Aggression with food

[BrandonSizemore]

My dog is a 5 year old pit bull/ bull dog mix and she is the sweetest dog with people until food comes into the mix. My husband and I adopted her from a family who could no longer take care of her. She was never aggressive towards me until I go to feed her. Sometimes when I put her bowl down, immediately she starts growling at me even if I back away immediately. How do I get her to not growl or get aggressive with people when she gets fed? Or ever? Also she’s gotten more used to other dogs but she still gets aggressive if people are eating or the other dog is eating.

[Adrienne]

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

It sounds like your dog is resource guarding. Resource guarding is often a matter of distrust. The dog fears to lose access to something he or she perceives as valuable, so they aren't comfortable with us being around them when they eat or are in possession of something.

With resource guarding issues we can work on them using behavior modification. Behavior modification aims to change the dog's emotional response. From the dog dreading to have us near their bowls, they would start looking forward to it because of many great associations we have formed. We often attain these results using an individualized desensitization and counterconditioning program under the direct guidance of a dog behavior professional.

You can read more about desensitization here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

And here you can read about counterconditioning:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

On top of these methods, it's important to learn more about threshold levels in dogs. When we carry out behavior modification, we want to avoid putting our dogs into situations they are not  yet prepared for. Working on a dog who is over threshold only leads to more problems down the road and setbacks, not to mention potential safety issues. You can read about threshold levels here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

Because of the risks associated with dogs acting aggressively,  behavior modification needs to be carried out under the direct guidance of a dog behavior professional. This is due to the associated risks when working around dogs who resource guard (risks for bites!) and the importance of the correct implementation of behavior modification so to minimize stress and setbacks. 

In the meanwhile, management would be important considering that, the more your dog rehearses the problematic behavior (tensing up/growling to protect food), the more the behavior puts roots and persists, becoming more difficult to eradicate. Not to mention, resource guarding induces a certain level of stress in dogs and the more stress hormones circulate, the more the dog lives on edge and feels the need to protect herself. 

Management for resource guarding would entail preventing putting the dog into situations where the dog feels the need to guard. In your case, it sounds like your dog feels stressed the moment you provide access to the food bowl since you mention that she sometimes growls when you put the food bowl down. We don't however want to suppress her growling as this is an important warning system. So please avoid any corrections as outlined here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/growling-never-suppressed-dogs/

A way to make feeding her safer can therefore entail avoiding putting the food bowl down directly in front of her/close to her. For example:

-You can have your dog in a separated area (in the yard, in a room with the door closed, behind a baby gate or in a play pen) when you prepare her food. Then, you can place the food bowl down on the floor where she is normally fed and then you can set your dog free to go access it (or have a helper release her from the separated area). Avoid approaching her until she is done. Pick up the food bowl only once she leaves the area and it's safe for you to remove it. With some dogs prone to guarding empty food bowls, it's best to wait until they are back to being confined in a separated area.

-You can also try an automated feeder feeding only a portion at a time so that your dog gets the whole portion at once rather than storing it. Set it up for a specific time (stay away from it at that time!) and you can train your dog to approach it when you say some specific cue  like:" Blacky, time to eat!" Avoid approaching her or the feeder until she is done. Remove it once she leaves the area and it's safe for you to pick it up. With some dogs, who also guard empty food bowls, it may be best once again to wait until they are back to being confined in a separated area for safety. 

While management prevents rehearsal, it doesn't really do much to change the dog's emotional response. Yes, it prevents the dog from practicing the problem behavior, but if the dog is once again put back into a stressful situation, rest assured the growling and associated stress is likely to recur. So to tackle the issue directly once again, behavior modification is needed. 

You can read more about dogs who resource guard food in the following threads, but please note that each dog is an individual and therefore requires a personalized behavior modification plan based on several individual factors. The methods outlined in these threads are therefore not to be perceived as specific recommendations.

 

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With dogs who resource guard towards dog owners and different people, we generally first tackle working with the owners/people living in the same household (which the dog is more likely to trust) and then only once the dog proves himself/herself reliable, and we have a fluent, solid response over time,  only then we can consider generalizing to involving other people, but in certain cases it is just far safer using management around people the dog doesn't know (by simply avoiding exposing strangers/guests around the dog when there is food around) and/or conditioning the dog to wear a muzzle to add an extra layer of protection if the situation grants it.

I hope this helps,

Let me know if you have any questions,

Best, 

Adrienne

 Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance. 

 

[JMFS]

Hi Brandon,

I can tell you the methods I was taught by our Behviorist worked very well.  The part where she had me working with an empty bowl especially makes me think of your situation.  The idea was to form a positive association with the bowl to replace the association of anxiety / stress.  I understand, fully, the feelings and concerns involved with a reactive dog when it comes to food or toys and we work on it Every single morning (he takes a glucosamine supplement that he finds tasty so I use that as his training treat to keep it fresh in his mind that hands next to bowl = good things to come).  I think of it this way - it was 10 years of a habit forming and it may take 10 years to completely replace the behavior.

What I can tell you is that we are leaps and bounds from where we were the day he launched that attack.  I can touch his bowl (but not him) while he's eating and he's okay because he knows I'm only touching it to put More goodies in the bowl (don't try that right away, please!  It was part of our training at the very end after putting in hours upon hours of empty bowl work).  I only share this to encourage you to put in the work.  It's really not bad, just boring, lol.  There is a Ton of repetition.

The other thing I want to prepare you for is backstepping.  It can and will happen.  It happened each time I went too fast for Momo.  Given that it's their personal issue it means we're on Their time table, not ours (much to my annoyance).  Patience, deep breaths, and not fearing temporary setbacks are required.

The best part about having a professional work with me was that she saw things I missed and she was able to tell me to slow down or embolden me to push a little.  That was key to our success.