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How To Stop Food Guarding Without Taking Stupid Risks - Step by Step Instructions
By the time resource guarding becomes a problem it is learned behavior. It starts off as an insecurity, the pup is insecure about losing the resource, so maybe he growls. The pup or person who looked like he was about to steal his food backs off.
This is "negative reinforcement", the aversive (dog about to steal his food) goes away when he growls.
One might think that the best approach is to not reinforce growling by standing your ground. That may or may not be safe. Frequently, not reinforcing something that has been reinforced in the past results in an "extinction burst" - a temporary escalation in the behavior. i.e it gets worse before it gets better.
The problem with this is that the next step up from growling and baring teeth is an actual bite - and this is a very real possibility!
Most people will back-off before they get bitten. That presents another problem because now you have reinforced more intense growling and made the behavior even more resistant to extinction.
So while standing your ground might work - the risks of getting bitten or making the behavior worse are too great.
Thankfully, there are alternatives.
Doggy Zen: "grasshopper, to get what you want, you must first give it up"
Step 1: If you are confident that this is not a dog who would bite you when YOU have the food (i.e pup is not in possession of the food) then place a small treat in your closed fist. Present your fist to pup.
Pup will lick, nudge, or paw at your fist. At the instant that pup stops licking, nudging or pawing and backs off half an inch, open your first and let the treat drop onto the floor. Repeat several times. It's very easy beginnings, you're not asking pup to sit or down or any of those things (but if he does them, that's fine). You just want him to back off half an inch.
Step 2: Put the treat on a low stool or coffee table covered by your hand. Ask pup to 'sit' (presuming pup already knows 'sit') and to "leave it". Remove your hand slowly while pup remains sitting. If you can fully remove your hand say "good!" and let pup eat the treat. If pup goes for the treat before you give the release ("good!"), cover the treat up again and say "leave it" in the same tone of voice you used the first time (don't get stern).
Step 3: now that pup has learned a little self-control around food, and that the best way to get it is to tow the line, you are ready to up the ante. Put some food in pup's bowl and ask pup to 'sit' and 'leave it' while you slowly place the bowl on the ground. If pup breaks his 'sit', lift the bowl up, wait a second then ask pup to 'sit' and 'leave it' again. When the bowl touches the ground, pause, then release with "good!" and let pup eat.
The reason for putting a small amount of food in the bowl is so that you can practise several trials per meal.
Step 4: The hand that gives - while pup is eating a small amount of food from the bowl, toss yummy treats into the bowl one at a time. Gradually get closer without eliciting a growl, don't move ahead too fast. You will use a lot of treats completing this step.
Step 5: The hand that giveth and the the hand that stayeth - when you can drop the treats into pup's bowl with your hand at the bowl, pause a little with your hand. Remember, we're setting pup up for success here. If there is ANY doubt about the safety of this exercise you have moved ahead too fast and are setting pup and yourself up for failure. Pup should be looking forward to your hand approaching the bowl before you attempt this step.
Step 6: The hand that giveth also taketh away - take a little food from the bowl while pup is eating, leave a treat in it's place.
Step 7: The hand that swapeth - give pup a chewy treat, but then present a second chewy treat. Don't give pup the second chewy treat until he has dropped the first one. When pup learns to drop the first chewy treat reliably when you present the second chewy treat, put it on cue - "leave it" or "give it".
If you haven't rushed things and have completed all preceding steps this should be fairly easy. If it's hard, back up a few steps. Reading this today it probably seems impossible! It's not.
* Please seek help from a competent veterinary behaviorist if you are inexperienced with aggressive dogs or not confident with this procedure. It is by it's nature risky unless attempted by someone who fully understands it's application.
- Aidan's blog
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Comments
But what of food gurading around other animals
My puppy never guards her food with me. But she does with our other dog and our cat. For instance, if i am eating and she is patiently (i.e begging) waiting on the floor but the cat jumps next to us she gets very very upset. Or, if she has a toy or a bone and our other dog comes near her she can get nasty.
Would we use the same techniques for food gurading with other animals/pets?
food guarding around other animals theory and suggestions
Complete up to Step 3 first, then there are specific exercises for dogs who guard food from other animals. The theory at the beginning of the above article is very important to understand.
A one-on-one assessment from a professional dog trainer who understands the theory presented in the above article will provide you with the fastest plan of action.
Do you remember my old article, "Two Ways a Dog Learns - Consequences and Associations"? What we are trying to achieve with any training plan for this behavior problem is two-fold:
1. reinforcing consequences for being calm with food around other animals
2. positive associations with other dogs when food is around
It's also important that we don't put the dog into situations where growling will be reinforced, so no food around other animals at all in uncontrolled situations just yet.
Sometimes it is as simple as tossing treats for each dog in opposite directions then slowly, slowly bringing them together by tossing the treats slightly less distance each time. This would be a plan for very mild cases of food guarding and would require that the trainer knew with some certainty that it was safe to attempt this plan.
Other times we need to teach the subject dog a specific behavior then reinforce this while an assistant brings the other dog closer, always staying just outside of the threshold distance for food guarding. Over repetitions, this distance closes inch by inch until the dogs can eat beside each other.
For safety, this is done on-lead at first. Then the procedure is repeated off-lead.
Setting up safe situations that set the subject dog up for success is vital to the success of any plan. It is also important not to allow the unwanted behavior to occur ever again from the time you begin treatment. For this reason it's best to allow for lots of sessions close together to maximise the chance of teaching the new behavior while minimising the chance of the unwanted behavior being reinforced in between sessions.
How serious is the problem?
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com
How serious is the problem?
How serious is the problem? I wouldn't say it's at a level where it's dangerous for anyone involved but that might be because Ginger is a wee 12 lbs and my other dog, who does not have a gurading problem, is 45 lbs. Her guarding is certainly being reinforced though. If Buddy tries to take the bone away she will snap at him and he will back off, just sitting there staring at the bone. Sometimes he'll try to go in again and maybe he'll be sucessful stealing the bone from her, maybe not. What is difficult - and perhaps this behavior is my fault - is that they often play over toys. Their dynamic is: Once one has a toy it is only fun if the other wants it so they play tug with each other and they play keep away. But if it's a juicy bone Ginger will turn from play to aggression if Buddy comes near her. She doesn't gurad over regular food or treats. It's really only over million dollar items, like a bone. I guess I should correct this behavior by taking the bone away from both of them.
However, with the cat it's slightly different. This only happens if I am eating and the cat and ginger are both sitting there. If the cat makes one little move ginger will cry out and inch forward. Sometimes she will quickly jump/lunge towards the cat but never come into contact. My cat just sits there unphased. I guess I should correct here as well.
So I don't think it's that serious but I want to nip it/not continue to reinforce it.
Would this work with an 11week pup
Im very interested in getting an 11 week old pup called chomper as he has a loving nature and has been good with my 5 month old daughter but on a trial day he had very bad aggression towards us all when we gave him a pigs ear to chew on.
His history is the people who have him and his 6 brothers and sisters rescued them from a house where they were not being fed and didnt have anything apart from there mum. They are all well behaved normally and are gaining weight and look forward to food time but my concern is if i take him on how can i change this so that it doesnt happen in future and i know my daughter will be safe to walk around outside with me and not have to worry he is going to attack.
Yes...
...this will definitely work with an 11 week old pup.
some points-
- this is normal puppy behavior, what seems like 'very bad aggression' is just normal behavior and isn't a big indication of how he will develop. If he was 6 months old and still doing it, then you would have a bigger problem to deal with. At this stage you should get fairly quick results following the above plan.
- never leave your child with your dog unsupervised, goes without saying but I have to say it.
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com
Thankyou
Thankyou for your help,
Little chompers being given another chance now as i do believe he will be a good dog with a bit of work. as for never leaving my daughter with him i can say that wont be a worry, i was attack by a dog as a child and still have the scars on my face to prove it so its a big concern. although i did have a staffy that my mum adopted from me that is brilliant with kids and loves it when she is hand fed by my 10 month old nephew!!