Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Dog Food Aggression in a Family with Kids is a Dangerous Cocktail

There was an article posted about a 4 year old
male Jack Russell that is terribly food
aggressive and has a history of biting family
members.

The dog owner wants to know how to approach
fixing this food aggression problem with her dog.
She also notes that in addition to food
aggression, her dog dislikes being fussed with
while on his blanket. This is another huge red
flag of resource guarding that should be saying,
"I've got to get this under control now!"

Dogs can guard things they perceive as having
high value. These typically center on things that
fall into four categories: food, space, articles
of play and love and affection. That's right,you
can become a high value resource to your dog as
well (that's the love and affection part.) If not
addressed immediately, this could be setting the
dog up for a one way trip to the vet

Why does a dog become aggressive around his food
bowl? That's a good question. There could be a
number of factors that, when you put them all
together, would cause this dog to become
aggressive around his food bowl and aggressive in
many other situations as well.

One reason might be a lack of proper
socialization and desensitization around as many
kids and adults as possible.

Another factor is desensitizing him to family
members being around him when he is eating. This
should include heavy doses of feeding him from
your hand, taking his food bowl up and giving it
back with a yummier treat on top of his remaining
food.

Other influencing factors could be a complete
lack of structure in the family, that is, not
requiring the dog to earn things in life that he
wants and also the dog's temperament.

Dogs that are more leader type or bossy, would be
more likely to resource guard their food bowl
than say a very submissive dog.

Now don't get me wrong, submissive dogs can also
become aggressive around their food bowls. I'm
just saying that the bossier the dog, the more
likely it could aggressively guard its food bowl.

I've also seen very bossy or leader type dogs
aggressively guard a spot taken on the family
couch and be perfectly fine with family members
near their food bowl while they are eating. It
all depends on the individual dog, environmental
factors, etc.

What does the owner do about her reactive dog?
The very first protocol is to make sure all
humans and dogs are safe. This means that the dog
should be physically managed - crated, gated or
on a leash so that he is prevented from becoming
aggressively reactive.

Work on changing her relationship with her dog by
putting him on a learn-to-earn program of
performing sits and downs for things that he
wants. All family members should participate so
that he gets the same message from everyone.

Get back into the training groove with sits and
downs to give him a sense of working for
leadership rather than feeling responsible for it
himself.

Exercise her dog to more constructively manage
his energy rather than it being managed by the
dog in a destructive way.

Finally, get with a good trainer or behaviorist
to begin working on a behavior modification
program to directly address the issues of food
aggression and aggression around anything else.

This problem should be addressed sooner than
later because the aggressive behavior grows
stronger each time the dog growls or snaps
causing people to back away. Dogs simply do what
works.

If you notice your dog growling around their food
bowl or growling when you approach them in
certain situations, call a trainer or behaviorist
before the problem gets worse.

Be as comfortable with the trainer of your dog as
you are the teacher of your children.

----------------------------------------------------
Jim Burwell has been professionally training dogs
for 25 years in Houston TX. He is the dog
trainer of choice by vets, rescue groups and dog
owners when it comes to solving difficult dog
behavior such as good aggression. For an
outstanding resource on dog behavior, visit
http://www.petiquettedog.com

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