I have recently dealt with this problem kinda with my pit mix and this is how I went about working it out.
I first noticed a tensing when chewing on a bone for a long period of time and really going at it. When another dog would walk by she would stop chewing and hold her head stiffly over it. Now she came from a litter that was all fed with one big bowl in a small area. Problems are bound to come from that.
It finally came to a head one day while she had gotten something to chew on and my other female walked by and Kaylee snapped and went after her. It was all noise and warning but in a small enough space that it could escalate. I grabbed her collar and she swung around and could have bitten me. She didn't and didn't intend to or she would have, but it was a warning for me.
So the next day when she was going to be fed I took her piece of chicken and sat it on the floor and then stood in front of it, not letting her get it. Well I didn't see behind me but one of the cats had decided to come upstairs and behind me at that moment. I just saw her ears go from back to forward, her eyes focus more and then tensing. I reacted fast enough to grab the leash I had on her and stooped her from moving the cat away from "her" food.
So the next day she got her collar put on and a leash. I went into the back yard to see what would set her off and if she would ever go after a human. I couldn't deal with the problem till I saw it in full.
I took some chicken and set it on the ground and stood over it. I picked it up, I pretended to eat it. I looked her in the eye the whole time. I repeated this a few times until I saw her tense up and ears go up. Then she snarled and tried to move me out of the way and get her "chicken" mostly warning but if I pushed the issue I would have gotten bitten.
So then started her feeding regimen. She only got fed by me and by hand. Every bite of meat had to be earned. She had to sit, stay, lay down, focus etc. for every bite. She wasn't allowed under the table that she had made into her den. Bones were off limits. Couches, beds off limits. She had to walk behind me before going threw the door and it had to be polite. She would get corrected if she didn't do what she knew she was supposed to do immediately. She had to sit before every game and many times during games.
She wasn't fed with another animal in the room. I would feed her in her crate if I needed to because of a time problem, but I used that only once or twice.
Now, a few months later she can sit and wait politely while another dog is eating "her" meat with a cat and two other dogs in our small kitchen. She doesn't inhale the food or tense up when other animals or humans come near. She can be trusted with bones for the most part but so far I've only done that when I was around and no other animal.
I would NEVER use the crate as a solution for this problem unless I was unable to work it out. Thats a bandage on the issue and not a solution. If you don't want to bother to try and work it out then do feed in a crate because it's safer for all. But it's not going to solve the problem.
I hope I might have given you some useful information. I always do better when someone tells me how they went about dealing with something instead of just a step by step process to follow.
I'm curious how you would use an e-collar to work with this. Not AT ALL trying to start an argument, I'm a fan of e collar training. I just want to know how you would use one to work with the food aggression
I first noticed a tensing when chewing on a bone for a long period of time and really going at it. When another dog would walk by she would stop chewing and hold her head stiffly over it. Now she came from a litter that was all fed with one big bowl in a small area. Problems are bound to come from that.
It finally came to a head one day while she had gotten something to chew on and my other female walked by and Kaylee snapped and went after her. It was all noise and warning but in a small enough space that it could escalate. I grabbed her collar and she swung around and could have bitten me. She didn't and didn't intend to or she would have, but it was a warning for me.
So the next day when she was going to be fed I took her piece of chicken and sat it on the floor and then stood in front of it, not letting her get it. Well I didn't see behind me but one of the cats had decided to come upstairs and behind me at that moment. I just saw her ears go from back to forward, her eyes focus more and then tensing. I reacted fast enough to grab the leash I had on her and stooped her from moving the cat away from "her" food.
So the next day she got her collar put on and a leash. I went into the back yard to see what would set her off and if she would ever go after a human. I couldn't deal with the problem till I saw it in full.
I took some chicken and set it on the ground and stood over it. I picked it up, I pretended to eat it. I looked her in the eye the whole time. I repeated this a few times until I saw her tense up and ears go up. Then she snarled and tried to move me out of the way and get her "chicken" mostly warning but if I pushed the issue I would have gotten bitten.
So then started her feeding regimen. She only got fed by me and by hand. Every bite of meat had to be earned. She had to sit, stay, lay down, focus etc. for every bite. She wasn't allowed under the table that she had made into her den. Bones were off limits. Couches, beds off limits. She had to walk behind me before going threw the door and it had to be polite. She would get corrected if she didn't do what she knew she was supposed to do immediately. She had to sit before every game and many times during games.
She wasn't fed with another animal in the room. I would feed her in her crate if I needed to because of a time problem, but I used that only once or twice.
Now, a few months later she can sit and wait politely while another dog is eating "her" meat with a cat and two other dogs in our small kitchen. She doesn't inhale the food or tense up when other animals or humans come near. She can be trusted with bones for the most part but so far I've only done that when I was around and no other animal.
I would NEVER use the crate as a solution for this problem unless I was unable to work it out. Thats a bandage on the issue and not a solution. If you don't want to bother to try and work it out then do feed in a crate because it's safer for all. But it's not going to solve the problem.
I hope I might have given you some useful information. I always do better when someone tells me how they went about dealing with something instead of just a step by step process to follow.
I'm curious how you would use an e-collar to work with this. Not AT ALL trying to start an argument, I'm a fan of e collar training. I just want to know how you would use one to work with the food aggression