Aggression Towards New Puppy During Feeding

[Kellyanne]

Hi! I just got our 5 year old Husky, Hannah a new 8 week old Husky, Kai. They get along great except for when its time to eat. Hannah is getting aggressive over her food when Kai approaches her and does more guarding then eating. Now if Kai is eating her food there is no issue. Any tips on how to get Hannah to stop. She is growling, showing teeth at Kai.

[SibeHush]

Among pack animals, all members have a roll to play. You need to assert yourself as the provider and guardian of all food/resorces. If you let it further progress, it gets much harder to stop and you won't simply be able to pull rank, otherwise risking the aggression turning in your direction.

 

Mind you, some growling at a pup is normal... it's how they keep you youngings in line.

 

Ether way, you should be equally ready to enforce the pups position. Just because Hannah is showing mild signs of aggression doesn't nessesarily mean she is the problem. It could very well be your pup is attempting to challenge her for the food. A challenge among dogs doesn't always equate to a physical display. Often they'll signal intent with body positioning and eye contact. Hannah could very well be seeing something from the puppy that you are not.

 

I might suggest speaking with a behavioralist and getting their take on your specific situation.

[Kellyanne]

Thank you. I know a lot of it has to be from the puppy. I will definetly reach out to one, I know it is way too early to start training.

[Emma]

It's never too early to start a little bit of training. It's quite common for pups to have a little bit of resource and food guarding. Ice was terrible. In the end we fed him separately and worked on training tolerance with treats. We sat them all down and rewarded with treats individually. He had to wait his turn. He got it pretty fast.

[SibeHush]

Thank you. I know a lot of it has to be from the puppy. I will definetly reach out to one, I know it is way too early to start training.

It is never to early to start training... from the moment you bring them home at 8weeks you can start training them.

[Kellyanne]

We have been potty training and crate training. The guarding of the food is actually from Hannah the 5 year old which is a strange one to explain. If her food is down and Kai is eating from her bowl it is okay but when Hannah wants to eat then it is a different story. I have tried to feed in different rooms but then Hannah wants to know what the little one is doing. I feel bad to put Kai in the crate to eat and put Hannah bowl a couple of feet away so they know what the other one is doing. This is the only way I have been able to get Hannah to eat.

[snowpups]

Crate trained Both feed them both in there crates so they understand that is where food is feed. I can feed my pack side by side but it took time and they know I'm in charge and I will no tolerate them guarding food. Some of mine were rescues so came with food aggression but they learnt tht I wouldn't allow the others to take there food. The only one tht is feed away is my malamute as she will just be a complete monster near food but will let me take anything off her

[Sarah]

my first 2 have always been fine around each other with food when we re homed our 3rd he had always been an only dog and was really food aggressive - still is.  We feed them in their crates now so there is no arguments or stress for them all.

 

I started by giving them different corners of the room but he inhaled his food so fast he was straight to the next bowl!  Then we tried a leash on him but it still upset the others so we resorted to the crates

[Clare70]

I fed mine by hand, then held their bowls so it was me who was in control at dinner time.  They all now feed side by side and if one finishes first and heads towards anothers bowl I just say 'leave'.  They soon got the hang of it.