Help for Dogs With Food Aggression

Your loving and devoted pooch stiffens and snarls when you happen to be near his food. This is the natural behavior of a dog who feels he needs to guard his possessions. However, this behavior is very dangerous, especially if children who do not understand your dog's warning signs are near your dog's food. If your dog stiffens, growls or snaps when you approach his food, you need to take action to help his food aggression.

  1. Prevention in Puppies

    • Prevention is the number one way to help food aggression. If you have a puppy and hope to prevent her from becoming aggressive around food, you need to teach her right away that you (and anyone else) being around her food bowl is a good thing. Do not free feed your puppy (leave food in the bowl for her to eat as she pleases). In the beginning, you may even consider hand feeding her kibble. You, your children, your friends and anyone else you can recruit should make a habit of being around your puppy when she is fed. Everyone can take turns putting more kibble into her bowl as she eats. Sometimes you can even slip a special treat into her bowl, such as hot dog bits or grated cheese, as you reach your hand into her bowl. She will begin to learn that human hands near her bowl equals yummy treats. As she accepts your hands and the hands of everyone else around her bowl, start removing her bowl while she is eating. Again, throw down some kibble or yummy treats as you remove the bowl so that she does not feel she is losing anything.

    Mild Food Aggression

    • If your dog stiffens and moves around his bowl to block you when you are near his food, he is exhibiting early warning signs of food aggression. You need to pay attention to these signs and act fast before he escalates. Start keeping his food bowl on the counter and, if you are comfortable doing so, feed your dog out of your hand. Do this for as long as it takes to get you and your dog comfortable with you being around his food. When you feel you are both ready, give your dog a portion of his food in his bowl and put more in with your hand while he is eating. In addition to kibble, throw in yummy treats on occasion. Do this for as many weeks or months as you need to before ever attempting to remove his bowl while he is eating. When you are to the point where you can remove his bowl, throw down a special treat for him as you remove the bowl. If your dog's food aggression gets worse instead of better, stop your work with him and seek professional help.

    More Serious Aggression

    • If your dog is showing more serious signs of food aggression--such as raising her hackles, showing teeth, snarling or snapping--but you are still comfortable working with her, enroll in a dog training class to learn how to be your dog's teacher. Classes will help you to teach your dog the basics, which will come in handy as you work with her food aggression. At home, you should not only remove her food bowl but also begin feeding her in an entirely different area. She should not get any food or treats without working for them. Have her sit and stay several feet away as you set her empty food bowl on the ground. If she breaks her stay, remove the food bowl and walk away. If she stays, toss some food into the bowl, release her with a command such as "okay" and praise her. When she has finished her food, have her sit or lay down before feeding her more food. Never feed her without making her sit, stay or lay down first. As she becomes better behaved around her food bowl, continue with the process of teaching her that good things happen when you are near her food bowl. If she shows signs of back sliding to guarding behavior, go back to step one and start over. If her food aggression escalates or you begin to feel unsafe around her, consult a professional trainer immediately.