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The behaviour
modification process outlined in six steps below is for treating the
problem puppy who is guarding his food. If you are unsure of
how to proceed, or have an older dog with an established
problem, treatment is best attempted under expert supervision.
Please read Stages One and Two before
starting this process.
Your objective is to be able to actually put your
hands in your puppy’s bowl whilst he is eating without him becoming
at all unhappy. His tail will be wagging throughout. You will need
to be patient and break this process down into small stages. Each
step will probably take two or more days. The older the puppy, the
longer it may take. Don’t proceed to the next step until the dog is
comfortable, and not growling, with the step you are working on.
If you can break the dog’s daily food allowance into four or five
meals, the learning process will go faster than if he is only having
one or two meals per day. If at any step you feel you are not making much progress, ensure that the food in his bowl, is fairly
boring compared with the food/treats you are going to add to it.
Step One - stand and throw
To begin with, each time
you feed your dog his dinner, you will put only a
small amount of food into the dog’s bowl. The rest
you will have to hand and whilst he is eating you
will stand two or more yards away and throw little
pieces of food towards his bowl. How far you stand
from the dog, depends on him. Your job is to make
sure you do not trigger the growling. Do not go so
close that he feels the need to growl. Over the
next few mealtimes bring the distance you can stand
near the dog down to about a yard. Don’t go closer
until he is able to eat without growling at each
distance. If you are struggling to find any distance
at which he won’t growl at you, use very tasty
treats to add to his bowl rather than his ordinary
food. Don’t worry if you are not a very good shot.
The food doesn’t have to go into his bowl, just near
to it. Don’t go to stage 2 until you can stand
a yard from the dog and drop food into his bowl
whilst he eats.
Step Two - walk and throw
The next step is to walk
about whilst throwing the food. Your movement will
worry him as he does not know what you are going to
do next. This is very natural, even people don’t
usually like someone moving around near them whilst
they eat. So back further away, and take your time
with this stage. If walking around at three yards
from the dog worries him, go further away. Find a
distance at which you can move without him
growling. If you can’t get this far away in your
kitchen, try tiny movements (e.g. just shifting your
feet around) to begin with, taking larger steps as
he gets used to this. All the while you are
throwing yummy bits of food into or around his bowl
whilst he eats. When you can walk all around the
dog at a distance of one yard whilst he is eating,
and when he is so relaxed about this that his tail
will wag whilst he eats and you praise him, then it
is time to move on to Stage 3.
Step Three - the first touch
The next step is to be
able to touch the rear half of the dog whilst he is
eating, without him growling. Each dog is
different so think about the kind of contact your
dog enjoys. Keep your hands away from his head,
mouth and bowl for the time being. You may be able
to lightly touch his flank or stroke his rump. Keep
the touch brief. Follow each touch by dropping a
tasty bit of food in his bowl. If he starts to
growl go back to Step 2. Get as many repetitions of
touch/treat as you can into each mealtime. When
you can touch the dog freely on the rear of his body
many times whilst he is eating, whilst his tail
wags, and he is happy, move on to Step 4
Step Four - touch with
confidence
This step will bring you to the point where you can
stroke your dog’s head whilst he eats. Just as in
all the previous steps take it slowly. If at any
point the dog growls or displays pre-growl
behaviour, go back to Step 3. Put some food in a
bowl as usual, and give it to your dog. If the dog
is happy, touch your dog lightly on the shoulder or
neck and immediately drop a treat into his bowl. If
the dog is still happy, tail wagging, move your hand
higher and touch the top of his head. Work up to
light strokes interspersed with frequent additions
to his bowl. If all goes well, you should be able
to thoroughly stroke and praise the dog in a normal
manner, whilst he is eating, by the end of this
step. If he seems unhappy at any stage, go back to
the previous step.
Step Five - trust in you
This step is complete
when you can actually trail your hands in the dog’s
bowl whilst he is eating, touch him anywhere on his
body, step over and around him and generally do all
those things that other people, especially children,
might one day do to your dog whilst he is eating.
Proceed in the same cautious manner as for all
previous stages. Hold your hand a little closer to
his bowl each time you drop a treat in, until you
are actually holding your hand in the bowl. Observe
your dog very carefully at all times. Stop and
‘back up’ if he seems unhappy, or if he stops eating
and stiffens his body. As long as he is happy, try
lifting the bowl very slightly off the ground with
one hand as you add treats with the other. If this
goes well you can lift the bowl up a few inches, add
a few treats and put it back down. If the dog is
happy, repeat lifting the bowl a little higher each
time, always replacing the bowl with more food in.
When you can lift the bowl right up onto the work
surface, putting more food in and return it to the
floor you have nearly achieved your goal. You don’t
need to keep testing him by taking his dinner away
constantly, and when you do remove his bowl, it
should always be to add something nice to it. You
want him to believe that anyone anywhere near his
bowl is a very good thing.
Step Six - the confident
puppy
The final step is for
you to supervise a repeat of the whole procedure
with each member of your family in turn, and then
with any friends/visitors/passers-by you can rope in
to help. Over the next few weeks, make certain that
you ensure anyone approaching your dog whilst he is
eating has gone through these steps and take care to
ensure they observe the rules on when to back off,
very strictly. You will find this a much faster
process than your initial one. This last step just
finalises the training and teaches your dog that all
people near his bowl are an excellent thing.
Summary
During this whole procedure, especially with young
puppies, you may find the dog quickly loses all his
anxiety and forgets to guard his bowl at all, even
to the point of leaving the bowl and repeatedly
approaching you to beg for treats. That is fine.
What you need to do now is to make sure that he will
behave in this nice relaxed way even when there are
very nice treats in his bowl. If not, then back up
and go through the above steps with treats and other
high value foods in the bowl.
If you are
concerned about your dog’s temperament or health in
any way, or if this process does not seem to be
going smoothly, it is important that you contact
your vet for advice and further information.
WARNING - A
DOG BITE EVEN FROM A PUPPY CAN BE VERY NASTY.
IF POSSIBLE, AVOID TOUCHING A GROWLING PUPPY WHILST
HE IS EATING, OR ALLOWING ANYONE ELSE TO DO SO.
WE ADVISE YOU ALSO HAVE YOUR PUPPY CHECKED OVER BY
YOUR VET TO EXCLUDE ANY HEALTH RELATED REASONS FOR
HIS GROWLING.
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