Food Aggression?

[CoverTune]

Are your pups more aggressive with protecting their raw food than they were with kibble, or are with treats? My guys are, which I don't love. Or, Corona's other reaction is to simply swallow the food whole as quickly as she can if she feels threatened.

Not that I play with their food or want to mess with the dogs while they're eating.. but if I ever give Corona a big bone to chew on and then need to take it away, or something like that, I don't want it to be a big issue.

[naturalfeddogs]

Lucky does when she is outside with the others. I just call her back in the house when I see her acting that way. Shadow is just a puppy, but he seems to be acting like he may be that way also. I will have to work on stopping that, but neither one acts that way to us if we reach down to take something from them. It seems to be more of a possesion thing with the other dogs.

[kathylcsw]

I can take raw food away from either of my dogs but they do growl if the other dog or one of the cats get too close to their crates while they are eating. Buster has been on raw since we brought him home. Lola ate kibble until December and she never growled at the cats when they got near her crate when she ate dog food.

[jdatwood]

Do your dogs know the "drop it" or "leave it" command?

[ciaBrysh]

Willow has been known to show some food aggression towards the other animals even with kibble so I decided it is best (and less hectic IMO) to feed separately As long as *I* or another person can reach in just in case it doesn't bother me too much. That's just me though.

[CoverTune]

I CAN get the food away from Corona, but she'll growl and snarl until the item is in my possession. I never taught her a "drop it", I've never really needed to and she very very rarely has toys, or anything inedible, in her mouth.

[jdatwood]

I CAN get the food away from Corona, but she'll growl and snarl until the item is in my possession. I never taught her a "drop it", I've never really needed to and she very very rarely has toys, or anything inedible, in her mouth.

I personally think EVERY dog should know the command. You never know when your dog might come across something you NEED them to drop.

[Scarlett_O']

I personally think EVERY dog should know the command. You never know when your dog might come across something you NEED them to drop.

TOTALLY agree....heck even my cats know "leave it"!!!LOL

[Liz]

Mine have shown aggression towards each other but they did on kibble also. We feed separated and avoid issues though I do occasionally tell them to leave it so I can pick it up just to remind them and check that I can remove the food. Not often as adults as I don't liek to mess with their food but once in a while and much more often as pups.

[DaneMama]

Raw foods are way higher in value than kibble...so their drive to protect it is usually higher. I allow my dogs to be possessive of their food from each other. We have yet to have a fight started by food. Each dog goes to their "spot" to eat...if another comes too close they're going to growl or move away with their food.

I do not however let them be possessive of their food from me. If I tell them to drop it they do. Sometimes reluctantly. But I always give it back or give them something better. I don't harass my dogs during feeding times at all, I give them space and time to finish their meal.

What you can do to teach a drop it is give them something, then offer them something better. As soon as they dip the original item, reward them with the better thing. Once they get the hang of it you can name it by saying "drop it" or whatever you want the cue to be. Then they should learn by association that if mom says drop it that means drop whatever I have because I should be getting something better if I do.