Food aggression - a common problematic behavior
Food aggression in dogs
What is food aggression?
When the dog becomes defensive while having his food or chewing a treat, it is called food guarding or food aggression. It can also generally be resource guarding, which includes more than just food, such as toys, other dogs and even humans. The dog feels concerned about his resource beeing taken away or having to share it.
What can be the cause of food aggression?
Insecurity - feeling the need of controlling things
Changes of environment - Visitors, a new baby, a new companion, change of feed place
Competition for resources
General fear and lack of ability to cope with the environment
What can we do about it?
Give the dog a safe environment
Leave the dog alone when eating
Make sure he is not constantly hungry
Keep children away
What we must NOT do:
Pet the dog
Try to remove the food bowl
Put your finger into the food bowl
Punish the dog
Treat search
Being food aggressive is every stressful for your dog (and you). You need to help your dog to get a good assosiation about food to solve this problem.
You have different options, like changing the feeding place to give your dog more peace, leave the room and/or close the door. Stand in a distance and make sure nobody will disturb your dog while eating. There are many more and how to be applied depends on each indiviual situation and setup.
When the dog becomes defensive while having his food or chewing a treat, it is called food guarding or food aggression. It can also generally be resource guarding, which includes more than just food, such as toys, other dogs and even humans. The dog feels concerned about his resource beeing taken away or having to share it.
What can be the cause of food aggression?
Insecurity - feeling the need of controlling things
Changes of environment - Visitors, a new baby, a new companion, change of feed place
Competition for resources
General fear and lack of ability to cope with the environment
What can we do about it?
Give the dog a safe environment
Leave the dog alone when eating
Make sure he is not constantly hungry
Keep children away
What we must NOT do:
Pet the dog
Try to remove the food bowl
Put your finger into the food bowl
Punish the dog
Treat search
Being food aggressive is every stressful for your dog (and you). You need to help your dog to get a good assosiation about food to solve this problem.
You have different options, like changing the feeding place to give your dog more peace, leave the room and/or close the door. Stand in a distance and make sure nobody will disturb your dog while eating. There are many more and how to be applied depends on each indiviual situation and setup.
