This is a recent question I received from a reader of my website:
Question: My boyfriend and I have a 9 month old Akita/Chocolate Lab mix who weighs about 42 lbs. We got him when he was 8 weeks old and have spent a lot of time training him. He can sit, lay down, stay, dance…very clever dog.
The major issue at hand (there are other minor ones) is this: This morning, I asked Jackson to sit, stay a few feet away while I got his breakfast ready -like every morning and evening. I called him over to eat while I held his bowl in my hand. We’ve been working with him to not be so defensive over his food. He gulps it down without even chewing. He ate calmly, chewed his food, and was relaxed. I set his bowl down to let him eat and I stroked his head. He was fine. I grasped him by his shoulders and slid him backwards away from his food… he absolutely lost it! He snarled, snapped at me (he missed) so I swatted him. He snapped at me one last time I took his food away and kenneled him.
After sharing this with my boyfriend (who did not witness this), he was very upset and feels Jackson may need to be put down for fear of being untrustworthy. I, however, do not feel that it necessary and would like to work to overcome this. Jackson has done this once or twice before when he was a few months old (always toward my boyfriend - not me) as well as once with a raw hide when we took it away.
Can anything be done? What do you suggest?
Answer: Food aggression is obviously a very serious issue and I would strongly recommend you look into hiring an experienced trainer that knows how to deal with this type of issue. In the meantime here are several steps to helping you fix food aggression:
1- Hand feed your dog for the time being. This is annoying. This is gross. But this can also be very helpful. It forms a very real link between you and your dog and helps the dog understand that food comes from you. Hand feeding helps your dog look to you as the source of life. For many dogs this isn’t necessary but for a dog like yours he needs to understand that a proper relationship means dependence on you.
2- Gain dominance. Dominance is not something you can force on a dog. Using proper obedience training techniques, though, you can show your dog that it is good to be submissive. Now, you mentioned in your email that your dog obeys some commands. How reliable is he? There is a difference between a dog obeying because there might be a treat or obeying because of sound training techniques. Treat training does not help you earn respect. It is important that your dog obeys, even if there is no treat involved, even if there are distractions involved. What that means is that your dog needs to stay even when someone knocks on the door, come when called even when he wants to chase a cat, sit even when he is feeling aggressive. When you attain this level of obedience you will also have achieved a high level of respect. A dog that has respect for you would never think of showing aggression to his owner.
3- Use proper corrections. It doesn’t work to ‘ground’ a dog by putting him in his kennel. This may work with kids, but not with dogs. At times when you feel like your dog is prone to show aggression I would have him on a leash and training collar. As he shows aggression give him a few firm corrections as you tell him no. I wouldn’t hit or use your hands to correct. This makes the correction too emotional and bully-ish to the dog. Any correction should be free of emotion so that the behavior itself, and not an angry owner, has a negative consequence.
Good luck.
