Concerning behavior at food bowl while eating
Dear WOOF,
Hi my wife and I rescued a puppy back in Sept about 3 or 4 months old by guess of vet and pound. She is a mix breed dog (best guess German shepard mix with possibly husky and something else) before sending her to get spayed last weekend, when I would try to mess with her so that when we have kids she won't bit them if they touch her or her food while she is eating she would do fine, just eat faster. After she was spayed and boarded that weekend at the vet now when I even touch her near her head or food she growls and even once put up her hackles. Any tips to fix this problem back in right direction similar to you story posted on website about growling over food? Could it have changed because of how she was treated there?
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, and thanks for writing. I'll start by saying that since she had been displaying a
clear sign of discomfort (eating faster) as you would "mess"
with her while she was eating, prior to her being away for the spay
procedure, it's not likely that the fact that the problem is getting
worse has anything to do with how she was treated that weekend.
I realize that you
thought she was "fine" since she would "just eat
faster" but gobbling food is a sure sign that she was not
comfortable with what you were doing from the start. You aren't
specific as to what you mean by "I would try to mess with her"
as she was eating, but I'm assuming that you mean putting your hands
into her bowl, and petting her? This assumption is based on the
progression of her behavior as you describe it, and what you describe
as happening just before she has growled with raised hackles.
While it's a common
mistake people make, it's very important to point out that there is a
big difference between a dog being "fine" about something,
and being happy about it! The fact that she would eat faster
indicates that she wasn't comfortable, and because that warning sign
went (unintentionally) unheeded, she's now left with no choice but to
use the more overt behaviors of growling, tensing up/hackles raised
to communicate with you. Her behavior will continue to grow and get
worse, unless the proper steps are taken, starting now.
My
immediate advice is to stop touching her - and attempting to touch
her food bowl - while she's eating! In fact, I think you'd be wise to
leave her completely alone while she's eating for a little while.
She's likely started to associate your mere presence and/or approach
to her while she's eating with unpleasant experiences, so giving her
an opportunity to relax and eat in peace for a week or so is a good
starting point.
From
there, you'll need to teach her that your being around her while she
eats (no touching!!!!) is a good thing for her! For example, standing
nearby as she eats, toss her delicious treats (extremely high value -
like chicken, or cheese!). The idea is for her to begin to not only
relax, but look forward to you being around while she's eating,
rather than concerned about it. The process will involve building on
one success after the other - starting with teaching her that your
presence when she eats means good things for her - and only adding
another element, when she is completely relaxed and happy with the
preceding step. Since physically touching her while she eats seems to
be particularly unpleasant for her, she likely wouldn't be ready for
that until the last step in the modification process. It's all about
helping her to look forward to you eventually touching her, or her
food bowl, one small step at a time. The process could take weeks or
months to accomplish, but this is not only a very common problem in
pups and dogs, it is one that with the correct approach, can be
successfully overcome!
The details of your email
do not provide enough information for me to outline a complete
behavior modification program in this email, but read more helpful
information on the topic of resource guarding at the following links,
taken from our Training Tips and Behavior section:
Resource
Guarding - What It Is, How to Prevent It
Help
for a Resource Guarding Puppy
The other thing you
mention is, "I would try to mess with her so that when we have
kids she won't bite them if they touch her or her food while she is
eating"... I understand your goal here, but I must warn you that
even if you teach her to be completely happy and relaxed about that
with you, it does not mean she's going to be happy about it with
kids! In fact, it's very unlikely that she'll be happy about it with
kids, or anyone else who hasn't specifically worked with her on it.
The link below takes you to an excellent article on the topic of kids
being around dogs' resources, like while eating for example, and
includes video footage of what NOT to do, and what to look for in a
dogs body language that calls for immediate intervention and
management to prevent problems!
http://dogsandstorks.blogspot.com/2011/07/baby-and-dog-sharing-food-bowlyikes.html
(copy/paste link if necessary)
One last thought, if you live in Metro Detroit please consider enrolling
in one of our puppy classes, which include exercises to prevent and
overcome resource guarding problems. Click here for more information
on puppy class http://www.woofology.com/puppy_info.html
If
you live within our service area and would prefer to discuss
one-on-one help and a specific modification plan for this issue,
please give us a call at 248.588.3222. If outside Metro Detroit, see
the link below to our FAQ's page, for help finding a qualified
behavior consultant in your area - http://www.woofology.info/FAQ.html
Take
Care and thanks again for writing!
Lisa Patrona, Dip. CBST, CPDT-KA, ACDBC, AABP-CDT
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