Aggression Involving Food/Treats

[phillo]

I have a mutt, shepherd mix, about 8 months old. I've had him for just over a month, rescued him from the side of the road in rural Missouri. He's an awesome dog (as long as he gets enough mental/physical stimulation). He's unusually calm, plays well with adults, kids and other dogs. He's gentle and smart.

HOWEVER, he has this thing with treats. Any type of food treat cannot be given to any other dog in Jack's presence without him turning into a vicious, snarling monster and lunging (while snarling/snapping) at the other dog. This is the only time I see this behavior, he sounds like a jungle cat or something.

Does anyone know what this might mean? I'm clicker training him and would like to chill him out when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[phillo]

Didn't see how to edit this thread so I'll just post a reply. The issue Jack seems to have is other dogs getting food/treats in his presence.

Today I let Jack play with a neighbor's dog, both off leash in our front yard with no fence. The neighbor's dog (who was already wandering) wandered into my next door neighbor's yard followed by Jack. I used the training treats I had in my pocket to lure both of them back into my yard and Jack went ballistic.

Though I did my best to evenly distribute the treats, Jack didn't care and started to lunge at the neighbor's dog, at least 2x his size. At this point I grabbed Jack's collar to pull him inside and it seemed like he was going to bite me. He did a sort of show bite with me, pretty out of control but didn't draw blood.

Anyway, later on after I fed him and when he took a break from eating I noticed our other dog (Cooper) took a few nibbles from Jack's food dish which was not a problem at all. Jack patiently waited for Cooper to finish his taste.

The problem with Jack seems to be people feeding/treating other dogs in his presence. This of course will happen. If anyone has advice on helping Jack handle these inevitable situations we'd really appreciate it.

 

[corgipower]

Don't give other dogs treats in his presence. Really, for safety reasons, it's best not to.

Him biting you when you grabbed his collar was redirection and is not uncommon.

Desensitize to collar grabs. Also, use a leash when you think there might be a need to grab him in order to avoid being in that situation again. If you're training one dog with treats, put the other one away in a crate or a room. When they're out together, use praise, petting, toys as long as those aren't going to bring out aggressiveness.

 

[Tazwell]

I desensitized my dog to this exact situation when I adopted him. I had him on a tether (leash) on one side of me, attached to the wall. I had one of my other dogs (very calm, good candidate for this) on the other side. I held the bowl of dog food in my hand, out of their reach, and fed with a spoon.

What I did was feed the calm dog, and click and reward big time the aggressive dog for watching me do that. Archie was super food-aggressive when I acquired him, and was also the first foster dog I ever had that bit me-- the same redirected aggression situation you just had; over a sandwich I was making.

He's now my demo-dog in training classes, and lives with my 5 other dogs and hasn't shown a single issue since-- no food aggression what-so-ever.

Basically what you're doing is rewarding him (you may click, too) for watching the other dog eat. With your dog, I'd really recommend starting with him wearing a basket muzzle, or one he can eat with while wearing. I second the last post; the best way to keep safe is simply not to feed him around other dogs! Only do this in a controlled situation with safety measures in place.

 

[phillo]

Thanks for all your responses - I'll follow your advice and see how it goes. I'm hopeful as Jack has no problem with Cooper eating food out of Jack's bowl while Jack is watching. The issue is me obviously putting the food in place, the problem is me. We'll see how it goes.

 

[pawzaddict]

I found one of my chi's on the street and she is shows resource guarding with her food and takes treats quickly like she has to rush and swallow it or someone else will steal it. I think part of this is them being out on the street and having to fend for themselves and even find their own food. The above suggestions are awesome and exactly what I would have said