Collect Questions

Hi

Last night I gave Buster a bone and he took it to his bed and was having a good chomp i went over and stroked his head and he growled at me showing teeth and all sorts he looked evil, obssesed by this bone and i was quite scared by this. I called OH who marched in and took the bone off him.

Should I be worried?

He has done this once before and agin when he had a bone. he does not do it when its his normal dinner as i have made a point of him not having aggression over food, learnt about it on Animal Planet.




A bone to a dog is a high valued food (a bit like a curry is to me ) and he may of thought that when you were stroking him that you were going to take it away (Id be a bit grumpy if I thought you were going to take my food away from me ).

Your OH marching in and taking the bone of him may well make him guard his food even more, if you want to take his bone away you need to give him back somthing else, normally of higher value, which to a lot of dogs a bone is as high as it goes

I personally don't give bones to my dogs becasue I know there would be no chance in hell of me getting of them if I really needed to ie choking.

Shadowboxer will be able to provide you with some more tips and advice.




hi there i wouldnt be too worried my dogs dont do it to me but they do to each other..




thanks



to be honest i was shocked more than anyuthing as he is my cute baby but looked very scarey!



yopur right tho if anyone took my food i would go nuts! i love me food so definately not a good thing to do to me!




Hi Buster yes this can turn into a problem and should be checked now.

It is natural for dogs to guard food, in the wild they would not know when to expect the next meal so value what they have obtained. As Stephanie says do not take the treat away but exchange it for another high value toy or treat..if there is a problem don't give bones to Buster. Also he needs to learn that all food comes from you and with your permission so a little NILIF training may help....link here, there is also a good section on food guarding in the link if you can cope with the american presentation.

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Great link Mini, must admit every now and again I will take my dogs food from them just so they know I provide them with it but I can also take it away




NILIF training as Mini has recommended is absolutely brilliant, it's worth the read, and believe me there is alot to read but you do end up reaping the rewards if you stick with it

This training has been our saviour alongside Shadowboxer's advice of course

Highly recommended




I can't add anything to the good advice already given. I can only reiterate that bones, or food of any kind, are very high value resources. It is unwise to take away a bone just to prove that you can do it. This may very well lead to even more determined guarding. The dog needs to be rewarded with something of equal or higher value for giving up his treasured possession. It is, of course, not always possible in all circumstances to reward the giving up, but once your dog has learned to trust you around his food then the odd occasion when he has to give up something disgusting or dangerous that he has scavenged for no reward will not destroy the trust.

Have two or three bones and play swaps. Once the dog has learned that releasing his bone to you doesn't mean that he will never see it again then you can progress to asking 'give' of just one bone. When he surrenders it praise like mad and give the bone back. If you need to permanently remove the bone then exchange it for something else of high value.

Do not reprimand the dog for growling at you. He is doing you the courtesy of warning you that he is not happy. If you suppress this warning by punishment of any kind then the dog will learn that warning is bad - and then may skip this preliminary and go straight into 'bite'




Some good advice already given to you - I make sure there isn't anything I cannot take off Ozzy and have done so with him from an early age, bones included.

I wouldn't stop giving him a bone just because of this behaviour, as said you can train it out of him, it just takes time and persistance. You will get there in the end.