We have had a bad experience recently were our dog bit someone causing some damage on their arm. We had left the dog with family when we had gone away on holiday, so feel really bad about what has happened. We thought that maybe he felt anxious as 'his pack' had left him for the week, but we have done this in the past and he has been fine. The dog has never bitten/caused damage before. He has been known to nip or mouth, although we have been trying to stop this.
Over the last year the dog has started to get more and more possessive over his food and toys. He is happy to take food from my hand and play games, but if we put his food bowl on the floor then he will dive at it and inhale the food as fast as he can, whilst growling and barking if we go anywhere near him. Similar with toys, if he thinks we are going to take them away then he will rush at the toys and growl.
Obviously we are really worried that he has now caused an injury to someone. Has anyone got any advice on how to stop him being so possessive?
Food/toy guarding and biting
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: Food/toy guarding and biting
Unfortunately you don't know what led up to your dog biting, dogs don't bite for nothing, he felt threatened enough to defend himself, which is probably why he bit. You will never know what the true story is. Does he growl when he isn't happy about something? If he does this is the signal to back away, you are not giving in to him but keeping yourself safe, it is when this warning growl is ignored that dogs learn to bite. Growling is communication, your dog is talking to you telling you he is very unhappy with what you are doing, unfortunately many people punish their dogs for this so the dog stops the warning, the first thing that the person knows the dog is unhappy is when he bites.
As to the guarding, are you sure that your dog isn't teased with food and toys when you are away?
For the toys you need to do a swop for a toy that is worth higher to him, also give him a command when you do the swop. This command must be a new one, he will learn quicker than changing the use of a word he already knows.
Food guarding is easy if you feed kibble, just put a little in his bowl, when he has eaten it walk past dropping a little more in, do this until all his food has gone. What you are doing is changing his idea of what happens when someone approaches him, instead of worrying about his food being taken away, he starts to look forward to you approaching because you are giving him food. This may take several days but will work, it worked for my Greyhound and he was terrible with food guarding when he first came.
As to the guarding, are you sure that your dog isn't teased with food and toys when you are away?
For the toys you need to do a swop for a toy that is worth higher to him, also give him a command when you do the swop. This command must be a new one, he will learn quicker than changing the use of a word he already knows.
Food guarding is easy if you feed kibble, just put a little in his bowl, when he has eaten it walk past dropping a little more in, do this until all his food has gone. What you are doing is changing his idea of what happens when someone approaches him, instead of worrying about his food being taken away, he starts to look forward to you approaching because you are giving him food. This may take several days but will work, it worked for my Greyhound and he was terrible with food guarding when he first came.
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Re: Food/toy guarding and biting
Dogs bite for a lot of reasons. They bite because they may be sick or in pain. A vet exam should rule out any causes for aggressive behavior due to medical issues. Dogs bite because they get overly excited. Many love to play and they obviously don’t realize they can’t play like you do. They grab things with their teeth and claws. Dogs bite when they are fearful. Loud noises and quick movements can scare them. (your dog was in a strange place and you weren’t there at that exact moment, so you probably will never know what caused him to bite right then). Dogs bite when they are protecting “property” i.e. toys, food, their bed etc. ……(which is called resource guarding). Regardless of why the dog bit someone, he probably displayed some kind of warning sign which went undetected or was interpreted incorrectly by your pet sitters.
It’s a good thing that you recognize you have a problem, because a dog biting someone is serious and you are liable for your dogs’ behavior. More importantly it’s obvious that you are looking for direction. A vet exam can rule out any underlying medical causes. A certified positive dog trainer can help you with desensitizing and counter conditioning techniques used to treat fear or aggression. There are a few things you can do in the interim. First, spend $20 bucks and get Victoria’s DVD on past episodes of IMOTD. There are many shows that have wonderful examples on different types of aggression and how to handle it. You could be waiting weeks to see re-runs on TV depending where you live. Like the post before this one suggests, the DVD will how Victoria slow adds food into the dogs bowl. You can also watch her trade a resource (toy) for a greater reward (a piece of steak or chicken). Watching someone demonstrate the techniques is often more beneficial than reading. Secondly, cease all punishment crating, yelling etc will not help. Dog bites are serious, so get some professional help. You might want to post a few Beware of Dog signs too. Hope this helps a little bit.
It’s a good thing that you recognize you have a problem, because a dog biting someone is serious and you are liable for your dogs’ behavior. More importantly it’s obvious that you are looking for direction. A vet exam can rule out any underlying medical causes. A certified positive dog trainer can help you with desensitizing and counter conditioning techniques used to treat fear or aggression. There are a few things you can do in the interim. First, spend $20 bucks and get Victoria’s DVD on past episodes of IMOTD. There are many shows that have wonderful examples on different types of aggression and how to handle it. You could be waiting weeks to see re-runs on TV depending where you live. Like the post before this one suggests, the DVD will how Victoria slow adds food into the dogs bowl. You can also watch her trade a resource (toy) for a greater reward (a piece of steak or chicken). Watching someone demonstrate the techniques is often more beneficial than reading. Secondly, cease all punishment crating, yelling etc will not help. Dog bites are serious, so get some professional help. You might want to post a few Beware of Dog signs too. Hope this helps a little bit.
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whenhoundsfly
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Re: Food/toy guarding and biting
Feed the dog in his crate with the door closed to manage the situation. This is always a good idea anyways for many different, unrelated reasons.
With respect to being possessive of toys, practice trading for high value food frequently. Once the food is taken, return the toy. Repeat over and over again. The dog learns that giving up the toy results in a primary reinforcer AND the return of the guarded object - a win-win! If you repeated that 20 times, and only on the 21st time did the toy finally go away, the odds are always in the dog's favor to give up the toy. Randomize the # of repetitions you practice or else they'll anticipate the 21st time is the time the toy goes away.
If the dog is over threshold he may ignore the food or even take the food so roughly as to hurt your feeding hand. In that case, use a lower value resource/toy and work your way up to his prized possessions over time.
Never force an object from your dog's mouth as it just confirms he was right to guard it in the first place.
With respect to being possessive of toys, practice trading for high value food frequently. Once the food is taken, return the toy. Repeat over and over again. The dog learns that giving up the toy results in a primary reinforcer AND the return of the guarded object - a win-win! If you repeated that 20 times, and only on the 21st time did the toy finally go away, the odds are always in the dog's favor to give up the toy. Randomize the # of repetitions you practice or else they'll anticipate the 21st time is the time the toy goes away.
If the dog is over threshold he may ignore the food or even take the food so roughly as to hurt your feeding hand. In that case, use a lower value resource/toy and work your way up to his prized possessions over time.
Never force an object from your dog's mouth as it just confirms he was right to guard it in the first place.
