Is Food Agression Acceptable?

[Tazwell]

It sounds like a silly question, I used to think I knew the answer. I'm asking about your opinion, really.

I'm sure most of us strive for a dog that's not food or toy possessive, but it's a natural behavior. The dogs that I've acquired with Resource guarding problems, I've worked with down to manageable level. In my 6 (or more) dog household, they all eat out of their own bowls, at scheduled feeding times. If one dog goes near the other, they typically utter a short growl, and stick their face in the bowl, claiming their space. I find that acceptable. Otherwise, everybody would steal everybody else's food.

So today, Fleetwood (who is now 3.5 months old) was eating and Todd was circling his food bowl, catching the fly-away pieces. Todd got too close, and for the first time, Fleetwood snapped at him. It wasn't a big deal, but it got me thinking.

So what level of resource guarding is acceptable from your dogs? If Fleetwood is Possessive of food or toys, then he can't go to daycare, or play safely with other dogs. So could this be balanced, or should try everything possible to avoid that behavior?

As a side note, we often play 'sharing games' with the other dogs. I'm more concerned that he snapped without freezing or growling first. Since that first time he growled at another dog, I've been actively respecting his warning signs, and that hasn't been a problem before.

 

[Maxy24]

Well what is and is not acceptable is totally up to the owner (assuming is doesn't affect anyone else or anyone else's dogs).

I personally would find what Fleetwood did acceptable. However I also find it potentially dangerous, if the other dog does not listen or the dog starts becoming overly cautious and starts guarding when a dog is still at a distance, you could have a bloodbath. I would however not turn my attention to the guarder but to the dog looking to steal food. Stealing another dog's food is a behavior I would find unacceptable.

Toy guarding is a bit different as the toys are for everybody, I do not have a multi dog household but I think I would encourage toy sharing as much as possible or else I wouldn't be able to let them have toys unless directly playing with me, and that would be a bummer. Not entirely sure how you go about this, other than maybe trying to make getting his toy stolen more fun by rewarding him after he looses his toy to another dog and then showing him a different toy he could play with.

 

[Kat09Tails]

It really depends on the situation and the owner. With LSG dogs it's vital to have a level of food aggression otherwise honestly the dog would never eat before the stock ate the dog's feed.

For the average housedog and owner I personally do not feel it's to the benefit of the dog or the relationship to be put in that situation of having to defend food. Put the food down in a place where the dog doesn't have to feel insecure that its going anywhere and let the dog eat in peace.

Managing a multidog household again depends quite a bit on the owner and their goals, and their expectations on how their dogs treat each other. I don't tolerate alot of the reindeer games many other owners do so I direct group time and play more during one on one time.

 

[mrose_s]

It depends on the behaviour of both dogs. Harry was scary when we didn't relise how random his aggression was, I remember once Mac going and sniffing near his food bowl (Mac's an idiot with going near the other dogs) and just as we called her and went to move her he dived out of his bowl, threw her on her back, scrubbed her 6 feet across the verendah while she was screaming before we could grab either of them when we were RIGHT THERE.

Now Buster and Mac can eat side by side, they are both very balanced with one another.
Quinn is fed in her crate, she sometimes gets iffy with Mac and she's started a couple of scuffles with her over food. I put it back to when she was a puppy, her mother had medical complications and stopped producing milk when her littler was 2 weeks old, there was another litter there being baby sat at the same time and the mother was happy to feed both litters so it was quite competitive. She's never looked twice at me near her food though so I can deal with that. Plus hers is nowhere near the scary level that Harry's was.

 

[2pups622]

Non of that is allowed in this house They all share out of the same bowl And toys. If one is eating out of the bowl and another wants food Usually the dog eating makes room for the other dog.

 

[CharlieDog]

Enzo is food aggressive with dogs she doesn't know. With any of the family dogs, she is okay, but she will freeze and growl or start gulping her food down faster, except with Ozzy. She will happily share a bowl with Oz, though HooverDog is usually finished before he is

Ozzy will not tolerate another dog coming near him when he eats, except Enzo, and he will not share his bowl with her until he's done. Though he doesn't mind sampling out of her bowl

He freezes, growls, and then if he still hasn't made his point to the other dog, he turns and snaps. None of which I discourage.

Enzo will go after a strange dog near her food bowl, but she's fine at daycare, so I'm not sure how food aggression bars a dog from sharing water and toys? We don't allow food in the yards at work, and all the dogs have their own kennel to eat in. We separate all dogs to eat, even family members.

 

[sassafras]

My heart dog, my dear departed Roxy, was horribly (dangerously) food aggressive with other animals (never people). I didn't like it and would certainly have preferred otherwise, but it was something we were willing and able to manage and live with.

So I guess for our situation maybe it was "acceptable" in a sense in that we could work around it? I don't know, even though we were very successful in managing the environment to prevent problems with other dogs and cats in the house once we knew it was a problem, I'm not sure I could ever really bring myself to describe it as acceptable. It just... was what it was.

 

[*blackrose]

I've always tolerated inter-dog food aggression. While I certainly don't prefer it, if it shows up I just feed them separate. Chloe and Rose get in to stancy/growly/snarly modes when the other comes near their food dish when they are eating, so I feed them separate now. I respect that they don't want the other eating their food. Neither one of them have any other type of food aggression.

Rose and Blackie would happily share bones and bowls without any problems, but they were also raised together.

I do expect my dogs to share toys (not bones or chew toys, but play toys).

 

[SizzleDog]

I don't allow it. I know other people do (and that's their choice) but in my own group .... no.

 

[lizzybeth727]

For the average housedog and owner I personally do not feel it's to the benefit of the dog or the relationship to be put in that situation of having to defend food. Put the food down in a place where the dog doesn't have to feel insecure that its going anywhere and let the dog eat in peace.

^^^THIS, totally.

Personally, I don't think it's fair to have multiple dogs eat out of the same bowl.... not only because of resource guarding, but also because you don't know how much they're eating, and that could be important. I'd rather let the dogs eat in peace.

 

[Dekka]

If a dog is eating their meal I don't expect them to share or tolerate other dogs sticking their faces in. If I was eating I might get aggressive too (a sharp yell, or if the person was really rude a swat... so in line with snarking snapping and grabbing by a dog) I feed mine separate, I just don't think its worth the stress it causes.

Now if there are treats, or a spoon to lick etc then I don't tolerate guarding on the item. Its MINE to dole out, not the dog's.

LOL I hope that made sense. My dogs seem to get it, and I have very little issues in this framework.

 

[RD]

With other dogs, I always expect there to be some quarrels over food. Eve has split some ears open over food/bones and high value toys. She doesn't growl or freeze or snap, she just waits for the other dog to get close and she attacks them. I never ever feed dogs together. Treats/chews are given in crates, in separate rooms or with dogs leashed.

I feel the same way as Dekka about food that I'm handing out. Dogs that get snarky over the treats in MY hand are going to be banished from the treat-recieving circle.

I have zero tolerance for resource guarding when it comes to me. I can stick my hands/feet/face in her food bowl (yes, I've done all 3) and take anything away from her without issue, and if that were to ever change it would put her on the fast track to doggie bootcamp hell. I share with her and I expect her to share with me.

Any future dogs I get (including my puppy, Wink) will learn how to play the sharing game with other dogs. I don't like dealing with food aggression and will diligently condition my dogs to accept other dogs/cats harrassing them while they eat.

 

[StillandSilent]

As long is it isn't out of control, as in lunging across multiple rooms to attack another dog over food, I'm fine with it.
Argon is food aggressive. He and Gambit eat in the same room, less then 4 feet from eachother (It's a really, really tiny apartment.) The first time they ate together, Gambit dropped his chicken to investigate Argon's, and was corrected with a growl/quick snap that didn't touch. That was all it took. They eat on opposit sides of the kitchen and there are no issues.
I, however, need to be able to remove food right from their mouths, in case of an emergency. Both are fine with this.

 

[JennSLK]

I have always fed in crates. I dont want to deal with the potential issues. That being said, toys are for everyone. I dont allow resource guarding. God help them if I wasn't allowed to touch their stuff.

 

[Saeleofu]

Gavroche is a borderline resource guarder. I'm okay with that. I feed Logan in his crate and Gavroche right outside of the crate and don't have issues with mealtime. Gavroche will make ugly faces over some toys and his food bin (where his food is stored) but he rarely snaps, and when he does snap, it's not anything major - just a warning. Logan really gets this (I'm SO glad this dog is fluent in dog, because a lot of times Gavroche isn't) and when Gavroche makes ugly faces he backs off.

Logan is the anti-resource guarder. He will often bring toys, chews, etc to Gavroche just to give them to him, and then he goes off and finds another toy or chew for himself. It's so freaking CUTE lol. He never does anything over food or toys or anything. If he gives Gavroche a toy and then decides to take it back and Gavroche makes an ugly face, he will make some dramatic noises and walk away (AaaaWAAAAawawAAa! *stomps off and pouts*) but he never raises a lip or anything.

They will sometimes chew on the same toy at the same time (usually when Logan brings it to Gavroche to share), and they will lay side by side with rawhides or whatever and chew without issue. But I will not leave them alone together with something to chew on.

Gavroche never makes ugly faces over treats.


Also, nobody guards from ME. I give them food, toys, treats, chews and I can take them away whenever I want. Nobody argues with that.



(By the way, even Gavroche's "ugly face" is freaking ADORABLE. I swear it's very hard to take this dog seriously).

 

[PatienceFlame]

IMHO, it is one thing for dogs to guard from other dogs which this is easliy fixed with feeding in diffrent rooms where there is less stress..no big deal really. however..resource guarding food and snapping at a human is NOT acceptable in my book. I feel that dog is more of a liability..especially when children are involved and while some maynot agree with my views everyone has their own and mine, being that I am in a breed that has no room for unstable dogs...would put down any ill behavior to protect the breed I love and those who see them as media monsters... but really

 

[Southpaw]

Towards other dogs, I can tolerate that. Towards humans, no.

I can take food and toys from Lucy (although she does give me a dirty look), but she'll growl at Juno if she comes too close. And that's fine, Juno backs off and all is well. They tolerate each other well enough in other aspects. I can't expect Lucy to just allow Juno to barge in and take her things, and along the same lines I wouldn't want Juno to think it's acceptable for her to just go up to other dogs and take food or toys from them.

Juno is not a resource guarder and Lucy will try sneaking food/treats from Juno, but I don't allow it. Juno won't tell her to back off, but I will.

Meal times are smooth. Juno inhales her food quickly enough that Lucy normally doesn't get a chance to hover around. And despite being the food addict that she is, Juno ignores Lucy's food dish.

 

[mrose_s]

I was just thinking about this and thought I'd pop in and add this.

Quinn is pretty defensive about her dinner but I do escpect to put a plate of scraps on the ground for them to tidy up quickly under supervision without issues. Generally I will call one of quietly to eat alone or only allow Buster/Mac or Buster/Quinn to share as then there are no issues.

Also, noone is to be defensive of the cat at all. And amazingly, we've never had to enoforce this, you just have to make sure that Elliot doesn't steal their dinner.

 

[puppydog]

I, thank god, don't have that issue. Travis will guard a treat when he is lying on the carpet with it but usually the girls trick him off it. They will bark at the door and when he goes running they grab it.

I leave Travis to have his diva moment as he doesn't take it beyond growling. They never guard food in their bowls though, so I am lucky.

If it went beyond simple growling then I would feed them separately. I don't think it is fair to make a dog feel insecure about what is theirs.

 

[Sweet72947]

When people say "food aggressive" or "resource guarder", I always think they mean with humans. That's when I consider it a problem. Dogs are not built to share with each other. In nature, you don't share. You gobble as much food as you can at the time and move along. Some primates and dolphins will be altruistic, and of course many creatures will share with their young because you typically want your young to survive, but for the most part sharing is not a natural behavior, and I do not expect my dogs to share with each other.

What I have, and do expect, are two dogs that can eat in the same room without a problem, and who do not bother each other while eating (although Daisy hovers about five feet away from Benji like a vulture, waiting for him to leave so she can check for crumbs ). A dog who tries to take another dog's food is a very rude dog. Neither dog has issues with me sticking my hands in their food. Benji had a little bit of an issue when he first came to us, but regular meals, plus walking by and dropping yummies in the bowl while he ate solved that problem.

Toys are a little bit different of an issue. Daisy will allow Benji to take toys right out of her mouth because she doesn't see them as a high value item. The two times she has gotten upset with Benji over a toy, that toy has been taken away and never given back. If I had a dog who made a habit of guarding toys in the presence of other dogs, I would work on desensitizing that dog to having other dogs around the toys, and I would also make sure to teach the other dogs not to take toys away from each other. With dogs who guard toys with humans, I have found that teaching a solid "drop-it" works well, as they start associate giving you their toy with getting a treat, sort of like a "give-take" game.