Food possessive - Problem

[mageedog]

Hello everyone. Been reading but not posting. But now I got a real problem.

Diesel is now about 8 months old and 55ish pounds. He is getting protective of his food. BUT........only when his cage door is closed. I have always fed my dogs in their cages for obvious reasons. I don't need dogs fighting over food, nor do I need one of my cats to become dessert. Here is the crux of the issue. When I feed Diesel, I put the bowl down in his cage and he has to do a sit, down, stay, look at me before he gets his food. Nothing is ever free for the dogs here! LOL. When I free him he goes in and begins eating. MaGee is already in another room eating at this point. With the cage door open, I can shove my hand and my head in the bowl without issue. I can even put my head there and muscle him away from the food. All good right????? Wrong! If I close the door and put my fingers thru the sides or front of the cage, I get growling and that tense dog neck. This response is about 75% of the time. This is clearly unacceptable. I have tried to take his food the moment he growls and do it agian later and sometimes it works, sometimes not. He has even gone a night or two without food which I hate to do. Obviously he has some issues in thinking that once the door is closed the space is "his". No good for me! I don't need a visitor or one of my nieces or nephews putting a finger in there and them getting hurt. Now, obviously I can just make sure never to feed him if anyone is around, but that is hiding a problem, not correcting it. Plus, if this is allowed, then maybe one day he protects a toy from a person. So I need to correct this before a real problem comes up.

Now for some other maybe relevant info.

Dogs are fed twice daily.
NEVER together or even within 15' of each other. No "boundary" issues that way.
Never fed table scraps.
Can be given "cookies" sitting right next to each other.
Diesel is intact but will be fixed come the beginning of the year.
This is ONLY with food. No bowl in there, you can put fingers thru, reach at a toy, his blanket, whatever.
No water dish in cage.
Just me and wife in home.
NEVER snapped or made an offensive move. Just the "back up" growl and the stiff neck and fore legs.

Thanks, Bob

[bamapitbullmom]

Hey Bob!

I would suggest crating him with empty bowl in the crate with him, close the crate door and drop his kibble, a few pieces at a time, through the bars of his crate into his bowl.

The point is to condition him to anticipate (in a good way) a hand approaching his crate when he's in it.

I would also do this when he is out of the crate as dogs don't generalize well so this lesson of "human hands mean great things" should be practiced throughout the home and with everything.

BTW~ dog against dog guarding is not related to dog against human guarding. Dr. Ian Dunbar says that humans relate to the "possession is nine tenths of the law but to dogs possession IS the law".

I'd also suggest that you gauge any differences in his desire to guard his food outside of his crate. If he doesn't feel compelled, then I don't see an issue with feeding him outside the crate or with the door open if the other dogs are eating in a seperate area.

This seems more like a crate issue than an actual food guarding issue in which case I'd also suggest working on conditioning him to enjoy and anticipate being approached while in the crate.

Start by nonchalantly walking by and tossing in really great goodies (chopped Natural Balance, cooked chicken, etc) without saying a word. Continue doing so and increase increments. Take him out of the crate and later ask him to go to his crate and repeat many times throughout the next couple of hours or so.

Be positive, moving closer to the crate once he really seems to anticipate a goodie coming to him.

I'd eventually move up to feeding him in small increments in his bowl, closed crate and repeating the goodie tossing and dropping extra yummy goodies into his bowl as he eats.

The concept is that human hands bring better things and instead of guarding, he looks forward to the approach.

If you still feel that he may aggress towards a hand to his crate, be proactive when children are present.

You may also consider spreading his meals out throughout the day by stuffing Kongs, soaking in broth and freezing, puzzle toys, scattering kibble in the yard or kitchen floor (great mental and physical workouts) and training sessions.

I'd also suggest working on teaching "trading up" with him in regards to his resources (toys. bones, etc). www.diamondsintheruff.com is a great resource, as is www.clickersolutions.com.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[mageedog]

Bamamom, thanks for the reply. And yeah, I know about doggie possession rules. I have always been crystal clear with my wife about that. Diesel and MaGee are allowed to protect their food from another animal, but if it walks upright on 2 feet, give it up is the rule.

I can't believe I didn't think about dropping some kibble thru the cage. DUH! Fingers = food = full tummy and happy dog. I will definitely give it the attempt and keep you updated. I really hope this works since I want to correct the issue, and not hide it.

Thanks again, Bob

[RealPitBull]

Hey Bob,

Jessica gave great suggestions, the only thing I'd add is to make sure he generalizes to other people, be sure to have your wife also practice these suggestions, and if you are comfortable doing this, have the kids toss treats into the crate when he's in there (with no bowl first, and then an empty bowl).

[bamapitbullmom]

Thanks, Mary! I usually forget something.