Aaron Unsworth Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hello, Dry food hasn't been working for Maya(5 months old) but when feeding we are able to make her wait for it and take it away from her during her eating it. This past week we have change to feeding raw. At first we Fed her the frozen mince and tripe but today we tried her on chicken leg. The problem is when anybody in the room went near her she would growl, so I thought I would try and get it off her. She growled at me and started barking I held her by her scruff and pulled it out of her mouth and just left it for a minute. She then tried to find it but when she calmed down I gave it back to her. I walked up to her and stood next to her again but she growled at me again. Just wondering if this is normal and how I can get her out of this. Thanks, Aaron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aronoiiel Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 Have you taught her the drop it and leave it commands? If not that's something you should really start on. Don't do it right off with a high value treat though; which is what she is making the raw out to be. One thing that also worked well with Kiana is teaching her the word "mine" this has saved her from many a cooked chicken bone as well as trading something better for whats in her mouth. Between the commands and trading you should be able to get it under control because right now all she sees is something she loves being taken away with nothing to replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Unsworth Posted May 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 She knows leave but I can't say she does it everyone. Sometimes it is a game picking up something she's not allowed and ignoring me. So I will work on that. It is just the aggression made my partner a little wary of her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aronoiiel Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 That's understandable I was freaked when Kiana turned on me trying to get a cooked chicken bone away from her that's when I redoubled my efforts teaching her leave it, drop it, and mine. When I got to the point where she would let me have a high value treat I knew it all paid off. The important thing is when teaching these to be solid (or mostly solid when a husky is concerned) command is to move from a low value to high value item.Also when trying to teach these commands move slowly but keep an air of calm assertion about you. Trading is also the best way to ensure you will not get bitten so definitely look into this as well. It takes a lot of time and patience. In the mean time I honestly wouldn't recommend bothering her while she's eating because all that teaches her is that you intend to remove it from her and will exasperate the problem. That's one thing I don't believe in is when giving a dog their food or something special they are made to enjoy pushing them to give it up sends the entirely wrong message. But the three commands I mentioned will help alot when they get their little mouths on something totally inappropriate I'm sure others will chime in with a lot more good info but this is what has worked for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 When Ozzy was a puppy he had no problem with me going near his food, but when he moved onto raw I picked up a piece lying on the floor to put it back in the bowl and he growled at me. I took the bowl away and put it in the fridge. Five minutes later I sat on the floor with the bowl on my lap and called him to come and eat. He was slightly agitated at first, but by the second day he realised I was not going to be taking his food away from him and put the bowl on the floor next to me. And so it progressed - I can now take his favourite food - lamb - out of his and Micah's mouth, without a problem. I don't usually take anything away from them, but when Ozzy buries his food and it is full of sand, he will let me take it and rinse it off - he knows I will always give it back to him (he doesn't like sand on his food, but he still buries it ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robke Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 It is also the way you approach it...just think about it this way..you are spending a boat load of money in a fancy restaurant and have way through the waiter comes and takes your plate of food away....are you just going to sit there and let that happen?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Scruffing her and taking the food away wont help at all, it will make it worse as she will feel she has to try harder to keep hold of it. Keep doing that and chances are it will escalate to a bite. raw food is usually very high value, my eldest girl who had never even raised a lip or gave a low growl over anything went to bite me once when she was eating raw. So I started off by holding the food and she could eat it out of my hands (yes it was gross holding the raw meat but oh well lol), then started stroking her while she was eating. I would also keep a little of the meal to one side and give it to her while she was eating the rest of the meal, so she saw my hands coming towards her food as a good thing, as it ment more food I never try and take food away from my guys, if I have given them a meal then they are left in peace to eat it, I just keep an eye on them in case they choke. If someone tried to take my food away from me they'd probably get stabbed in the hand with my fork so I dont see why my dogs should be any different. If you have children either keep them in a seperate room while the dog's eating or teach them to keep away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Unsworth Posted May 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Today I fed her it for breakfast out of my hand but half way through she manage to get away. When it was in my hand I had am extra piece of chicken told her to leave it, she did then gave her the other piece. Got her to sit and let her carry on and everything was fine. just past half she managed to get away from me and then she started the growling and barking. Unlucky I had no pieces of chicken left but I didn't want to wind her up so I just left her to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arooroomom Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 Raw food requires more interaction with the food than kibble or tinned food does. I like to think of it as another level of eating. My dogs don't care if I need to mess with their food (either getting something away from them or adding things in there) but Odin has been the most difficult. What i've done is just the same as others have stated... Feeding him by hand one piece at a time has been the only way for us to work at it. I would personally suggest NOT petting the dog while eating but simply being present and only providing a passive or positive interaction with the food. With Odin I used to hold his food and wouldn't mess with him any further than that. Piece by piece I would hold and let him eat, always asking him to be gentle. I did this non stop for a few months and when he would finish one piece I would wait for him to look to me before bringing out another. I'd ask him for a sit and then let him eat gently from my hand. Now- I sit on the floor with my dogs while they eat and just watch. He doesn't care anymore and if needed I could get food away from him. But I believe in letting the dogs have a peaceful as possible meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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