Dog bowl aggression is one of the most common and destructive negative behaviours exhibited by domestic dogs.
Experts believe the root cause of the problem lies with the identity of the dog's food bowl. They say it represents the source of survival to a dog and their natural instincts compel them to protect this survival source at all costs - with aggression if needed.
But as dog owners, it is our job to find a way of reassuring our pets that they are secure and their source of food is safe and it is possible to do, once you know how.
Dog bowl aggression
I got an email from an old friend of mine about their young Great Dane pup who was showing some nasty habits around the food bowl. Turns out this dog would growl and snarl around the food bowl and Tracy (friend) has three small kids!
This story plays out every day throughout America and whether you have kids or your dog is a Great Dane or even a Pekingese, it is a very serious issue! No one wants to deal with a social deviant with four legs!What if I told you that in many cases we cause this behaviour ourselves? The ironic part is that we create the problem each and every time we get or fill Rover’s bowl with food!
This topic will require several blogs, but hold on and let’s get started by talking about how we feed our dogs and what can be done about that food bowl or resource guarding grumpiness!
What can be done
First off, let’s take a look at how a dog in the wild would eat and compare it to how we, as humans, usually feed our dogs. In the wild, a dog left to its own devices would spend roughly 18 hours each day looking for and eating its food. They are scavengers, hunters and opportunists.
Since food is the most important resource they have, they would spend the majority of their time getting it. Now let’s look at how we as humans do it! It’s 7:30 am and you are running late; the kids need to be at school by 8:10; you have a conference call at 8:30; and... oh crap!
Fido hasn’t been fed yet! You throw some food into a bowl and slap it on the ground and Fido goes to it! 60 seconds later, Fido is done eating so you rush out the door and Fido is left to figure out what to do for the next 23 hours and 59 minutes!!!!
If you are a “really good” dog owner you might repeat this process 2 to 3 times a day, using up to 2 or 3 total minutes of Fido’s day relating to dating, but really, what does he do with his free time till his next meal?
How about...
Eating the couch or some other fun piece of the house?
Barking incessantly at squirrels (garnering complaints from the neighbours)?
Peeing and pooping all over the house?
Looking for, destroying and/or eating, underwear, socks, shoes or any other item that smells like their owner?
Do any of these sound familiar?
This list could go on forever, but suffice it to say that the way we feed our dogs leaves them with a lot of “free” time. And as my mom always said, “Idle hands are the devils play things.”
Feeding differently
For the time being let’s get back to food bowl aggression and how solving that behaviour will circle back to fixing these other problem behaviours!
In fact, by the end of this series of blogs, you will hopefully realize that by feeding differently you can positively affect all problem behaviours... with just a couple of changes in your dealings with Fido.
Okay, why would my loving dog all of a sudden become a social deviant around their food bowl? Well, the simple answer is... we are taking a basic survival ritual (hunting, finding and finally eating their food) and making it last roughly a minute!
Not to mention we are using a food bowl (inanimate object) to hold the resource they covet the most.
And finally, we are not making them work for this resource! In essence, the frustration of only getting 60 seconds of time to eat, in a predetermined place and out of an inanimate object and not having to put in any effort to get the food, leads Fido to believe the bowl and whatever is in it is his property!
Now, is it any wonder why Fido growls, snaps or gets grumpy around the food bowl? It is important to recognize that if Fido is behaving this way, you will really want to think twice about using some of the dominance theories you may have seen on TV!
Hopefully, you can see that yelling, slapping, touching or correcting a dog in this situation is probably not going to be effective, might even escalate the behaviour and have you leaving this world with a few fewer fingers than you entered it with!
First off, if you are reading this and are saying “I don’t have that problem,” that’s great! But understand that it’s important to make sure you never do!
The techniques
The techniques I am going to share with you in the upcoming posts are for dogs on both ends of the spectrum... those with problems and those without; with the goal of making sure they never have the problem and maybe fixing a few other “unrelated” problems along the way!
So, I really recommend starting these ideas with a puppy before the bad habits form, but since this topic is what to do when the problem is already present, let’s go ahead and get started and see what we can do about it!
There are three basic techniques that you need to be familiar with as you work with Fido to eliminate the dog bowl aggression...
Use toys to feed your dogs
Feed your dogs from your hand
Have your dogs work for their food
So let’s take a look at each of these ways to use feeding time as a training tool!
The First Technique... Use toys to feed your dogs
As queried in an earlier blog post, why are we wasting feeding time and only giving the dog 60-90 seconds of unsupervised activity time from a bowl? (Thank you Dr. Dunbar!) Instead, we could use feeding times to teach, train and mould our furry four-legged friends to use proper doggie manners!
To get started, I suggest you feed your dogs at least twice a day (three if your schedule allows) and do not use a bowl. I want you to split up the feedings so the dog has their favourite point of the day (mealtime) multiple times vs. only once.
Toys will give your dogs more mental stimulation, thus helping to wear out the mind, which is much better than just letting them wolf down their food in 60-90 seconds which would leave them bored. (Remember idle hands...)
More importantly, toys make the dogs work for their food instead of just waiting for their human to fill the magic bowl!
It is important to remember classical conditioning at this point when you are feeding your dog (Pavlov anyone!) This is a great opportunity to build positive associations with food!
Previously, we had just 60-90 seconds to pair an association with dinner time, but as we use food dispensing toys, we might have upwards of 10-15 minutes to make those same connections! You can even freeze the toys with food in them and gain additional time while you eat! What do I mean by associations and classical conditioning?
Well, if my dog is aggressive around, let’s say kids while eating; I want kids to be present around the dog while the dog is eating! I always take steps to ensure safety, but with kids, you have to be extra careful!
A simple and easy safety measure is to tether the dog when feeding them (remember to use a toy) and simply have the child in the room with the dog (but NOT sitting right next to him!) Tethering is also effective when you have multiple dog households, dogs that don’t really like each other or even with cats.
Through the use of toys as the means to deliver the food, you are positively reinforcing the association of chewing on toys as appropriate behaviour (rather than chewing on the couch, pillow, or shoe).
The goal is to create a subconscious mindset in your dog that all the good things in the world (food) happen when this stimulus that makes me nervous (child) is around.
Please remember that this is not going to make your dog think “I love kids” just because they are around during meal times, but it is more like that warm fuzzy feeling those of us who love coffee get when we walk into a Starbucks. We associate the smell of coffee with a sense of well-being!
Once again I want to stress that this does work with dogs with problems, but it is not a quick fix! I find that if I can teach people to use these techniques from puppyhood, these problems will rarely occur.
So to those of you that have dogs that already have food bowl aggression, it’s time to get busy; and for those of you who have a puppy ....let’s get started young so that you can build a positive association at feeding time from the very beginning!
Now we have toys at feeding time working for us...so what’s next? What about making food even more important (as well as your status and relationship with your dog?) Why not feed your dog by hand?
The Second Technique... Feed your dog from your hand (or by hand!)
So usually we look at feeding time as a hassle and waste this precious resource, then complain to our dog trainer (or anyone who will listen) that we just don’t have time to work with our dog... opportunities to work with our dogs!
Based on the earlier post, we have hopefully given up on the “food bowl” and started using toys to feed our dogs!
This should help positively impact high energy levels, problem-solving, associations to negative stimuli and understanding of what is and is not appropriate for chewing. But now for technique number two...feeding your dog by hand!
Each morning I put each dog’s food (yes all four) in plastic storage bowls. 2 cups for Penny, 3 cups for Bear and Lexie, and 4 cups for Leo! I then load up the Kongs and put them in the freezer and the magic begins! I then take a handful of the remaining food from the bowls and begin to hand feed my dogs.
Donovan and Dylan usually help with this! We go from dog to dog and spend about 10-15 minutes hand feeding (while the Kongs are chilling in the freezer!)
By doing this, I am killing three birds with one stone... am building positive associations between my dogs and my kids, promoting that “warm fuzzy feeling” of the dogs being around the kids while they get their most important and fun resource and I’m also reinforcing the old adage “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
I have even been known to have people new to the house walk up to my dogs while they are eating and give them surprises! I have the strangers toss special treats to the dogs while they are enjoying their Kong. For example, I try to have kids give the best surprises (hotdogs, leftovers or canned chicken.)
Adult friends of mine will give liver treats or whatever other treat I have laying around. I do this so that no matter who comes up to the dogs during feeding time, the dogs will always look up as the stranger approaches wondering what kind of surprise is coming and not wondering...
“Oh my gosh are they taking my food?” Guess what, my dogs now actually love having people around them while they eat! Why, because people always bring gifts!
This technique can be used outside the house as well! After I have filled the Kongs for the day, I can then bag up the leftover food, in a Ziploc or treat bag, grab the leash and take this show on the road!
Let’s face it if you have read my blog you know I believe in walking your dogs daily! It not only works off excess energy but also helps with training your dog in more distracting environments than your living room! Let’s face it... most of our dogs are great in the house but out in the great wide world, well that’s often a different story!
So grab that food and head out the door (after they sit and say please for the leash and of course provide you with a nice wait at the door!) The beauty of this technique is you can focus on almost anything!
I can simply walk the dog and every 50 feet ask for a sit, maybe a down or even a watch me! And you all think you don’t have time to train... is it possible that you are not only wasting feeding time but the walk as well?
You could find a nice park bench and just sit down and wait for dogs, kids, cars, skateboards or anything else that might trigger your dog, and use your leftover food to associate good times with that “evil Tony Hawk” wanna be that drives your dog crazy!
Switch it up and just make sure that you are hand feeding your dog 10-15 minutes a day while working on whatever you learned that week from the crazy dog guy in class or on whatever drives Fido nuts!
The simple truth to hand feeding is not only associating food (a positive) with everything possible but to bond with your dog.
I want you to stop reading for a moment and tell me what kind of relationship you would have with your dog if you had started this process the day the pup came home! Don’t lament too much, rather get out there and make up for a lost time!
I hope you are thinking I can’t wait to get the party started!!! But wait; there is still one more technique to add... Nothing in the world is free!!! This topic will be covered in the next blog post!
The Third Technique... Make your dog work for their food
So now we’ve made it to the last (at least on this topic) technique! We are feeding our dog(s) every day using toys. We are even using part of our dog’s daily food ration to feed them by hand!
We are paying close attention to making sure that all associations during meal time are positive, as well as making sure our dogs realize that feeding time is a PARTY and an opportunity for everyone to have fun! So, what else does this crazy dog trainer want us to do?
Simple... this final part of the dog bowl aggression series is to make sure that our dogs actually work or show behaviours we want during the eating process!
At this point, we switch from Pavlov to Skinner and are now dealing in the world of operant conditioning, where we reward those behaviours we want to see continue and increase. In other words, I choose the behaviours I want to reinforce... ignore the bad & reward the good. This isn’t just during meal time; it includes treat time as well.
For me, I find it easiest to use the command sit and use it most often, but there is no limit to where we can take this principle! When we walk up to our dog with their frozen Kong, we need to ask for a sit or a down! We can even ask for a shake or rollover.
The key is before we share the food with our dogs they must work for it! If I have a child bring a piece of cheese to my dog during dinner, I always have them ask for a down or maybe a shake depending on the child’s size!
But keep in mind, with some dogs, just allowing a child to approach them and be happy to receive the surprise, could be considered work as well. Dogs that are never asked to work for resources tend to view the resource as theirs and possibly as something to guard... so make ‘em work!
This technique has an infinite number of possibilities... going through doors, being allowed on beds or couches, problem barking and being at appropriate meal times.
Let’s take getting on the couch as an example... Some people don’t want their dogs on the couch and that’s OK, YOU set the house rules. But, I do let mine on the couch (when my wife is not around since she is a no dogs on the furniture person!), so let me explain to you how I make them work for that privilege!
1. The couch is mine and I decide whether to share it with my dogs!
2. My dogs must say please to get permission to get on the couch! and finally
3. They must be invited up on the couch.
Ok, so how does this play out in my living room? Let’s say ’'I'm watching a Jayhawks basketball game, crashing on the couch and Lexie decides she wants to join me! The following must happen... she has to say please (come up to me and sit) and I then have to decide whether I want her on the couch.
If I do, I invite her up and we watch the Jayhawks dismantle another team (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!) If not, I simply instruct her to lie down and reward her for accepting my choice!
Keep in mind, if you are going to tell the dog “NO” and you are expecting the dog to live by that rule, they need to have something of equal (or greater) value to enjoy in lieu of the couch... i.e. a dog bed.
If you do not provide such an alternative...what do you think will happen when you leave them will probably not be an issue when you are away? Remember, a problem prevented is a habit that never begins.
What if she just hops up on the couch without being asked? Well, she is immediately told “off” with a disapproving tone and sent to her space (bed or crate) and ignored for a couple of minutes to let her know the decision was inappropriate!
An important distinction here is that an increase in volume is not necessary, but your tone or inflexion of voice is critical. Over time she has learned the rules and has no real problems with them. Don’t be misled; dogs, like kids, will occasionally test their parents.
To be honest, how you deal with their mistakes will have a huge impact on their future decisions!
Hopefully, you now have some ideas to help create the dog you have always wanted!!! But a word of caution, while these techniques can work for a dog that is aggressive around the food bowl, I don’t recommend trying them alone.
Aggression is a tricky and sticky situation and should be dealt with, but with the help of an experienced positive reinforcement trainer! This is not only for your safety but for the safety of the dog as well.
That being said, the earlier we start teaching good behaviours, the less likely you will ever have to deal with these problems.
But know that if you do have these problems, help is only a phone call away! My suggestion is to go through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) to find a trainer in your area remember to Keep it Simple and Stupid and don’t forget to have fun!
About Mike Deathe
Muttz R Us was founded in 2009 by me and my wife Kate. Several years earlier I decided to quit my job as a district manager of an automotive care firm and became a stay-at-home dad.
Kate worked for the Federal Government and was travelling up to three weeks a month. Between the two of us, we decided one of us should take a step back so that someone was home with the kids. We have two boys, Donovan and Dylan.
Life went on, with me being Mr. Mom (my love and respect go out to all the stay-at-home moms and dads...it’s harder than it looks!) I told Kate “I’ve got to get a part-time job!” After 15 years of being in the workforce, I needed something besides game shows and soap operas while the kids were in school!
I took a part-time job at a national pet supply chain and before I knew it, I became a dog trainer. A passion was born! I have had dogs since I was four years old.
We have three muttz, Penny, Lexie & Bear, and we also have a Purebred (yes, even I own a purebred!) Leonberger named Leo. She was adopted, just like my other three muttz. She is sight impaired with roughly 70% vision loss, which adds a different aspect to socialization and training for a dog.
I primarily train on weekends, which are the same two days the company I work for invites adoption groups into the store. I regularly saw the number of dogs and cats that never found a home.
It made me wonder how many people actually realize the number of wonderful and viable pets that are wanting and needing loving homes.
We decided that "Adopt a Pet, Save A Life" should be our philanthropic motto. We paired that along with our desire to help animal organizations raise funds and came up with T-shirts to make fun of our Purebred cousins (remember, I own one too!!), and "Ta Da!", Muttz "R" Us was born!
