Okay our puppy Shelby is so funny. she is completely different then our other husky at her age. Our other dog Abby hardly eats anything she is such a picky eater. Shelby eats anything and everything and she eats it REALLY fast.

Tonight during her dinner Shelby was chowing down on her food. The whole time while she was eating she was growling! It isn't a soft growl either it is a MEAN ONE and it scares me! I want to take her food away from her when she growls but I'm too scared to even reach down there.

But it is so weird because sometimes she won't growl and sometimes she will. like last night I could pet her while she was eating but that was not happening tonight. Does anyone know what I can do to stop this. I don't want her to be aggressive when there is food in a situation.

do you make her sit and wait for her food? try feeding her out of your hand for a while. if she starts eating it too fast or you start to feel her teeth, pick your hand up and discontinue feeding for a while.

Mya used to guard her food all of the time and wouldn't let you walk by the bowl! Mind you, she wasn't eating. Just laying next to the bowl "protecting it". I came on here and asked for advice and everybody told me the same thing that Brooke is mentioning.

I started feeding her by hand for a while and then I would hold the bowl and let her eat out of it while my hand was in the bowl also. Then, once I started putting it down and I would make her "sit and wait" until I told her to "eat". I still do this at every feeding time. It has helped in the sense that she doesn't guard her food anymore and lets me pet her while she's eating, but I doubt I can take the bowl away from her. Don't know if I ever will be able to do that

Mya is Abby's age (I think) so maybe I started too late Shelby's still young so it might easier to work with her...

Rogue did this a few times- not every meal sitting or every chew she'd have, I think some days she feels pissier than others, lol. I'll admit it, I can get rough with her if she is growling at me and nipping.. when she did it I'd walk by her and yank her up by the scruff and make her lay flat until she chilled out(note, I always would get her scruff and then have it to where i can keep her head from moving). Obviously this treatment is on the negative side, but I'm not going to let her sit there and have something and growl/snarl at me so that's what I have to do to get her up. She's never gotten her teeth on me from it since I make sure to keep her head from turning around.. but I'm not afraid of being bit either so I don't freak. I did the same thing as Melissa with eating for a few days, except I just held her bowl since I'm not 'holding' THK, haha, and massage her neck, head, and rub her down her spine while holding the bowl. When she is chewing something now I go over to her every once in a while, get on her level, hold the back of my hand up a few inches for her to sniff it and realize I don't want it (she always will sniff my hand and then wag her tail some), I'm usually baby taking this whole time, and I take this as my "OK sign" to pet her or see what she is chewing if I'm unsure what it is. I then love on her when. I switch her a new, better chew sometimes too.

Koda had a brief period of pissyness when he was about 5 or 6 months if I remember correctly and I did the same thing to him.

thanks for the advise! I will have to tell my mom to do that with Shelby. I am at college now so I can't see my girls until I go home on a brake I am so terrible I will call my mom and ask her to put the phone up to Shelby's ear so I can talk to her! LOL I my biggest fear is going home and Shelby not remembering me.

With that solid advice Britt09, I'm sure things'll get better in no time I actually have my little dude with me while I'm in college and it is quite the task, but it works out fine! I never had a food aggression issue since I've always made it a point to hand feed him when he was 3+months a few handfuls. I also took his bowl away during his feeding and gave it back to him around that same time. After a while when he was used to the "sit" command, I'd make him sit and wait for his food. I guess from those methods, no food guarding issue was able to develop?

Heatherlee, I totally understand that way of discipline. I use a mix of positive reinforcement and physicality for my husky. Koda's generally a pretty good dog, but when he has his moments I make sure to address the issue then. I don't allow nipping, hard-play biting, ignoring boundaries, or biting out of annoyance.

Eurith you are brave I could not bring my girl up to school I am so busy she would not get the exercise she needs. It makes me sad because I miss her so much haha.

lol trust me, everyday I wonder what I've gotten myself into XD. I'm very good on getting him worked out. We go walking 3-4 times a day for 35+ min intervals depending on the temps. That can mean 2-3 laps around my apartment complex, running up & down stairs in each one, and a potty break or the occasional meet & greet =p. At night, I play fetch with him inside & tug of war with his rope. It tires us both out, so by bedtime, we're sleeping with minimal disturbances. Rinse & repeat: 6am, 3-5pm, 8-9pm

LOL! I can't even find an apartment that will let me have my husky next year. no one allows "big dogs". I hate it because I think about how much she would love it here .

I had a response all typed out and I lost it....gggrrrrr.

These are some tips my trainer gave me in regard to feeding. Now that we have a routine it's really not an issue.
Try to always have the humans eat first, if you don't eat first then pretend to eat the dogs food from the bowl before hand feeding (we don't do this anymore). Frankie never really had a problem with food but this helped us establish the order of our pack which was a necessity with Frankie. He is always made to sit and wait until he is told to go eat.
When we moved in with my parents, Bruiser showed some signs of food aggression/guarding which is unnacceptable for me as I have a child to think about too. He was put on the same routine as Frankie and we haven't had any issues. Once they established the routine with me I had other family members do the same feeding routine. Here is my son feeding the dogs.......
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t1823-my-6-y-o-feeding-the-dogs

i second humans eating first! or pretend to be eating out of her bowl. i hand fed kale his dinner for the first 6 months. during breakfast i would pick up his bowl halfway through and put a few treats in it, so that when he got it back he knew he would be getting something better. i also used to stick my hand in his water bowl while he was drinking starting at 6 weeks old, and i still do from time to time now and then.

If I were to do the water bowl thing, I'd be sticking my hand in the toilet.. neither dog wants a water bowl, lmao.. Rogue practically throws herself in the toilet!

hahaha!! i love the visual I just got haha. Does she dig in water? Thankfully Kale doesnt do that in the house, but he does outside in his big water bucket lol! after a long hard play he just goes to town digging. better that than my moms flowerbeds lol

She doesn't dig, Koda digs in water outside but not inside. She just wants to drink strictly toilet water!