# Food rage / toy rage!



## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Amber has been with us for over 3 months now. She has always been used to eat with people near her or even touching her (well mainly my daughter).

A month ago she started growling while eating and no one can come near her. She also does it when she has one of a fav toys (could be just a piece of wood).

So the vet told us to prepare her food, put it on the table, make her wait by eating something in front of her and than feed her. I don't think this is making any difference (only been trying for 2 weeks though).


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

Amber must learn that everything is YOURS and not hers. With food, always make her sit before you give her anything to eat. I also suggest hand feeding her, one kibble at a time if necessary. Once she's used to that, put your hand in her bowl and mess with her food while she's eating (don't try that until she's used to hand feeding or you might get bitten!)

With toys, pretty much the same. Make her earn the toy by sitting or some other trick. Practice taking it away and giving it back or substituting another toy so that she knows she'll get something good if she gives it up peacefully. 

If it's one particular toy that she is very possesive of, take it away permanently or until you feel she's got a better idea of how to behave.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Amber already sits before we give her the food, we even put it on the floor and make her wait (2mins max) and then we say eat and she goes for it.

I will try the hand feeding although we used to do that before (for her late night snack). We can still hand feed her now but little quantity. We have never tried a whole bowl of food when she is very hungry. Does it have to be the same person or can we alternate whenever we want? How long do you think this will take?


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

You can use different people. She's still a tiny baby, so if you did some hand feeding before perhaps it just wasn't long enough. 

I can't believe it till take very long now that she's a little older. If you try it for a week or so, and she still growls with possessiveness about her food, try taking it up entirely. A few minutes later, go through the routine again. She will learn fast that her actions have consequences.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

I very much agree with Brandy's mom. Amber has probably decided to "test" you, for whatever reason, so it's back to the basics. I would pull a chair up next to her bowl, and drop the kibble in one piece at a time as she eats it. She isn't going to growl at the hand that is giving her food. Let others in your family do it too (unless they are very young). Once she is ok with that, you could try keeping your hand on or in her bowl as she eats. 

My puppy hasn't been food or toy possessive, but he was getting a bit tense if anyone approached him when he got a new chewy bone. The first time he did that I took it away and he wasn't allowed to have it unless someone (including the kids) was holding it. That cured his possessiveness in no time flat. I'm sure things will work out fine with Amber too. Good luck!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

One thing we did when Samson was young, was holding his food bowl in our lap while he ate.....

We've always made Samson do something to earn his food. There's even been times, when I'll feed him, then 45 minutes, he's still laying next to his bowl, waiting for permission to eat. Kinda cruel of us to forget about him, but shows how good he's learned.

Sometimes, he'll run around the house, shaking hands (paws) with everyone, getting permission from everyone in the house, before he'll eat.


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

Yep, I agree with everyone. Amber needs to understand that YOU are the one with the thumbs. You control the resources. She has to earn everything. There's no room for her to push you or demand anything from you.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Hello everyone, thank you for all the good advice.

Hand feeding was not a problem and is going well but I thought we'd combine the put the bowl on a chair (as we would not get away if we put the bowl on the floor) and drop a few kibbles on the floor. Obviously feeding time is increased to 10-15minutes instead of the 2minutes.

Amber has always been told to sit and wait before each meal but in this instance I noticed that she was geting tired of the few kibbles at the time and she started lying down (front paws in front) while eating and I was doing the hard work. So each time she did it I stopped feeding and said sit. It worked for a while than she stopped so I tried SIT UP and clicked my fingers and it worked again. Not really sure what this means. Is she geting confused?

Please let me know if keeping the bowl on the chair is ok as we are planning on trying this for a full week and try to feed her normally and see how it goes.


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

I don't think putting the bowl on a chair. Instead of dropping kibbles on the floor, try to feed her directly from your hand. That gets her used to having your scent near her mouth, and it also reminds her to be gentle when your hand is near her mouth.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

I don't think keeping a bowl on a chair and then dropping food on the floor is going to work to cure her food guarding. Amber needs to get it in her head that bowl + hand + food =ok. Right now you're just throwing food on the floor. I think the bowl itself is an important part of the equation.


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## goldenstaples (Apr 3, 2006)

You have got to show her you are the pack leader. Phoebe did a little growling for a little bit at supper time, when she growled I picked the bowl and set it up, told her no growl, waited a few minutes put the bowl down again, if she would growl again she would lose it the same way until they will stop because they want to eat. Then I eventually would put my hand in her dish and touch food while she was eating,once again if she was to growl I would take it, would even let her eat some from my hands, it did not take too long for her. We now have the puppy and even though I make them stick to their own bowls he has stuck his nose in her bowl and she just moved over as to let him in. It is so very important to stop this action now because if you do not you are going to have some real issues, you cannot fear them as they since that.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

How does she do when your hand is in the kibble as she eats? Do you fear she might bite?

When Lucky was having this problem I'd pour his food and then BEFORE giving it to him, I put my fingers in the kibble and started playing with it as I put it in front of him. He'd have to approach and eat around my hand. I knew that he was not going to bite me doing it this way, because I knew Lucky.

When I first started doing this, he'd tense and just stare at my hand, uncomfortable with "sharing". After a bit he'd start eating. Now he just doesn't care. I make it a point to go up to him while he's eating and pet his jaw to keep me in his "comfortzone". He does not have a "status' problem. I think he feels more threatened.

When he has a new toy, I would give it to him but not let go and let him chew abit before I let him have it. I'd take it away, give it back. Lots of praise for not biting me... lol. My kids were involved in this activity too.

These dogs are always picking up things...socks, sticks toys and if your dog is going to guard everything, or things that you can't control, then you need to make sure you are the established leader. That is a status problem. 
The hand feeding helps. Keeping her off furniture, making her obey a command before petting, feeding. Find any opportunity to make clear your authority. You need to really work on this now before she's bigger as I will tell you that it is much more intimidating when they are grown.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## sashac (Mar 13, 2006)

This is all such great advice. Also, during this training period, make sure she isn't getting any treats that she thinks she can "own". In other words, no chewies, etc unless you are using them to train her out of her posessiveness. She shouldn't think anything is "hers", they all belong to you and if she's lucky, she might get it for a bit. 

It sounds mean, but it's been working for me. When I do give my dog a chewy or even his dinner, he HAS to eat it with me right over him or near his bowl. He used to take his chewy and run upstairs or far away from me and just hoard it nervously. Now, he has to eat it right where I am and oftentimes, with me holding it. More often than not though, he just doesn't get anything that he can't immediately eat.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Time for a quick update!
Yes, I thought I had misread LaurJen's advice: _"I would pull a chair up next to her bowl, and drop the kibble in one piece at a time as she eats it."_ but don't worry I only did that for one meal on one day (and Amber has 3 meals a day).
Since the 27th Sept, hand feeding is going well (and we are all involved - Dad, Natasha and Mum). Amber doesn't seem bothered with this new routine and we are all enjoying it (we are not afraid of hand feeding her). We usually crouch down, put the bowl on our knees (Amber is quite close to the bowl) and we hand feed her 4-5 kibbles at a time. I think we will carry this out for another week to be on the safe side :crossfing .
We stop the treats a long time ago as we understand how important training is at this age. She had plenty during potty, crate and recall training. And now we only use them if we want to get something from her that she does not want to let go of.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Wow!! Thank you!!!

After hand feeding for two weeks. We have definately noticed a big difference. Since 16th we are now at the second stage Amber eats by herself but with us playing with her food in her bowl. She growled a couple of time but neither of us were impressed, we simply took the bowl away completely for a few minutes. We'll try that until the end of the week.

One thing we have noticed though! Hand feeding took 5-8 minutes but now Amber eats her food in 2 minutes flat. She also burps now which she never did before. Can eating too fast affect her digestion/health?


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

Sounds like you are on the right track with Amber. Great work! I doubt that her faster eating habit will have a negative effect on her digestion; my Dottie has always vaccuumed her food so fast that I've often wondered whether she tastes anything when she eats.

Thanks for keeping us updated with your progress!


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

That is excellent news. And I had to giggle about the "growl that did not impress" because Jenna also has what we call her "big, scary growl" that doesn't mean a darned thing.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

Shirley said:


> Time for a quick update!
> Yes, I thought I had misread LaurJen's advice: _"I would pull a chair up next to her bowl, and drop the kibble in one piece at a time as she eats it."_ but don't worry I only did that for one meal on one day (and Amber has 3 meals a day).
> .


Ohhhhh, I never saw this post. I meant the chair was for YOU to sit on so that you wouldn't get tired  Sorry I confused you! Anyway, glad to hear things are working out--great news!


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Feeding still going well. We still keep our hand in her bowl and cuddle her while she eats.

She still growls occasionally when she gets hold of a special thing/toy but as it can be something new that she found in the garden or an old toy (we never know until it happens). We simply take it away from her which is quite easy as Amber would drop anything for a treat.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

I found this thread helpful...Thanxs guys.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Something incredible just happened 
(I know we are easily impressed with our puppy - although I am not sure if this is good or bad yet!!)

I put Amber's bowl on the floor and I thought of letting her eat by herself to see what happen. NOTHING HAPPENED!!! Amber just sat there. She only eats when we put our hand in her bowl. If we take it out she stops (tried several times)... I don't know wether to laugh or worry.

I gave her kisses and cuddles anyway because I thought it was so sweet.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Shirley said:


> Something incredible just happened
> (I know we are easily impressed with our puppy - although I am not sure if this is good or bad yet!!)
> I put Amber's bowl on the floor and I thought of letting her eat by herself to see what happen. NOTHING HAPPENED!!! Amber just sat there. She only eats when we put our hand in her bowl. If we take it out she stops (tried several times)... I don't know wether to laugh or worry.
> I gave her kisses and cuddles anyway because I thought it was so sweet.


Wow. Lucky isn't that good. I don't think you need to worry at all. Might be a good time to teach the "eat" command.......


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

I was actually worried that we might have done the hand feeding for too long.

Would welcome more advice about the "eat" command. Never had to use that before with our piggy pupp! (just want to get it right first time - don't want to confuse her).

Thanks.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

Shirley said:


> She only eats when we put our hand in her bowl. If we take it out she stops (tried several times)... I don't know wether to laugh or worry.
> I gave her kisses and cuddles anyway because I thought it was so sweet.


Hee hee that's pretty cute! So you were leaving your hand in her bowl the entire time she was eating? Maybe you went a teeeeeeeeensy bit overboard on that one


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Yes and all 3 of us did it!!! I thought that is what we were advised to do (I don't recall anyone saying to take our hand out before feeding ends - bearing in mind Amber only took 2-3 mins tops to finish her food!) 

And to be faire, at the begining we did try to take our hand out as we were as uncomfortable as I am sure Amber was with this new routine... but she GRRRRR again... so we put our hands down again and carried on with the routine...


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

_You'll probably need to pair the "eat" command with hand feeding her. Then as soon as she understands that, start pairing the command with maybe tossing the food into the bowl. Gradually moving your hand out of the picture, so to speak. Wow. That's just amazing!_

Thanks for the above advice BRANDY'S MOM but I must say I am still very confused. Specially after LaurJen's comment about us "keeping our hand in Amber's bowl the whole 2-3 mins." 

There are no classes in the area at the moment for pups as old as Amber and I do not understand these new commands "eat" and "getting out of the picture". 

I will go back on the Internet and continue to read... Thank you (sorry you are having trouble accessing the forum).


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Shirley said:


> _You'll probably need to pair the "eat" command with hand feeding her. Then as soon as she understands that, start pairing the command with maybe tossing the food into the bowl. Gradually moving your hand out of the picture, so to speak. Wow. That's just amazing!_
> Thanks for the above advice BRANDY'S MOM but I must say I am still very confused. Specially after LaurJen's comment about us "keeping our hand in Amber's bowl the whole 2-3 mins."
> There are no classes in the area at the moment for pups as old as Amber and I do not understand these new commands "eat" and "getting out of the picture".
> I will go back on the Internet and continue to read... Thank you (sorry you are having trouble accessing the forum).


I'm so sorry Shirley I was being "funny" with the "eat" command. Actually what people do, is they teach the dog to eat when they say its ok. for instance I make Lucky sit to wait for his meal...until I say "ok" ..

I have heard of this occuring and I don't think its a very long lasting thing. Its much better then a possessive dog I'm sure.

Maybe someone here has had this happen and can offer insite.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Yes indeed it didn't last long. So we prepare her food, ask Amber to sit, we put the bowl on the floor and after 30seconds or so we say EAT and she does. 

We still stay close to her while she eats. We touch her and rub her head/neck gently. Is that ok or can we stop touching her? 

I know the best way to find out is to STOP but I am so worried about her starting growling again.


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

Can you try stopping but just petting her/playing in her food every now and then? A few times a week, maybe?


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