Not to hijack this thread too badly I hope, but I’ve seen animal rescue shows and the like that talk about how if I dog can’t be rehabilitated to the point where it doesn’t snap at someone pulling its food away, it isn’t considered fit. Now, I know that ideally dogs would be calm and not attack anyone for any reason, but is this really so unusual? I know that you can train that behavior out of many dogs, but it seems to me that you’re overcoming one of the dog’s deepest instincts: to be protective of its food.
I know there are situations where you need to get food away from your dog, and I’ve dealt with those. But for the most part, I grew up thinking that unless you had to, you didn’t mess with a dog eating. If my dog never reacted badly at any other points in her life, was she really an “unfit” dog?
(note that of course with small children in a house you need a dog that won’t react badly to any situation, ear pulling and food taking included)
What I’m noticing is involuntary forward creeping of the left leg perhaps to the point of pain and the dog reacting in a frustrating way to relieve the “cramp”.
Some sort of neurological disorder in my books like tourette syndrome.
With so many, many abandoned pets, throw-aways, and feral litters, even a little food or toy aggression is good reason to label the animal as unfit for adoption. Ideally, one doesn’t mess with a dog while it is eating, but you should be able to safely take anything from your pet at any time.
I regularly mess with my dogs while they are eating. Just to make sure they remember I can. The female is so well trained, I can say “What do you have in your mouth?” and her mouth will open and she’ll drop it on the floor. I’ll lean over and look, see its just a kibble, and say “Thats okay, you can eat it” and she’ll pick it back up and keep chewing.
I think they have to be trained out of food aggression, just to live in the house. We don’t want to be fighting over the food bowl, the garbage can, someone’s sock…
They say with puppies you should should put your fingers through their kibble, to put your scent all over it, and while they eat, touch their bowl, take it away, give it back, etc. Same with bones, chew toys.
I did this with my dog when he was a puppy and I can still do it today.
