Food Guarding
Before
beginning any kind of behavior modification program take your dog
to a veterinarian for a complete physical examination. To treat
any kind of behavior problem without first ruling out a physical
cause is grossly unfair to the dog. Take a printed copy of this
page with you and get your vet's opinion on whether this
technique would be appropriate for you and your dog. Aggression
is something that is best handled in person, by a professional.
The causes of aggressive behavior in dogs are many and varied and
there are many different types of aggression. This technique is
designed for dogs that are in good physical health and of sound
mind and stable temperament that are exhibiting signs of
aggression only when guarding their food.
Food
is an issue over which sub-dominant dogs will argue with more
dominant dogs. If, in the wild, dogs gave up their food to anyone
(even higher ranking dogs) they'd soon starve to death. Most of
the time lower ranking dogs will wait for the higher ranking ones
to get their fill, then they will eat. Sometimes not. Sometimes a
lower ranking dog will fight for his share of the food, but will
approach the higher ranking thief afterward with lip licks and
much sorrow for having acted that way. He's not really sorry, but
he doesn't want to get his butt kicked, he just wants to eat his
own food. The fights happen most often over small kills. Imagine
that you've not eaten for days and then you catch a rabbit or a
mouse. Just as you and your grumbling belly are settling down for
the feast your brother comes along and tries to take it away from
you. Normally you'd be very respectful to your relatives, but you're
very hungry! Your dog doesn't have the experience of hunting for
his food, or being hungry for days at a time, but he does have
all of the instincts and hard wired behaviors that come with all
of the basic drives, including resource guarding.
So, what we do with our pet dogs is teach them that they don't
have any food. We own the food and we not only let them have some
on a regular basis, but we make it pleasurable for them to
temporarily give up what we give them. There is no need to
frighten or intimidate your dog into giving you his food. You can
get him to voluntarily (and happily!) let you have anything you
want.
GROWLING
A growl is a warning. It means "stop what you're doing or
things could get ugly". Some dogs take years to work up the
confidence to actually follow through with a bite, others only
need a split second. Take all growls seriously, but don't punish
for them. The most you're going to accomplish by being aggressive
towards a growling dog is to teach him not to warn before a bite.
You might decrease his confidence enough that he won't bite
you now, but don't count on next time. The only way to use
aversives to permanently change behavior is by making the
aversive very strong and very severe. Not only is there no reason
to do that, it's not a humane or ethical way to change your dog's
behavior. The other thing that happens when you get aggressive
with a growling dog is that you add a negative to the presenting
situation and add additional fear to any subsequent situations.
In other words, you started with a dog that fears his food will
be taken away. By being aggressive towards him when he protects
his food you add additional fear that he'll be attacked for
protecting his food. The next food guarding situation that comes
up is going to be twice as nasty because there is double the fear
or anxiety.
By being aggressive towards him when he growls you're telling him
that he wasn't aggressive enough to ward off an attack. Dogs will
usually go out of their way to avoid conflict and keep
aggressions on a low level. Growling, as odd as it seems to
humans, is an attempt to avoid aggression; it's a warning that
things could get messy, so please back off. If the growling
doesn't work (he gets attacked and/or his food is taken from him)
he'll be the one to escalate the aggression the next time.
Unfortunately, the next time could be with someone else who is
taken by surprise and reports that the dog bit "without
warning and for no reason!".
Dogs aren't able to say, in words, "Hey! Don't do that! It
makes me afraid (or nervous, or anxious)". They use body
language and vocalization to get their ideas across. Think of
growling over food as your dog's way of saying "I am hard
wired to believe that if you take my food I will starve to death,
please don't push me into a fight over it". Your answer is
going to be "No problem! I am going to take control of this
situation and change your mind and make you want to give up your
food".
Practice this technique one step at a time. Be patient. You might
be singing the first verse for days or you might be able to get
to the second verse in one sitting. Don't rush it. The slower you
go, the more permanent the change in behavior is going to be.
Even if it takes weeks or months to get to verse three, that's a
very short time compared to the next 10 years or so of living
with a dog that you can trust not to injure someone over food.
If your dog seems to tense up or you have any inkling at all that
he could bite you during any part of these exercises, don't do
it. I don't know your dog as well as you do. This technique is
designed for dogs who are basically well behaved and don't have dominance confusion issues -- in other
words, the ones who are growling only because they are food
possessive.
THE
DOGGIE FOOD RAGTIME BLUES
First verse:
Start with a hungry dog. Give him a small breakfast and work at
dinner time or delay his meal until he's hungry. Put just a few
pieces of kibble in the bowl. Have the dog sit, then put the bowl
down and walk away. (The "sit" part is important.)
Chorus:
When he's done he'll come looking for you to ask "Hey! Can I
have more of that please, huh? Can I?" and you'll say
"Of course!! You are such a goooood dog!"
Second verse:
Pick up his empty bowl, put a few more kibbles in there and tell
him to sit. When he does (don't tell him twice) put one hand on
his neck or back and with the other hand put the bowl down for
him. If he starts eating while you're still touching him, great!
Walk away.
Repeat chorus.
Third verse:
Pick up the bowl, put a little bit of food in it and remain
standing. Tell him to sit and hold the bowl out for him. If it's
a small dog you can squat down, but don't bend at the waist or
hover over him. Don't put the bowl down. He'll look at you as if
you're nuts. That's OK, since you're a dog person he's probably
right. If he's hesitant encourage him to eat while you're holding
the bowl. Praise softly while he's eating.
Repeat chorus (except he doesn't have
to find you, you're right there).
Fourth verse:
Put a few more kibbles in the bowl. Hold it out for him with one
hand and put your other hand on him in the same spot you did
during the second verse. How's he feeling? If he's just too
nervous to eat with your hand on him, remove it. If he's OK with
it let him finish while you're still touching him. Repeat this
verse as often as it takes for him to be comfortable with the
idea.
Fifth verse:
Put a few more pieces of kibble in your hand and put your hand in
the bowl. Hold the bowl with your other hand and have him eat
around your fingers.
Warning: You will have food crumbs mixed with dog spit all over
your fingers.
If all went well, alternate verses three through five, for half
of his meal, for as long as it takes for him to feel really
comfortable with the whole thing. For example, at one meal give
him half of his kibble while your fingers are in the bowl and the
rest he can eat by himself. For the next meal keep your hand on
his back or neck while he eats the first half, leave him alone
for the second half. It should take less than a week of doing
this for him to get the message that there is no need to guard
food. Don't make meal times a neurotic, unhappy time for either
of you. Take things slowly. Do only as much as you're both
comfortable with and make sure at least part of his meal time is
stress free. If you hit a stumbling block, go back to the level
where there was comfort and stay there for a few meals.
Now it's time for the glory hallelujah choir to take the stage.
You've been singing the first part of this song to teach him that
nothing bad happens when you're near his food. He's going to sing
along with you on this last verse because you'll be teaching him
that very wonderful things happen to dogs that willingly
surrender their food.
Final verse:
If all has been going well do exactly what you've been doing, but
now say his name while he's eating (to get him to look up), tell
him to "sit" and then toss something very yummy into
his bowl. Cheese or a piece of hot dog works well. Right before
you toss the yummy give your action a name. I say "yummy
time!" It will only take a few repetitions before saying
"yummy time!!" will result in your dog responding with
an automatic sit and pleading eyes that say: "Here ya go!
Take my bowl! I love yummies!!"
In case I forgot to mention it, he must sit for every meal and
every yummy. The reason the "sit" is important is that
we need to underscore the idea that you own all of the food in
the universe and he has to do something for you to get some.
When he has the hang of the word and the activity progress to
saying "yummy time!" and then placing it in the bowl,
don't toss it. When he's very comfortable with you putting your
hand in the bowl to add a yummy, begin removing the bowl to add
the yummy. Don't dawdle! We don't want to cause anxiety, we want
to teach him that if you take his bowl away you are going to
return it immediately with better stuff than he had before.
IMPORTANT: The yummy should be something that is
only eaten from his bowl and only appears during a meal. Don't
use something that he'd normally get as a hand delivered treat,
such as milk bones. The only way, the only time, he gets this
particular type of food is when he gives up his dinner to get it.
You can change yummies if you want, from cheese to roast beef,
for example, as long as the new yummy is not something you're
going to give him in any other context.
Congratulations! What you now have is a dog that has developed a
conditioned response to a verbal cue. It's the same principle of
learning that Pavlov proved with his bell. In an emergency
situation, such as a baby crawling toward your dog while he's
eating, all you need to do to avoid disaster is announce in a
happy voice "yummy time!". You may not have a yummy
readily available, but the cue, all by itself, will cause a
conditioned response in the dog that something very good is about
to happen. Get the baby first, then give the dog lots of yummies
and tons of praise. A wonderful side effect of this is that he
may readily assume that a child near his food means extra special
rewards. Don't test or train for this though, it's not worth the
risk. As soon as the baby is safely removed from the area, and
the dog is enjoying his well deserved yummy bonanza, get a rolled
up newspaper and smack yourself severely while repeating "I
will never leave a dog and child unattended".
As far as strangers, children, etc., are concerned, my position
is that my dog is entitled to eat his dinner in peace, so I train
the humans instead. But, I still want a dog that will tolerate
the clueless among us. A good thing to do with kids is to have
the kids feed the dog little treats once in a while, but the dog
has to "down" for these, not sit. This will teach him
that even children are owners of the world's food supply and that
submission to children is a good thing.
FUN
STUFF TO DO TO GIVE YOUR DOG HAPPY FOOD THOUGHTS
Now that the food issue is resolved, it's time to have some real
fun!
1. There is no reason why your dog has to eat out of a bowl. Try
tossing his kibble into the yard or on the porch. He'll enjoy
hunting for each piece.
2. Sit comfortably and watch your favorite TV program while you
toss one kibble at a time down the hallway or up in the air for
him to catch in his mouth.
3. Got some old rags laying around? Wrap his meal in an old
T-shirt or towel (make lots of knots!) and let him dig and tear
his way to his food. If you think your dog might swallow pieces
of cloth, use a margarine container or a cardboard box. If your
dog is one of those that has no limits to the inedible things
he'll
swallow, forget this idea completely!
4. Stuff a Kong toy with his dinner so he has to shake it and
roll it to get it all to come out.
5. Divide his meal into four portions. Have him sit/stay out of
your sight, or put him in the bathroom and then hide the
portions. You can put one under a table, another behind a chair,
another under a magazine or newspaper -- look around -- where are
the good hiding places?? When you're done hiding his food call
him (or go get him) and tell him "find it" and give him
a hint about where the first hidden treasure can be found. If he
needs help, show him the other places too. When he's found them
all say "good dog!" or "all done" or
something that means the game (and dinner) is over.
You know your dog! Use your imagination to take activities you
already know he likes and turn them into fun food activities.
©1998 Debbie McKean
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02/22/06
