Hello, I don't agree in free feeding I have seen too many dogs gain weight that way. And it is hard to get them back on a schedule. I started implementing 3 small meals a day instead of 2. I will try the food in bowl and eat it first. We do eat first before him cause we know he had some alpha issues. But my question now is what do you do when he does Growl. I don't feel comfortable grabbing his snout cause he might bite me. Someone had told me that so he doesn't associate growling with winning his food to cover his food with a box since grabbing the food bowl might mean a bite. WE started doing this two days ago and he seems to be getting it a little bit. My boyfriend and I take turns on petting him. Any other suggestions as to what to do when the dog growls when you go to pet him while he's eating??
--- In [email protected], "Susan Hart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Food aggression is dominance. Heâs saying to you âIâm the boss, stay awayâ. You need to break this cycle. It can be very dangerous, especially to others who may want to give the dog a treat, etc. First and foremost, with this dog; do not âfree feedâ this will not solve aggressive behaviors. If heâs under a year you can feed him 3 small meals a day, or if over a year but still young 2 times daily. Free feeding is only good for dogs who donât have issues with food aggression and who are good at self regulation. In most breeds, free feeding can lead to obesity and the host of problems that come with that. > > > > You need to take possession of the food. It is YOUR food and you will share it with your dog. In dog packs, the leader always eats first! So, hereâs a simple and effective trick. Have some crackers in your hand or in the dog bowl. Call your dog over to eat. Have him sit and stay. Make sure he is aware of you holding his food bowel. Take your cracker from his bowl, eat it and say Yummy good food. So, this sets precedenceâ¦.you are the Pack Leader, you eat firstâ¦he has to respect that. Do that a couple of more times. Make him wait until you give the command âokâ or whatever word you want to let him know he can eat now. This needs to be repeated at every feeding by everyone who feeds him. All your immediate family including young children who are old enough, need to develop this routine. You can even put his bowel down and teach him to wait patiently. My puppy Mia has to sit and âshake â" give pawâ every time she wants to eat. In essence, she needs to work for it. The reward for this good behavior is the food! > > > > Hopefully, in a short time, you can ditch the âwe eat the cracker bitâ, call the dog to the food, have him sit, wait, and eat on your command. Once he has master that; and develops some respect for you, you (the adult only at first) can try to call the dog, pat him when heâs eating. Do not let the children do this until you are 100% certain he will not be aggressive. DO NOT play with or tease him with his food. This doesnât gain respect, it just kind of bullies him. Continue to offer treats by handâ¦make them enticing, like some real chicken or steak. Once again, make the dog sit, stay and then offer the chicken on your hand. > > > > For dogs who are showing aggression, you need to be firm and take a leadership role. Some dogs like mine are fairly subservient to begin with. Growling by dogs in general can mean a few things. One is potentially being frustrated and the other can be dominance. And a thirdâ¦can be overexcitement. Our dog Mia can growl when sheâs playing rough with a toy. Sheâs almost a year, and if she does it with me, I still grab her snout and tell her âNO BITEâ. So in our book, nipping, biting, growling are all the same. > > > > Lastly, donât make the mistake his former owners did. They likely didnât like him because he was growing up. It sounds like they never employed any consistent training, and then the dog developed some bad attributes. Donât feel sorry for him. You know heâs in a good home now and dogs live in the moment. It doesnât sound like he was abused (but who knows). Puppies and young dogs take a lot of work and most bad behaviors are the product of people who do not enforce limits and discipline. > > > > Let us know how it goes! We are still learning everyday â" and Mia is a ball of energy who constantly challenges us. At least two times a day, she sneaks down into our cubby where we keep the family shoes. She comes tearing through the kitchen (I swear with a smile on her face) to sayâ¦ha, ha, ha look what I can do. All I have to do is look her in the eye and say âNO SHOEâ and she drops it. Ok, she gives me those puppy eyes, and it would be so nice of me to let her have it, but that would defeat my ruleâ¦.you canât rip up our shoes. And no, donât give the dog his/her own shoes and expect sheâll know not to destroy others. Instead, I say âGET TOYâ and praise her and play with her for a minuteâ¦..the whole stealing the shoe thing is just a game and her way of getting attention. > > > > Keep us posted on Reilly. Heâs still young, he has a lot of learning potential! > > > > > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 10:13 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [cockapoo] Food Aggression > > > > Welcome Candy (?) > > > > This is what I was going to suggest. I don't have any other advice, I free feed my two cockapoos. The only problem I ever had is my two wanted each others food. Jasper was on puppy and Mandi on senior so I started feeding Jasper in his crate so they wouldn't switch dishes. I eventually put them both on regular, so they can switch as much as they want (which they do). Neither has ever growled at me. > > > > Sue, M, and J > > > > In a message dated 10/27/2008 7:58:23 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > i fed him by > hand for 2 weeks and he's fine, I have held the bowl and he's fine. > > > > > > _____ > > Play online games for FREE at Games.com! All of your favorites, no registration required and great graphics â" check <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1211202682x1200689022/aol? redir=%0d%0ahttp://www.games.com?ncid=emlcntusgame00000001> it out! > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cockapoo/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cockapoo/join (Yahoo! 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