Hey guys I've tried searching for food guarding "remedies" on the forum and the internet and couldn't really find a technique that wasn't beyond confusing or full of these "stages" they say need to be accomplished. But anyways, this has been going on since we got her at around 10 weeks, it isn't all the time, but while petting her back or neck while she is eating her dry kibble, she will occasionally give off a little growl. Now my step dad will yell no and physically push her away from the food and yell "YOU DONT GROWL AT ME!" He let's her go back to the food and then hand feeds her from then on. Now I'm 95% sure that this is totally wrong and only making matters worse but his ass is extremely stubborn and into the being a pack leader perspective. But I also could be wrong. I've been starting to give her food little by little for example giving her a little food and waiting for her to finish. She then sits and looks into my eyes and then I give her more food until she makes all gone. I practise desensitizing her by petting her while she eats. With human food her growl is a little more well known however. Sorry for the short story but I'm just wondering what tips you guys can give out. Thanks!

We trained our dogs from the start that the food was mine, and that I was allowing them to have some. We make them sit and stay for their food bowls, we take their food after 15 minutes, and if anyone growls or resource guards, its a harsh "No" and we send them away from the food area and take their bowl until everyone else is finished. You should contnue desensitizing your dog to touching and having the food bowl removed from its face, but don't discount setting a boundary of what is and isn't acceptable at the doggie dinner table.

Try feeding her out of your hand for a while, or teach her 'leave it' with little pieces of her kibble. Let her know that you control the food. I like that you make her sit and look you in the eye before giving her the bowl, do that every time and for any kind of food. Feeding at the same time every day could help to show she isn't in danger of missing a meal, but only give her a set time to finish it, about 30 minutes.

I hope some of these tips will help. best of luck.

I had a dog that had this issue when I got him at 8 months- he was already 50 pounds, so be happy she's still small! My suggestion is to nip the issue in the bud now before it escalates. It sounds like you're already heading in the right direction. How often is she being fed and whats the quantity? You can ask her to sit and wait for the food and then put down an EMPTY bowl- that will surprise her. Then add small amounts of food into her dish while she's calm. If she is really uncomfortable with your hand in her dish practice giving her something really yummy that she never gets- like cheese. Just walk over and drop it in. She will get used to you being around her bowl. My dogs are 3, 4.5 & 9 and even now I still will occasionally walk over and put my hands in their dish- and then reward them with cheese. As for the petting while she's eating, I would handle her more away from her dish and reward her with really yummy food and then transition closer to the bowl. There's really no need to pet the dog while they're eating, but you want her to be comfortable with you being around her while she is at her dish- esp. if little kids may be around. It could be she is uncomfortable with being handle and then guards her food as a result? Does she guard anything else? Again ^ This is what has worked for me, but there are 100 other ways to get the guarding issue under control

She is fed 2x 1 cup of blue buffalo wilderness puppy. She does the same with a peanut butter filled Kong as well. Plenty of treats in the middle of feeding sessions too xP

I have a dog with resource guarding in her past.

I would never, ever, suggest physically pushing the dog and yelling at her. This will probably make matters worse because she will become more fearful of you. There are many threads on this site that address resource guarding.

I fed my girl for 6 weeks by hand. I also incorporate NILIF training into everything she does.

But, may I ask why you feel you need to be next to her and touch her while eating? When my dogs get fed they are put in separate areas (crate) and they eat until they are done. Then, I grab bowls and wash them. It's only about 10 minutes and the way I look at it is, if I gave them food it is theirs. I gave it to them to finish.

While Delilah was coming through her issues, I would pick up every toy or treat and she only got to have it when I allowed. I would even hold it for her while she played.

I also had a dog with severe resource guarding, he was a 100lb wolf hybrid...so no you do not want to get physical with them as a correction, eventually you will get bit and make the problem worse in the long run. We did a lot of hand feeding and holding the bowl while he ate to get him to trust us, and it did take about 3 months. We always enforce a sit and wait for food while we drop bowls, but feed in separate locations in their kennels, sit and wait, allow to eat, by the time I drop the last bowl the first two are done so it's back to picking up bowls, collect all bowls and give some praise/attention, then inside to wash bowls. Takes about 30 min start to finish with 11 dogs- There isn't really a reason to mess with them while they are eating IMO.

Lucian doesn't like being touched while he's eating either. I'm still working on it with him. If it was just me and hubby here I would give him his food, and leave him alone. But I have a 3 yr old running around the house, that doesn't realize Lucian acts any different when he's eating. She thinks she can walk up to him anytime and pet him.

Sheba has some resource guarding as well, and the longer you let it go on, the harder it will be to fix.
I certainly let Sheba go on with it for too long, so now I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I don't think pushing her and yelling at her is going to fix anything. I agree that it will only make things worse. While all members in the household need to be apart of the training, you all need to be on the same PAGE with the training. Your step dad can't be yelling and pushing her and someone else is just letting her growl. Pushing and yelling won't fix it IMO.

I have always taught my dogs that is perfectly acceptable for me to pet them or put my hand in their bowls. I don't just walk up to them and take their food away, that's not it at all. But I am also curious as to why you feel the need to be constantly petting her while she's eating? That would be annoying for me if I were a dog lol. I guess I'm being slightly hypocritical here, but I leave my dogs alone while they eat. BUT they should also be accepting of me taking their bowl away if I would ever need to. I don't stand there looming over them and petting them though.

First off, let me just say that your dog is almost identical to ours. It was seriously freaky seeing your picture. Haha.

Anyways, Alki is just over 2 months now and I noticed today that he's also guarding his food. My parents dog was raised with us touching him while he ate (lots of children coming in and out of the house). He has NEVER growled or anything with his food. You can literally reach down and take his food without a sound. I wanted our husky to be like that because we'll be having children in the future. I don't really have any advice, as I'm new to huskies and having the same issue. Just know that you definitely aren't alone.

Hand feeding really helps with that, try varying the time between each kibble and keep them interested and paying attention. When Bella gets a little pushy I start waiting longer and longer between kibble. Also, use the kibble for training while you're feeding. I make Bella run through sit, lay and we're even working on stay while I feed her. Really helps and if she's hungry I can do a longer training session and she isn't nearly as crazy energetic afterwards.