Hi guys! As a lot of you probably know, I am working with Eric on re-training my boyfriend's dog, Dexter.
I am curious what some of you would do in this specific situation with your dogs.

Quiet morning at home. Mom makes breakfast for 4 year old who is sitting at the dining room table to eat, makes sure all dogs are fed and all but the 8 week old husky puppy taken outside. Mom grabs puppy to take outside to potty, gets to the front door, 4 year old starts screaming\crying. Mom drops pup, runs to 4 year old. 3 year old husky has a mouth full of peanut butter toast, runs into kitchen. Mom quickly ascertains there was no damage to 4 year old, turns corner to kitchen to scold husky and remove remains of toast from its clutches. 8 week old puppy starts SCREAMING bloody murder in time with a short growl/snap and runs past Mom, tries to hide under couch. Turns out 3 year old husky has torn open 8 week old husky's cheek. Vet shaves it the next day, reopens it, and drains it. Mom is instructed to drain/open/clean wound every day.

A couple days later, Mom puts 8 week old husky pup in an x-pen in the living room to feed her. Owner of 3 year old husky is sitting right there, playing a video game. Mom goes into kitchen to grab something, hears a thunk, and a snarl/squealing. 3 year old husky has jumped the x-pen and is scarfing down puppy's food. No damage done, but snaps and bites at Mom when she tries to remove dog and/or food from scenario.

A day later, Mom is relaxing on a chair in living room, playing a video game, eating skittles and cuddling with her 6 month old dachshund pup. 9 week old husky pup wakes up in x-pen next to her, mom gets up to take her outside. Mom sets her down to pee, reaches into hoodie pocket for a skittle, and realizes the bag must have fallen out of her pocket when she got up. Panic. Mom runs toward the door as the growling/snapping/snarling and screaming of bloody murder begins. 3 year old husky has now torn a hole in dachshund pup's cheek too. And tried to bite/snarl at Mom as she was removing the bag of skittles from the scenario.

Now let me ask you, what would you do?
One fact for consideration: 3 year old husky has already bit/snapped at 4 year old child multiple times. Never broken skin, but left marks.

This follows my perils with resource guarding.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t2828p40-i-really-need-some-helpits-an-emergency#128738

I think you may be in over your head a bit with how many dogs you have. They all seem to be a various stages. Perhaps you should gate off the kitchen while you eat.

We do gate off the kitchen. I am on the lookout for a tall swing open gate that will fit my doorway and be stable. The one I bought at Petsmart has to be adjusted so that it is unstable to fit.

We gate off everyone while they eat. Dexter jumps most of the gates we have with little regard.
Dexter is fine with his own food. I can reach in and play with his food, even stick my finger in his mouth while he is eating. He's to the point where I can take his Kong away with little grumbling. He just decides that what we are eating is his, and it is his right to take it from us, possibly injuring us in the process.

One night I walked in the front door with a piece of pizza wrapped in paper towel. Before I was even IN the door, my hand was enveloped by mouth and teeth, and I lost my pizza, paper towel and all.
I've been having him lay down while we eat. That was working pretty well, but as soon as I'm not looking (be it looked away, turned around, looked down, whatever) Dexter scootches for the food. He literally just takes what he wants out of your hand. He knows he isn't supposed to. He knows it's not his. I think that's why he wants it. I've been trying to work with the "wait until the last bite and you get a taste" concept, but what with having my wisdom teeth out, I haven't really had food to give him the last 2 weeks, and he's started going after my pups.

My dogs are all kenneled before they eat. Kennel the puppy, and Dexter can't get in there while she's eating.

This episode of It's Me or the Dog had some great advice about getting your dog to respect you when eating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUREXCizjb0

Jennet&Embry wrote:

My dogs are all kenneled before they eat. Kennel the puppy, and Dexter can't get in there while she's eating.

Ok, I have been, but... she decided to paint her crate in poop, and I haven't had the chance to wash it yet.
Also, Dexter snarled and snapped at me while he was pawing at and trying to get to the food in her closed crate.

I'll have to watch that video later, can't at the moment.

I would get two kennels, face them right next to each other and put Dexter in one and Ahsoka in the other and feed them both right infront of each other. Dexter won't be able to get at her, and he'll have to just deal with it.

Jennet&Embry wrote:

I would get two kennels, face them right next to each other and put Dexter in one and Ahsoka in the other and feed them both right infront of each other. Dexter won't be able to get at her, and he'll have to just deal with it.

Hah! I love that idea. Everyone has their own crates, Ahsoka just likes to tip her food over, so there's inevitably some hidden somewhere that the other dogs can smell.
I will go home, wash the crate, and feed them both in their crates staring at each other. Man, my boyfriend is going to LOOOOOVE this. Not. He's not a fan of the noise. Which is funny, considering his dog is the noisiest.

Lol, we did it with Embry and Zoey when we first got Zoey since Embry was used to being an only dog, he didn't like it but I just left them in there until they were done eating. Just make sure to be careful when letting them out incase Dexter tries to run in her crate to check out her bowl and attacks Ahsoka in the process.

Jennet&Embry wrote:

Just make sure to be careful when letting them out incase Dexter tries to run in her crate to check out her bowl and attacks Ahsoka in the process.

This happens as well. If she moves too fast near him, he will correct her. I will let them out one at a time, and make sure Ahsoka's crate is shut tight before letting Dexter out.

Any suggestions on the every day random grabs he does? He'll just decide my sandwich should be his and grab my plate with his teeth. Oh, and he will walk right up and start drinking out of my cup on the table. Other than that, most of the time he respects me and backs away on his own (or keeps his distance in the first place), but I can't trust him around my son or my dogs at ALL anymore. I have informed the BF that everyone is under quarantine, and Dexter is NOT to be left alone with my dogs or my kid for even a split second until he is altered and we reasess his behaviour changes.
We'll see how that really shifts after he is neutered. I'm not going to hold my breath, but it sure would be nice to drop the majority of the aggression.

Oh, and I already work on the basic NILIF principle. If he wants something, he has to do something for it. And he is perfect when you have something he wants, be it food, treats, loves, toys, leash, etc.. The issue is stemming from when he sees something tasty he wants and just takes it.
Like food off my counter or the stove. Or food out of my son's hand, or my hand.

Since his issues are so generalized, and not specified to any person or area... I feel he would need to be crated or put away anytime ANY food (human or canine) is around. If he jumps gates he needs to be kenneled. When the kids are eating, he needs to be kenneled, when the puppy is eating he needs to be kenneled, when you're eating snacks he needs to be kenneled. That way accidents like these aren't happening.

Personally, I think putting him in a kennel in front of the puppy in a kennel while she eats is going to exacerbate the problem but that's up to you.

Try doing set ups while you have food that you're specifically doing for his training. That way you're on guard and ready for him and can enforce things like the need for sitting or leaving the food alone. Leaving it up to chance or leaving it for times when you're not 100% focused on working with him is going to lead to more and more issues like this. But with consistency and setting him up for success he will begin to understand.

For dogs who don't have boundaries or respect, throwing a new dog especially a new puppy, always causes regression and usually adds more stress on them than we realize.

arooroomom wrote:

Since his issues are so generalized, and not specified to any person or area... I feel he would need to be crated or put away anytime ANY food (human or canine) is around. If he jumps gates he needs to be kenneled. When the kids are eating, he needs to be kenneled, when the puppy is eating he needs to be kenneled, when you're eating snacks he needs to be kenneled. That way accidents like these aren't happening.

Personally, I think putting him in a kennel in front of the puppy in a kennel while she eats is going to exacerbate the problem but that's up to you.

Try doing set ups while you have food that you're specifically doing for his training. That way you're on guard and ready for him and can enforce things like the need for sitting or leaving the food alone. Leaving it up to chance or leaving it for times when you're not 100% focused on working with him is going to lead to more and more issues like this. But with consistency and setting him up for success he will begin to understand.

For dogs who don't have boundaries or respect, throwing a new dog especially a new puppy, always causes regression and usually adds more stress on them than we realize.

Very well said and I agree 100%.

Unless you are specifically working at it at that very moment he should have no chance to get any food from anyone. If food is that much of a trigger towards nipping, biting, or aggression, he should never be placed into a situation where he can cause harm to someone because of it.

Dealing with resource guarding or food aggression is something that takes a large amount of effort and time and takes constant reinforcement. It is something that must be worked on every single day and at every opportunity. It needs to be focused on and watched closely.

We went through resource guarding with Ripley in terms of bones and we still need to remind her every now and again about her manners. During her rehabilitation Kelly and I worked on it every day. From small stuff to be allowed to take it away from her to passing an animal in front of her while she ate (Her big trigger). It took a lot of our time to reinforce what we deemed acceptable, and now I've seen a 1 year old bounce on her while she ate a treat, I was right there of course.

Quote :

Now let me ask you, what would you do?

Just going to throw this out there... Take it how ever you want.

Maybe you and Erik (Or another trainer) could work out a situation where He takes Dexter for a month? It would allow Dex to be around someone who could possibly devote more time to him at this current juncture and work on his triggers / behaviors in a more controlled environment. He could work at his pace and really find the root cause of the problems and correct them.

At the same time it would give you a lot of time to situate your new puppy and begin her training void of what she could pick up from Dex and possible mistakes that could happen from his food fixation. It would also free up some time and allow you to relax a bit instead of being on edge all the time, like it sounds you are currently.



It isn't like you would be losing him, or giving up on him. He would just be going to a boot camp with a trainer you already know and understand / accept the methods.


I mean I have no place suggesting this or know if it is even possible, but given the chance and in your position I think it is what I would ask of Fred (My friend who trains rough cases like this).

Just my

~Chris~

Chris, my only question about that is how does it allow her the opportunity to establish trust. I personally don't understand the reasons behind inboard training, so forgive me if it is effective, but I feel that in this situation maybe trust is key?

I could be incorrect, but just a thought.

I'm sorry, I have a flu bug, and am nowhere as attentive as usual this weekend.

As far as a board and train program goes, the kennel that trained me had them, and when I moved to private training, I continued to offer both 2 week and 5 week board and trains. I've only just mentioned it to Karissa for Dexter last night because A. It means cancelling most my clients for the period B. Its a huge amount of extra work for me, so I try to not ever wind up doing it.

I find them very effective, but only worth using on dogs with behavioral issues that can't be easily adjusted at home.

mheath0429 wrote:

Chris, my only question about that is how does it allow her the opportunity to establish trust. I personally don't understand the reasons behind inboard training, so forgive me if it is effective, but I feel that in this situation maybe trust is key?

I could be incorrect, but just a thought.

I'm all about trust and mutual respect in my life. Weather it is dealing with humans, animals, or anything in between, I understand how important it is for a strong and healthy relationship, so your question is very much on point and welcomed.

The great thing about animals, and dogs in particular, is they really don't hold grudges. It may seem that way from time to time, but I've never had a dog bite me or shun me because I did something to him a month ago.


I agree fully that to have the best relationship with any animal you should be doing the bulk, if not all the training, yourself. Even if you attend puppy classes or training classes that's still you doing it all.


The problem here, from my point of view, is the lack of a controlled environment. If Dex is finding constant opportunity to fail, and being reprimanded for it every time, there isn't a huge amount of trust being built to begin with. Trust isn't build with negative reinforcement and reading the results of his fixation (The puppy has suffered a tear, the 6 month old too, and the CHILD has been bit) aren't the types of things you generally redirect or use any form of positive reinforcement on.

All the "outburst" have also been done BEHIND Karrisa's back (Out of the room). So he respects her enough, or knows enough, not to try and do it in front of her, but you can't trust him to begin with right now around ANY of the babies of the house without constant supervision (should be there anyways, but we all know and understand it happens).


The reality of the situation is there is a new born pup in the house, other young animals (At least one 6 months old pup), and a child. If the boy is anything like any of my god children, food will always be around somewhere.

Training a new puppy generally revolves around rewarded based, and trust building, exercises. If the reward is food based that just adds another level of chance to the equation.

Kristina's suggestions of crating are spot on in this case, but that doesn't teach restraint in and of itself, and if he is locked up every time food is out there is no learning either.



In a more controlled environment, in this case inboard training, someone should be able to lay the ground work and work on acceptable manners. Slowly building up to the point the dog could AT LEAST be around a child without snatching something out of its hands or off a plate.

A dog is also it's most powerful in the place in which it lives. Rehabilitation isn't always the easiest when you have a strong willed or stubborn dog in it's home. Inviting it into a different location, though stressful, can help the dog get into a better frame of mind to learn. There is ALWAYS a regression when the dog is returned to the home, but with the right base and provided the trainer supplied the owner with the proper knowledge it can be limited and controlled.

A good trainer keeps the owners informed to all progress or regressions, and even includes them in on the training during this time. There is no reason once the ground work is established the owners shouldn't be invited and encouraged to partake in the rehabilitation process to see exactly what is going on and how/why. After all they need to understand the methods once the dog is returned and what to do in what situation. They should always be part of the process.

I also haven't even brought up the issue of time. I think it is fair to say Dex has a couple of issues. They have a 2 month old puppy and at least one other young dog in the house. Training the two pups a lone is a lot of work. Add a Kid and a dog you need to rehabilitate. Boyfriend or not, That is A LOT of work and supervision at every single point of the day.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it with Kelly helping me all the time.

If Dex is with a trainer 24/7 however who can devote all their free time to him or at least enough to get the point across both sides gain.

It has its place, and though I prefer people learn for themselves and be there for every part of a pups training, there is nothing wrong with someone at least doing the basics. That way you have something to build off of, and something to praise / reinforce so you can start to raise that level of trust and aren't always just punishing.

People who foster or rescue often work to remove unwanted behaviors before a dog is placed in it's forever home. It really is closely related to that. There is no lack of trust there, though it may need to be rebuilt.

I just don't see mutual trust in this example right now anyways. Respect maybe, but there is no trust right now or Dex wouldn't snatch, steal, or respond negatively when grabbed certain ways.

~Chris~

The reasons I believe Dexter would benefit from a Board and Train are as follows:

Dexter needs more excercise than he gets, and on a more consistent basis, at very least while we are trying to modify some of his behaviors. Nothing makes training a stubborn dog more difficult like having him full of energy. Its not really fair for me to tell Karissa to walk her 3 dogs seperate, monitor Ahsoka, raise Danny, and make sure Dex is getting an hour minimum of structured leash walking every day, on top of working long nights building planes. For me, I can easily walk Dex a couple hours a day to keep him lucid for training sessions.

Dexter snaps. My arm has been bitten, scratched, pincered by crabs, bit by sharks, broken, beaten, caught on fire, etc. I can handle being snapped at during food excercises. I'm not sure Ahsoka, Baxter, or Danny is made of the same kind of adamantium/mythril as me, and might be hurt if Dex snaps.

I have 4 CGC and 2 non-cgc dogs that live with me. Dexter needs dog socialization work, badly. My home and trained roomies are at least good for dog socialization excercises.

Dexter would be under 24/7 guidance of me, whom he responds well to. Already, I don't face the same pulling issues as the owners, and can easily walk Dex on a collar, rather than his front clip harness. The owners aren't on a consistent walk schedule with him yet, so when they take him, he still doesn't realize he HAS to use manners to get anywhere. If I were his 24^7 teacher for a month, he would be faced with the same exact consistent expectations every day, all day, so he would catch on that much quicker. Once Dexter is conditioned to new behaviors, its just a matter of showing the owners how to keep up on that conditioning. Rather than working on dog andd owner together in the same unchanged environment, for only an hour or two a week.

Hmm - food for thought definitely. I've learned something new. Training is not something I am incredibly versed in, but I am happy to learn. I really truly hope Dexter can be helped.

Sounds like you guys have provided great suggestions.

Chili resources guards with other dogs (dogs only, anyone can take food from him) and we are very careful around him. He knows not to do it in front of us and he's getting better about it but we are extremely careful with food. If we're preparing food, they are told to stay out of the kitchen so there are no scuffles for dropped food. We feed them separately - which hubby didn't take seriously the first two weeks and they got into a big bloodshedding scuffle. Everyone knows now. He's now to the point where I can feed them in the same room while I'm there but we still feed them separately so Frosti can relax and take her time eating.

I'm also very careful about cleaning up after myself and we don't leave food in pockets or lying around anywhere. All food gets put away after meals, much like we put away all laundry, shoes, etc so Frosti doesn't get an opportunity to chew on them. Huskies definitely teach you to be better housekeepers!

Forgot to add that we've taught him a "no more" command with corresponding hand signal (effectively "jazz hands", showing him we have no more treats). This tells him that 1. he's not to beg for anymore treats and we're done with dispensing treats/food/toys and 2. he should exercise self control and not go after any other dogs that may have food or a treat. It works really well and we were around food and other dogs during his therapy dog testing without any issues. I really just need to make eye contact with him now and he remembers what's expected of him.

We also put away any food or toys if he starts guarding. He knows that the party's over if he tries to snap, growl, etc at another dog while toys or food are out. You have to have zero tolerance on this and just put everything away. They quickly get the idea that you mean business. NILIF helps reinforce the consistency in that you mean what you say.

He's regressed a bit since he's been on prednisone and hungry all the time, so we've made sure to be very consistent and strict with him.

I agree that he needs to stay with a trainer out of the household. You just have too much going on to be able to devote the time he needs to training. Maybe as the youngest pup gets older it will be easier, but I think you just have too much on your plate to be able to focus on all your animals. I hope for your sake you can get a calmer household. A small child, two young puppies, a dog with a pretty legit list of issues..good lord. I'd go insane. Good luck!

How long as Dexter been having these problems? Was it before you got the puppy? If you knew he had the problems, why didn't you wait until after you tackled them before adding more stress? I'm only wondering.

I think the OP has answered that question a few times, Megan. The puppy is there as is Dexter. I think at this point we need to focus on helping her create a calmer more in control household

Thank you everyone. I definitely have a unique way of doing things, and it's almost always the hardest way possible. But like someone said about training rescues - the reward is bigger at the end. I very much appreciate the suggestions and support. A lot of times that's all I need when I get to my wits end. Helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel (even if it's still 500 miles away).

I realized yesterday why he may be regressing in the collar/tail/food areas. Since I got my wisdom teeth out a couple weeks ago, I personally haven't been doing my daily stressor training sessions with him - reserving my strength for my dogs and son and letting the bf handle his dog's training. He does the basic trick training, but I don't think I've see him to any actual issue training. So theoretically, part of the regression is my fault (disregarding the fact that -I- brought the puppy in...hah).

I've been working on the boyfriend to really work with his dog more. Aaron has all the time in the world to work with his dog, as I take care of household stuff and the puppies and my son, shopping, cleaning, etc.. I am trying to get him to do more training sessions throughout the day with Dex. He is now keeping treats in his jacket pocket, which I was super suprised and pleased at.
He's getting better about walking him, even though there is no consistent schedule, and knowing him there probably never will be. Starting this morning, we both are going on a morning walk as soon as we get home from work.

The biggest issue with board & train is $$. I usually make decent money, but I am injured and on light duty at work, and don't know when I will be back to full duty and able to work overtime again. Or considering the home situation, be able to leave home to work OT. So we have money to pay the bills and eat, but not a ton of extra.

I have begun crating him any time there is food out, until we can start getting things under control. We will start doing structured exercises with food/treats, and begin training that way.

Tomorrow I have a training session with Eric, so I'm sure he will have a lot more for me then.

It sounds like you've gotten a lot of good advice here. My input is a little off topic, as I don't necessarily think it is part of the problem. You keep referring to "my dogs" and "bf's dog". You may be doing it just for the sake of clarity here, that's fine. But you are living together now and all three dogs need to become part of one pack. I understand Dexter has a long way to go before he can be that way, but dogs can be very intuitive. Maybe start thinking of them as "our dogs"? Obviously you already do to an extent, since you are stepping up for Dexter's training, but it's just my two cents!

Good luck! Hopefully there are no more injuries anytime soon!