Dog Growling .......

[Geo]

So my Gf's dog has now started to growl when getting fed. I put her food down in her bowl, then go to clap her to say good girl. And she'l start to growl and lean in towards me.

 

I know some of you guys/girls are ino there dogs just wondering if you have any idea's??

 

She is a 2 year old Dalmation, who has not been Dressed..

 

cheers

[hiten55]

i have no idea but im intrigued as to what people will think about the situation....?

[mr keef]

food envy id seek some pro training..sometimes it starts when they are fighting for food in the litter..happens sometimes when you give them a treat they will take it then growl if you go near them..its best to try and nip this in the bud..some people say take there food off them and give them it back after 2 mins and so on until they stop growling...i wouldnt do this myself...some people give them a tiny amount..when they finish they will look at you for more...so give them more...and so on so they realise they are comming to you for food and become less aggressive..

[Geo]

food envy id seek some pro training..sometimes it starts when they are fighting for food in the litter..happens sometimes when you give them a treat they will take it then growl if you go near them..its best to try and nip this in the bud..some people say take there food off them and give them it back after 2 mins and so on until they stop growling...i wouldnt do this myself...some people give them a tiny amount..when they finish they will look at you for more...so give them more...and so on so they realise they are comming to you for food and become less aggressive..

 

Interesting dude, yeah we've been doing the taking the food off her trick, but still no joy. might try the small amount first then give her osme more.

[grahamc]

Mine (2x GSDs) have never done that, but I did a lot to stop it when they were puppies. Things like:

patting them while eating

taking the bowls away while eating

rubbing there heads while eating

 

On side note... my one cat used to growl when she ate.... odd

[Geo]

Mine (2x GSDs) have never done that, but I did a lot to stop it when they were puppies. Things like:

patting them while eating

taking the bowls away while eating

rubbing there heads while eating

On side note... my one cat used to growl when she ate.... odd

 

this is when she's at her worst dude

[Chris Wilson]

Spend an hour or so on this site, in all the years we have kept livestock guarding dogs I have yet to find better info. http://www.leerburg.com It can be time consuming to correct, and you need to get sound info before trying. Basically the dog is vying for pack leadership. You need to turn it around so you and your family are pack leaders and the dog is subordinate. It's not difficult as such, but you need patience and persistence, and that's easier said than done sometimes.

 

The basis of the Leerburg training philosophy is here:

 

http://www.chriswilson.tv/dogtraining.mp3

 

His site has pages of superb info, or you can buy his DVD's. Bear in mind a lot of his stuff is specialised protection dog training, which is NOT what you want to be doing!! Pick out the general dog training stuff.

[Supra Size Me]

This may or may not work but is worth a try:

 

You said you put the food down into the bowl for her, instead of putting the food down to her pick up her bowl and prepare the food on the kitchen work suface in front of her. Assuming you're using dry food try mixing in a couple of mini cocktail sausages or some other treat (sparingly) make sure you mix them in by hand so that your scent is all over the food. After prep is finished make her sit and hold the sit while you place the bowl on the floor. Only allow her to go to the bowl to feed if she has held the sit and waited patiently for some 5-10 seconds with the food 2-3 ft in front of her (if necessary stand in the way to say that you own the food and are dominant over her until you decide she can eat and has behaved correctly and patiently waited for your "go on then" command) make sure the "go on then" is done with a happy reward type voice you use for positive behaviour.

 

Try it for a week or so and you should see results, if not ask yourself if there are any things you allow her to do that makes her feel she is higher up in the pack pecking order than she actually is. worst for this are things like letting your dog sleep on your bed/sofa etc

 

HTH

[nick_karkie]

pretty similar to some other suggestions. It is easy to make your dog stop growling when food is about. When you put the food down make sure your dog is sitting and waiting patiently, then as she approaches the food you will stand between her and the food and gradually creep towards her making her back away (showing her that you are the pack leader and that the food is your possession), the step away from the food and repeat this step if she goes for the food again.

 

You then have to get a broom, while she is eating push the broom close to the food, if she goes for it then do not withdraw, hold it there until she realises that she will not win and backs down, you cant use your hands because if she bites you will automatically withdraw your hand, hence the exercise of dominance is defeated as you have backed down. You must do this repeatedly until she does not react to the broom approaching the food. One more thing, have patience.

[scotty71]

Hang a raw sausage from you chops and get the dog to take it gently. If you get bitten you will know the dog is boss and you have failed

[jagman]

The top dog always eats first , so you eat or even pretend to eat and the dog must wait until you offer it food ..... this can lead to a lot of drool but after time the dog realises that it is down the pack order , and thats where they should be

Around 2 years old dogs like to try to increase their pack position

[Nic]

Basically the dog is vying for pack leadership. You need to turn it around so you and your family are pack leaders and the dog is subordinate.

 

Absolutely, the dog needs to know it's place in your pack ie. bottom of the pecking order. These problems can occur when the dog is treated as though it's another person rather than a dog, eg. allowed on the furniture/bed, indulged, mollycoddled, etc.

 

You need to calmly take control of the situation and set boundaries/rules. As already suggested, get the dog to sit, stay and wait for you to give her the food, only when she does what you say and is calm should she be reward her with her food.

[Geo]

Nice one guys, gona give this a try. And see how it goes thanks for all the replys. Ta.

 

How can a 15st guy fail at controlling a 3st dog???

 

Dog 1

Geo 0

 

Geo 1

Dog booted in the Fanjita.

[supra steveo]

another one i seen someone do is if you are taking the dog through a door make the dog sit then walk through the door first then tell the dog to come through the door it seems a little extreme to me but ive never had a dog ive got a soon to be ex-wife ......... does she count

[Lauren R]

This could either be fear or dominence - it's hard to tell which. I would recommend speaking to a vet or behaviourist. One thing is to make sure you are always present when she's eating, be in the room so it reinforces the ideas above that you have possesion of the food and are giving it to her. Preparing the food on front of her is a good idea as mentioned, as is making her work for the food as people suggested. You could also try putting extra tasty food in her bowl while she's eating so she can see she has nothing to fear about you being close to her food - sometimes taking the food away can make them even more possessive if this is more about fear than dominence. These worked on my dog when she was a pup. Take care though, every dog is different as I'm sure you know.

[Harry Sachs]

Nice one guys, gona give this a try. And see how it goes thanks for all the replys. Ta.

 

How can a 15st guy fail at controlling a 3st dog???

 

Dog 1

Geo 0

 

Geo 1

Dog booted in the Fanjita.

 

All that time in the gym, all that flexing, and you get owned by a Dalmation.

 

Respect = Right oot the windy.

 

What a big poof

[aman00123]

Most of the advice here is right, just the dog attempting to say you're it's b**ch! My dog tried this and was promptly put in his place, now I still make him sit whilst I get his food ready and wait until I say before he's allowed to touch it. This will help with overall behaviour not just feed time as it will put the dog in it's place in the pecking order, as other members have said

[JustGav]

Absolutely, the dog needs to know it's place in your pack ie. bottom of the pecking order. These problems can occur when the dog is treated as though it's another person rather than a dog, eg. allowed on the furniture/bed, indulged, mollycoddled, etc.

 

You need to calmly take control of the situation and set boundaries/rules. As already suggested, get the dog to sit, stay and wait for you to give her the food, only when she does what you say and is calm should she be reward her with her food.

 

Another vote of support for this method. Ours sit outside the kitchen while food is prepared, on the odd occasion they step over the threshold, we stop doing their food and walk off, they soon get back over the door line. Bowl goes down and once we are happy are they allowed to begin. I know some people believe that only one alpha should feed them, however we have taken an alternative approach, and we all take turns (kids and the wife), and they all follow the same procedure even my 9 yr old boy.

 

The good thing is our 9 year old is a) not scared of dogs and b) isn't afraid of raising his voice with them to get their attention or even taking the bone from the GSD and she doesn't even blink when he does. The ultimate alpha is Mel purely because she is at home a bit more with them so it makes sense for her to take that role. The dogs needless to say do as they are told (mind you, so do I )

 

The other thing we do is push the dogs away from the door when there is a knock, they can bark initially to let us know, but then they move away and we open the door without them coming to the door (This one is a bit tricker as they do sometimes come forward, but they are soon pushed back)

 

Going on a bit here now, but I've had postive experiences with the GSDs I've had, and they can be funny sods. The old man (the GSD we had prior to our bitch now), was originally a guard dog, and then just abandoned at 7. We got him and he was thin as a rake and had a dodgy stomach, but I sort of expected that initially, it never got better though.

 

BUT he had some interesting behavioural habits that kept surfacing. Food wise he was fine, that was never an issue, but he was obviously so used to being left on his own and being his own alpha he struggled with that. For the first two years about every 3 months he would challenge me (and only me which was odd, we put it down to an assumption that his original maltreater had been male and the female had been the protector). It would be a fair argument with him snarling and me getting a swipe in across his chops, he did get me a few times, and got a smack for it, but once that was done he would sheepishly come over and be fine for the next however long. Once he finally accepted his role below the family (and he became a much happier dog, to the point that he 'regained' some of his youth and began playing again, something he didn't seem to understand at first) he had the best 5 years he ever had we reckon, fattened up a bit (still had a dodgy stomach bless him), and on the final night he walked round to each family member and spent 10 minutes with them with his head on their lap. Needless I knew the sight I would see the next morning, but still didn't prepare me totally. He now takes pride and place in our bedroom, purely because he used to enjoy his once a month sunday lie on the bed which was his treat as he wasn't allowed upstairs.

 

So in my mind there is usually hope for most behavioural problems