5 Food Aggression Exercises - positive reinforcement
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Here are five exercises to do to help fix mild cases of food aggression in dogs. Food aggression is a lack of trust. The dog thinks that you are going to take away his/her food and guards it. It is best to deal with this problem in the beginning to prevent it from getting worse. You can use clicker training to build a positive association with you being around your dog's food.
Here is a list of the 5 exercises demonstrated in the video:
1) Ask for tricks and behaviors
2) Hand feeding
3) Trade game
4) Dropping treat in bowl while passing by
5) Handling exercise
Note: Be cautious when practicing exercises 3 and 4. Putting your hands near a dog with food aggression can be dangerous. Use good judgement and don't push the limits.
Caution: These exercises may not be safe to do with dogs who have more extreme cases of food aggression. Always be careful when working with a dog with food aggression. For more serious cases, contact a professional.
Never punish your dog for showing aggression in any way. Over time, punishing your dog can result in your dog who not showing warning signs before biting, creating a dangerous and unpredictable dog. It also creates fear and doesn't solve the behavior, it just suppresses it.
Dogs with mild cases of food aggression "freeze" with their head in their bowl, stop eating when their owners walk by or growl. If your dog shows any signs of biting or lashing out, seek help from a professional trainer and do not attempt the exercises in the video.
Additional tips:
I have a movie on my main YT channel, ClickerPets, that may also help with mild cases of food aggression. It is a fun, mentally stimulating puzzle game that involves the dog's meal. It is called the Triple Cup Kibble Challenge. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrgXgTMEkTQ
When you don't have time to work with your dog during his/her meal, you can use prevention so your dog doesn't end up showing aggression and practicing this behavior. Here are some tips:
1) Feed your dog little amounts throughout the day
2) Give your dog a Kong with his/her food in it
3) If you have a young puppy, take away his/her food and give it back with something better, like cream cheese, peanut butter, yogurt, cottage cheese - this creates a positive response in the beginning, setting a good foundation and preventing food aggression
4) With very young puppies, dangle your hand in their food. Do not use this techinque for dogs who already have food aggression
5) Make a "Peanut Butter Cup" for your dog. Click the video link below to see how you can make one for your dog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdPU6v1_4o
For dog-to-dog food aggression:
The exercise in Kikopup's video on teaching a dog its name can help with dog-to-dog food aggression because her exercise teaches the dogs to be calm and patient while the other dog is fed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwPPIxC0J5s
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.