How to Stop Food Agression in Dogs

To understand food aggression in dogs, you must also understand where the aggressive behavior comes from. Wanting to guard food is a natural instinct in dogs that has its roots in a dog's pack animal behavior. When another animal is perceived as a threat, a pack guards as a matter of survival. This instinct for food aggression in dogs is a part of every dog; it can triggered if your dog feels threatened while eating.

Once evidence of an aggression problem has surfaced, coping with food aggression in dogs can be extremely frustrating. This is why it's important to prevent food aggression before it has a chance to start. Here are a few effective and preventative measures:

As you set your dog's food bowl down, gently pet their fur. Then, just walk away and let your dog eat. This will build up your dog's trust, allowing your pet to become comfortable with another's presence during any mealtime. This is especially useful when your dog must accompany you on long trips or be temporarily boarded in a kennel.

When your dog is eating, approach its space and toss some sort of treat in the food bowl. It helps if the treat is tastier then the regular dog food. After doing this for a month or so, your dog will associate a person approaching the food bowl with positive consequences. This association greatly reduces instances of food aggression in dogs.

In some cases of food aggression in dogs, a dog will actively guard the room in which it eats. You can prevent this problem by feeding your dog in different locations around the home. This allows your dog comfort with eating anyplace.

If your dog has already developed tendencies towards food aggression, there are a number of ways to reverse this behavior. Here are two ideas to start you off:

Take away the dog's food bowl, or remove it from the floor between mealtimes. When your dog is hungry, then place the empty food bowl onto the floor. Once the dog realizes that there's nothing in the food bowl, it will then turn to you. Just walk over to his food bowl, place a small amount of food inside, then move away a few feet. When your dog finishes, return, placing another small amount of food in the bowl. Repeat these steps until your dog has finished eating, then remove the food bowl until the next mealtime.

If your dog has become overly protective of the actual food bowl, then you must take take the bowl away completely. Feed your dog by hand. Once your dog has grown comfortable with this, you should then have it eat from your hand as it is held directly over the food bowl. This will allow you to reintroduce the food bowl and still maintain control. Once you are sure the food aggression in your dog has been overcome, you can drop the food in normally and let it eat from the bowl again.

You must never punish food aggression in dogs. It just won't work. Punishment is often a cause, or at least an aggravation, of this behavioral problem in the first place. Negative reinforcement will only make the problem worse. A food aggressive dog needs to feel comfortable with you around before you will be trusted near its food.