Hello,
I have aa 9 month old lab puppy that shows signs of food aggression... I have 3 labs and feed at the same time. My other two labs sit and wait till I say "free/Eat" and both eat from the same food tower. I can pat them on the back or head and they both eat and just wag tails...My 9 month old eats from his own bowl.. However when I pat him while he is eating he growls and looks at me...Any postive reinforcement advice to correct this behavior. I am concerned because I have children/grand children that "could" be around at tsome time while this pup is eating... This "new" behavior is been going on for about 1 1/2 months now... Please help!! I am very concerned..

What are you doing now when he growls at you? If you're leaving him alone, then he's getting his way with you - the growling is working. Personally, if it was my dog, I'd be taking his food away and only feeding him bit by bit, maybe by hand - make him work for any food you're giving him. He thinks it's HIS food - he needs to know it's not - it's YOUR food that you're letting him eat!

I would purchase Jean Donaldson's booklet MINE! from Dogwise. It is very inexpensive and I have used her protocol to resolve some pretty serious resource guarding in shelter dogs.

He's testing you and you can nip this is the bud right now - if done properly he most likely will never do it again. Remember he's only growling - he has not snapped or bite, etc.

Put a leash on him and do whatever you do when he growls. The second he growls give him a hard leash correction and make him sit, down, and stay and tell him firmly NO NO NO. Do not allow him back to he bowl yet. Make him stay in a down even if you have to sit on him. Let him up and have him sit and stay. Pick up the bowl and wait a few more seconds. Place the bowl back down and give him a "release command" and let him resume eating while you stand right there petting his back. Stop him by picking the bowl up and place it back down again, petting. Then when he's finished sit with him and place some kibble in the bowl from your hand one at a time. Praise him when he's eating and wagging his tail. Do this diligently and do NOT allow him to growl.

Watch The Dog Whisperer on NatGeo.

agree 100%, use the leash and stop it now.

Actually, Caesar never gives a physical correction for growling over the food bowl. The idea is to never let it get to that point. You hold the bowl and lower it enough for the dog to eat out of. Then if the dog gives the aggressive body language you just lift the bowl out of reach again.

First thing I would do is keep the other dogs in another room while you deal with this. He may be worried about them stealing his food. He is anxious and even though they don't bother him, he may be worried about that which contributes the problem.

Second thing I would do is sit on the floor with him. you keep the dog food and feed him handful by handful, slowly. If he is gobbling it up, feed him piece by piece, with calm and quiet praise. You might have to keep your palm open to save your fingertips, however. Once he's good with this, change your position so that you are kneeling, or sitting on a chair - you are higher than he is. Then, stand and continue the procedure. Hopefully, he will be okay with this. Once comfortable, put the bowl on the floor with nothing in it. You add the food, while you stand, handful by handful. This way, he will be learning to allow your hand near his dish, but associate it with good things. Also, he will learn that the food is YOUR food. He has been doing this for a month and a half. This will take time to resolve. Get him comfortable with each step before you progress to the next.

I would also play gently with him with toys and such, and get him to release his toys to you, maybe for a really good yummie. You must be able to take whatever you want from him whenever you want. It may be necessary sometime to save his life.

I would try the above before I would try the Caesar method. I think the Caesar method is too harsh to start out with. The dog is already anxious about his food. That method would make it worse. I would only do that as a last resort. I also note that while I enjoy watching Caesar, the dogs on his shows are the dogs that nothing else works for.

disagree....there is only one top dog allowed to growl around here and that is me...
I would not waste my time playing games with him, he is a young boy and it does need to be nipped now.

I would go with the leash correction as well.
I have 10 dogs that eat quietly together in the same room.

Years ago I had a young dog (under six months) doing the same thing. I suggest you do get Jean Donaldson's book, MINE. The very wrost thing you can do is correct as some of my fellow breeders have suggested. By the way, I was able to completly stop the behavior. Good luck.

Again, I would not be harsh with him. He's only nine months old.

I do not believe patience and calmness in correcting a problem is playing games. Especially if it works. If it doesn't work, then try something else.

To the posters who suggested it, what did Jean Donaldson recommend?

I would feed by hand because if you control the dogs food, fun and freedom you control the dog. No harsh corrections are necessary especially if you stop that behavior now. After feeding the dog by hand for a couple of meals I would do what Deven suggested.

You have received some good advice and some rotten advice. Omit all ideas of correction unless you want to make the problem worse and probably get yourself bitten. In fact, be very careful about being cheerful and pleasant when you feed the puppy by hand or remove the bowl. Don't wait until the dog is anxious and growling to train. Give and take the food many times without punishment. The dog needs to develop a sense of security that he will get all the food he needs without having to guard it--even if the temporarily taken, the bowl and food will return--ever time until the bowl is empty.

Yes, to Jean Donaldson approach too.

Whatever you decide to do, please DO something to stop this behaviour before it gets out of hand & the dog is older. Having lived with a resource guarder, it's VERY stressful! JMO & good luck!

Here is a very good thread on why Cesar Millan's methods and other methods like it are dangerous:

http://www.drsophiayin.com/dominance.php?act=play&mov=2#address

Please remember that not a single trainer or behaviourist with a PhD recommends those methods and there is a reason there is a disclaimer on that show stating "do not try this at home".

Here is a brief outline of Jean's methods from her SFSPCA handout:

Food Bowl Exercises

Standard Prevention Exercises for All Non-Guarding Dogs and Puppies

Resource guarding is a natural behaviour in dogs. Dogs in the wild go to a lot of trouble to find food, and it is no wonder that guarding is built into them. This behaviour is hard wired into your dog, and we must do a few exercises to teach him that it’s OK for us to touch his dinner or possessions.
A dog that guards his food or toys is not a dominant dog. One of the rules of dogdom is that possession is 9/10ths of the law. Any dog, regardless of rank, is entitled to an object until he is done with it…then it is up for grabs. This is the principle your dog will work on unless you teach him otherwise. Here is a simple program for teaching your dog that sharing is cool!
This exercise is also a maintenance spot check for former guarders.

Signs of Guarding

• Accelerated eating
• Cessation of eating/”freezing up”
• Glassy or hard eyes
• Growling
• Lip lifting
• Snapping
• Biting

Rehab Exercise 1

1) At mealtime, put down empty food dish
2) Approach dog and empty dish and add a few pieces of kibble
3) Withdraw and repeat until entire meal fed in this manner
4) If dog guards, end meal-time: “too bad”
5) Feed 2-3 meals this way
6) On 4th meal, gradually begin to reduce the time between approaches and
increase the amount of kibble per installment so that overlap develops: dog is
eating while you re-fill
7) When you have reached the point that you are giving meal in 2-3 installments
without any guarding, switch to bonus-addition, as per prevention instructions
above (adding bonus while eating and removing bowl to add bonus)

Rehab Exercise 2

1) Approach dog while eating to “safety distance” (pre-guarding distance) and flip
bonus at bowl (don’t worry about accuracy), repeating several times in a row
2) Do this for 2-3 meals
3) On 4th meal, decrease distance slightly after first flip
4) If successful (no guarding), continue gradually decreasing distance until you can
approach bowl and drop bonus in
5) Switch to prevention exercises

To Justbreeder

Wow! And thank you!

You named yourself "breeder" and then said you only have 3 dogs. Did you really breed this dog yourself? If not my the best piece of advice I can give you is CALL THE BREEDER! Forget whatever anyone else here has told you - start with the breeder of the dog.