Hey Everyone!

My pup, Royce, is now 5 1/2 months old. He had a major problem with his kennel and potty training, but thankfully, he is now able to let us know any time he has to go outside. He never liked the kennel, so at night, we leave him out in the living room, putting up a gate that cuts off our bathroom and bedroom, since our other dog sleeps in the bed with us and whenever Royce sees her, he wants to play. The first night we let him out of his kennel, he let us sleep for a good 6 hours and started barking and whining, letting us know he needed to go out and after we took him out and fed him, he fell back to sleep and waited for us to wake up. We're very pleased with how much of an improvement he's made since we've gotten him!

Now, the main reason I'm posting this, is I've still run into a good chunk of problems with Royce.
1. He has a very bad food aggression. Whenever I go to get food for him, he barks his head off and jumps up and down, until I bring him his food. I make him sit and wait for him to calm and when he does, I set his food down, but the second I do, he literally buries his face in his bowl, which usually sends the food flying all over the floor. As he continues to eat, if someone walks by him or he hears a loud noise, he'll panic, as though someone is coming to take his food, so he eats even faster and sends more of his food flying. I've tried reaching for his bowl, but when I do, he'll push his nose down in the bowl and keep eating, so it's hard for me to take it from him. On top of that, whenever my wife and I are eating, he'll come over to our food and sniff it and when we try to shove him away, he'll try and fight it, but he'll stop after awhile, although there are times that if we look away for a second, he'll pretty much attack our food and get as much as he can, before we push him back. Does anyone know what I can do to change this?

2.Another thing I've noticed, is that he loves to put anything and everything in his mouth. Leaves, pillow tags, paper, literally anything he loves to chew on. We've tried to take this habit away, by giving him one of his toys, so he'll be distracted by something else. That worked for about 2 weeks, then he realized he could just set down his toy and go back to chewing on whatever he was chewing on. A few days ago, he chewed through one of our computer power cords, which is something he's never tried to for before. He also constantly bites us, but playfully, even though it can hurt almost 90% of the time. He doesn't have any more baby teeth. How can I fix his constant need to chew or bite things? Is this just part of his puppy phase?

3. Lastly, as I've mentioned that we have another dog. She's a 15 pound Shih-Tzu and she's 3 years old. She's very well trained and at one point, she had her problems, but she got over them very fast. Anyways, I don't know if it's jealousy or a dominance issue, but the minute Royce see's her in the morning, he'll nip at her legs and try to play with her, pretty much 24/7. She's not a hyperactive dog like he is, so she gets tired of it FAST after the 10th time he does it in a day. If one of them yelps, they usually stop for about 2 seconds, but then go right back into it. My wife and I are both concerned, because we know that if we ever have to leave for a few hours and if they're both out, they won't have a referee to break up their fights and one of them will get severely injured. Is there any way I can change this?

I know this is a long list, but posting on this site has helped me a countless amount of times, so that's why I come to ask you all.
Thanks so much for your advice!!!!

For the food aggression, try hand feeding him. I've had to do this with my 3 month old pup Lucian. It's not going to be a quick fix. I've been hand feeding for about two weeks now, three times a day. He is still not comfortable with me petting him with one hand while he eats from the other. I'm still working on the biting myself. Lucian still has all his puppy teeth. I try giving him a toy to chew on, and sometimes it works. Other times, he goes right back to chewing on something he's not supposed to. I just pick him up, and block him in my kitchen where he sleeps at night, for a time out. It may take a long time for them to get the hint. Not really sure on the last thing either. After having Lucian for over a month now, I'm still trying to get him not to chase my cats. Maybe when he does go after your other dog remove him from the room every time. Hopefully he'll get it sooner or later that he needs to knock it off. They are certainly a handful, but be consistent.

Okay so I'm going to post my thoughts and hopefully they help!

1) First of all, I once posted about food aggression and got told that it wasn't food aggression and it involved actual biting/attacking of my other dog, it was food/resource guarding. I am going to say right off the hop that what you are describing is not aggression it is probably the beginnings of food guarding. Once it becomes viciousness or attacking/biting then I would start to consider it aggression. Anyways though to try and help with the problem, to slow him down from eating so fast maybe try putting a ball or a rock (something that makes him have to work a little) in the bowl so that he has to slow down and think about it while eating. I would also have to agree that you should start hand feeding for a little while as this will help with him knowing that you are in charge of the food not him. Another technique that I have heard is to put his amount in a bowl that he doesn't use to eat and add a handful then walk away a little and do something else and then while he is still standing there walk by and add a little more- do this say three or four handfuls until the normal serving is gone. Eventually Royce will associate you being near him/walking by is a good thing-means he gets more food! Once you start getting him used to that, start petting him as he is eating and then once he is comfortable with that, try again with the putting your hand in his bowl, see how he reacts. These are just suggestions on things that have worked for me and friends! Also, putting down the food for only 15-30 mins and then taking it back up until next meal time reinforces that you are in charge of the food (not sure if you free feed)

2. This is a part of the puppy stage, hopefully they will grow out of it but in the meantime, how much exercise is Royce getting throughout the day? Lack of exercise is a big contribution to destructive puppies :p Not saying you don't exercise him, just every puppy is different and trying to help out

3. Best I can say is once again more exercise? Then he will be too tired to bug the other dog- usually works with Cally and my pug (she does the same thing) Also, if you are worried about it I would crate while you are out, just in case, don't want an injury or accident that could be prevented! Or if you do decide to leave them alone uncrated-lots and lots of exercise.

1. That's not aggression - he is a puppy. He probably had to fight for all of his food. You need to hand feed until you feel that Royce is comfortable with you. Cato still jumps around, but that is excitement. Just hand feed and be patient. BTW, he's begging when you eat. You can decide if that bothers you or not. I personally don't care, but my dogs are respectful about it and just sit and watch.

2. Puppy stage.

3. You need to crate Royce. Your dog is nipping at the shih tzu because he has high prey drive. It's normal, my dogs do it with the cats. Don't let it happen. Firmly grab muzzle (DO NOT HURT THE DOG) and give a firm no, attempt to revert attention elsewhere. When not home, DO NOT leave them unattended. That is a recipe for disaster.

1.) I figured that it wasn't exactly food aggression, because he doesn't snap or growl whenever we walk by him. Robin, I'll definitely try the ball or some sort of distraction when he's eating, because he makes the biggest mess I've ever seen a puppy make!

2.) I also figured that this was a puppy stage and that he will eventually get over it.

3.)Robin: Admittedly, we don't give him as much exercise as we should at the moment, but thankfully, in early December, a dog park is opening near us, so we'll definitely be taking advantage of that!
Megan: We tried crating him for about 2 1/2 months and he never got used to it. We crate him when we both leave for work and when we come home, we can usually hear him barking before we enter the house. He's just never liked it. We've literally done every single thing we could with crate training. Ignoring him, filling it with toys and treats, rewarding him whenever he would remain silent for a longer period of time. The longest he's ever lasted was about 30 minutes, before he would continue barking and wouldn't stop, until one of us let him out.

Can you confine him to his own room?

Well, we have a fairly small apartment, so he's in the living room 100% of the time when he's sleeping. He's closed off from the bathroom and our bedroom, because the other dogs food is in the bathroom and the few times he's been in the bedroom, he tends to go for our clothes, although he is getting better.

Can you move the other dogs food from the bathroom to say the kitchen or your bedroom and confine him in the bathroom? or even get a baby gate for your kitchen?

Yukon eats the same exact way your pup does. Nikko never did this, but I can understand how annoying it is!

When I get his food, Yukon jumps and hops around like crazy, and as soon as I put it down he will rush to the bowl and shove his head in it and eat it all in like 15 seconds. I tried using the treat dispenser and he made a bigger mess. The same goes with treats, he will take off a finger if your not careful! If you try moving his food bowl he just shoved his head in further like he hasn’t eaten in a week. If I go by and pet him he is fine otherwise, but if Nikko goes by him he will growl and snap at him.

As far as putting stuff in his mouth, that’s the puppy stage and training will help with that. You really need to teach him “Leave It”. It worked out good with Nikko but it is still a work in progress for Yukon. I have found some pretty disgusting things in his mouth on our walks, like cigarette butts, dead frogs, etc.

For the playing, I think that is a husky trait, they play rough! Nikko especially will seem like he is hurting Yukon, but he keeps going back for more. Since your other dog is considerably smaller I would not allow them to be alone together because of their prey drive. I would only allow supervised play time between them.

Hope this helps!