Article
Four
Food
Protection
As a young
Dog Trainer I used to believe that protection of a
dog's feed was a natural trait and one that could
be lived with. Time passed however and now I realize
how wrong I was. Possession of any item by a dog is
a direct challenge on the owner, possibly the most
common and dangerous form of possession is that of
the feed or feed bowl.
The dog by
being aggressive when you go to get its bowl, with
or without feed in, is saying to you that the item
is his and you do not have the right or status to
remove it from him. As in the pack the senior dogs
eat first followed by those of lower ranks, if however
the Alpha leader decided he was hungry again he would
not tolerate a junior showing him aggression, he would
chase the junior off until he had his fill. This principle
should also be expected in the household, you as Alpha
leader should be able to take the dogs bowl and feed
as and when you like and not expect any sign of aggression
at all. Even a growl must be regarded as a challenge
and the dog must be immediately rebuked and the feed
bowl removed for a short period.
If you do
have a possession problem then nip it in the bud before
it goes to far, which it will. Try approaching the
dog when it has feed in its bowl, if the dog shows
no sign of aggression remove the bowl praise the dog
and return it to him. Do not do this every day but
once in a while especially with a young dog until
you are confident you can remove the bowl at any time
you wish. If your dog is aggressive then rebuke him
verbally and remove the bowl, again give the bowl
back but make him sit first and tell him when he can
have it. If the dog has a real, aggression problem,
by this I mean he would bite you if you tried to remove
his bowl, then try replacing his feed with a complete
dry type. This has in certain cases reduced the guarding
instinct as the food tends to be a bit more bland
than fresh or tinned food. Give the dog his food little
but often so the dog see's you approach his bowl but
rather than remove it you give him a small amount.
At the same time you must put into operation the techniques
of rank restructuring I have describe in previous
columns.
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This article
was written by Paul C Bunker, a professional dog trainer.
You can visit the website at www.Southwestk9services.com for more articles and
dog training resources. You may freely distribute
this article or save to any electronic media as long
as it is left intact, including this copyright box.
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