha - it's make you the person who holds the food bowl.

My three cats also constitute a pride of their own.  They don't fit into the pack mentality of the dogs but they too have their own leader (just ask me when they decide to have a discussion about who's the leader of the pride at 3:AM!)  Oh, why does the cat go on walks with us? He's protected by us, Sasha and me, from other predators.

We humans might display many of the characteristics of the Alpha BUT we typically don't eat first and make them wait as the alpha often would in the wild, we don't control who gets to eat next or what they eat; we typically don't force eye contact as a control behaviour as would a dog in the wild.  There are so many ways that a wild canid controls his pack that are physically impossible or unrealistic.  An alpha dog will mark his territory and I don't know many people who mark their territory and expect the dog to respect that as a boundary.  My dogs come to me when they're uncomfortable (No Avalanche, I can't do anything about the thunder) or hurting (Yes, Sasha, that's a long thorn, let me get it out for you) not because I'm the alpha (an alpha can't and wouldn't pull a thorn) but because they know I can do these things.

Somethings that I find odd about "dominance theory":

1. You must always eat first and make your dog wait.  My dogs are on a schedule that I've set.  One that's generally convenient for me and has no relationship to when I eat.
   
2. Pulling on their leash is a sign of dominance.  Excuse me but our dogs were bred to pull, there's no other way to move a sled from here to there.  Okay, it's an inconvenience since they may just pull us humans off our feet - they can be trained to heel or walk on a loose lead, it just takes effort.
   
3. A dog who walks through the door first is the dominant "person."  If you want the hassle of having a leash behind you or one you have to step over, then this is for you.  My dogs set at the door and once I open it, I'll let them know to go out - normally first, so they and their leashes are ahead of me as I shut the door.
   
4. Always defend your position, you're the Alpha.  Sorry, I've made some mistakes with my dogs and I'm not beyond letting them know I didn't mean what I did.  Yelling at a dog produces results, but instilling fear isn't the way to exert dominance.
   

Oh, I said that "playing alpha" may be dangerous - simply, forcing a dog to fear you rather than respecting you may result in a dog who reacts out of fear.  If you hurt them, they may not respect your position and react in a manner that you'll find "uncomfortable" (getting bit is never comfortable!)

I've gone on way too long here ... but you'll earn more respect by treating your dog well than you ever will by mistreating them.

Dominance theory was based off wolves that were unrelated dumped in way too small of an enclosure aka mid 1800s zoos. Outdated and disproven. Current wolf theory is that there is a dominant pair, but that actually can change depending on situation .meaning each member has a role and can actually become the dominant wolf if their role requires it. But dogs are NOT wolves despite what blue Buffalo says.

So spider its a look, its the stare you have to not break before her. Spider speaks wolf, and i had to learn a little. She will full blown attack shadow if he goes near her bowl. With splinter she will show her teeth and growl as he proceeds to ignore it and eat her food. With me and jerry she isnt aggressive at all but does run with whatever you are trying to take away.

Squirt bit jerry in the face as a puppy. He bit her ear hard enough she yelped and peed. Never happened again.

If jerry bit spider i think she would rip his face off. So becareful if you try that.

My girls are also mixes. Spider is wolf/husky and squirt is husky/indian dog.