Alodia Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Recently Alodia has been guarding her food and growling, barking and nipping at my hand whenever I reach towards her bowl. At the moment it is not severe and it doesn't hurt (yet) but I'm afraid that it will turn into a habit or behaviour problem and eventually receive a real bite. I do make her do tricks (sit, down, paw) and wait until I put the bowl down and give her the "ok" command before she can eat. I also hand feed her meals (again, after I get her to do her tricks). Is she scared that I'll take her food away from her? If so, how can I get her to trust me? She's okay with me standing and sitting next to her as she eats, just putting my hand on her food elicits the growling, and sometimes when I touch her all over (sometimes she does get all bitchy, sometimes she doesnt). I'm sorry if this is a frequently asked question, I am still flicking through old threads for topics on food guarding. Advice is much appreciated Also, today I just gave her a raw cow's bone (pretty big so she can munch on it without swallowing) and she loves it. It is really heart warming to see her chew on something that makes her so happy. ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julieanne Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 I normally don't answer these kind of questions as I don't have a lot of experience, but I'll share my experience with food guarding. I've only had Rafeal growl at me once. At the time he was still a bit unsure of trusting me to do the right thing by him and would have this "Do you need to fuss over me" personality. You yourself would know if Alodia seems to trust you to guide her in the right direction. I think it would help if you established your position more. I never fed him just because he howled, if I was busy he would have to wait a few minutes before I would feed him and I kept myself occupied by stoking him while he ate so it didn't seem like I was "waiting on him". I also hand fed him like you mentioned and then tried adding food to his bowl for him to get used to me. He is now very well behaved. One time the dog roll fell out of the fridge which he grabbed and I was able to take it off him without any trouble, not even a growl. He also will stop chewing or making a mess if I give him a certain tone of voice, no physical intervention is needed. Even a look is enough for him to stop himself from eating something that fell on the floor Though I would never try to take his regular meals off him, I don't personally think that's something that should be done. Hopefully someone has some better advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chula Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 Chula growled at me one time, and that was all I was willing to put up with. So, this is how mealtime goes now: First I wait for her to stop yelping after she sees I am getting her food out. I'll leave the room until she's calm. If she starts going nuts again, I'll leave again. Repeat until she is willing to keep quiet/calm. Then I sit next to her bowl, tell her to "sit", take a small amount out of the measuring cup with my hand and make her watch me put it in the bowl. Then I put my hand over the bowl so she can't get her face in there. If I take my hand away and she starts to race towards it, I put my hand back over and tell her "wait". I will do this 10-15 times until she understands that I am controlling her food. When she finally "waits", I will say ok and she can eat, but I leave my hand right near the edge of the bowl. Usually by the second handful, it only takes 5 times of covering it, and by the last, she waits on command, and will let me take a piece of food out of her bowl and put it back in. I have to redo the exercise each time she eats, but I find the time because growling/aggression are not acceptable in my house and I want it dealt with while she's small and not as able to hurt me. I don't know if this is a usual way to deal with food aggression, but it is working because she doesn't growl at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Povodny Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 You could also try pretending to eat from the bowl first keeping her attention on what you're doing before feeding her a little by hand from your bowl then making her wait while you place it down then tell her to take it. Continue to add small pieces of food to the bowl. That way she gets the message you eat first because you're higher in the food chain and she eats when you let her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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