I agree with this too. Are you giving him enough food in that bowl? Perhaps he's barking because wants mooooore, and moooooore isn't coming, so I'd check that you are feeding him the correct amount to start off with, then do it all by hand until he learns it's no big deal, you are never going to take it away. I'd also keep adding bits and bobs to his bowl when you feel safe doing it once you've started on a bowl, or maybe change to a plate for starters instead of that bowl. Good luck.

Yes, we will try this and thanks for your help.

He is SOOOO greedy!!! He loves his food and would eat Lilys food as well if he could. If I feed them together he will bolt down his dinner as quickly as possible so that he can move in on hers! I have to feed them separately. I think I will try to feed him a bit more. At the moment he is on a tin of Chappie per day plus he has biscuits at lunchtime.
We give him Chappie as he had a nasty bout of Colitis when he was about 6 months and he seems to do really well on it.

Thanks, have watched the video, very helpful, I will try this calming him down and see if that works.

If you can, I would take him off Chappie... It has a high sugar and fat content and might be adding to your problem (like feeding a child just gummibears or chocolate). A good dry food like Skinners of James wellbeloved would be much better, maybe with a spoon of chappie and some warm water to make up a tasty gravy to get him to eat it happily... They both do a hypoallergenic range for sensitive tummys. Mine eat Skinners salmon and rice.

Kismet was just the same. I can tell you there is light, She has turned around 100%. She can be fed in the same room as my other dog now and waits for him to finish before going to see if he left her anything and food can be taken away with no stress at all... Last night was a real test of this as I suddenly realised I had forgotten to out her medicine in her bowl... Without a second thought I picked up her bowl while she was still eating , crumbled in her tablets, stirred it and gave it back to her, all the time she just followed me and waited. It wasn't till I put it down again I realised what I had just managed to do! We are 2 years down the line from your pup though, so don't expect overnight success.

Firstly you need to make dinner less intense. changing from high sugar food will help. Put some of the food in the bowl, then every now and then while he's eating come and drop some more dinner into the bowl. Don't say anything. Keep doing this until you notice a change in attitude. instead of hunkering over and protecting the bowl he should look up as you approach and anticipate good stuff to happen. When you come to taking the bowl away, again without saying anything, throw something extra tasty like some chicken on to the floor nearby and 'swap' the bowl. If he dives back to the bowl to protect it, don't turn it into a battle... go into the other room and start playing with or training the other dog, see if that breaks his focus on the bowl. Or ask him to come and do some tricks for you for some super treats. Anything that will divert attention, whatever works for him.

It takes a while.. But it will work. I promise.

I did it wrong with Kismet too in the beginning... I pinned her, stole her food... meal times became a warzone. In hindsight I totally see how everything I did made her worse. Poor thing already knew food was awesome and high value, I just made it even worse by with holding it, then fighting her for it!

Have patience

he will come round.

Oh thanks, I will definately do this starting tonight, even though hes ok with me feeding him I think its important as you say that it takes his focus away from his bowl.
I will try him on the Skinners for sensitive tummys, can you buy it in the supermarket or can I get it online?
Thanks ever so much for help, its really appreciated.

Thanks Whichpet, I found that very interesting & by far the best method I have read so far.

My young Whippet had many bouts of Colitis & was very under weight hungry. He was on Arden Grange senstive - I added -( Pudding) Rice, Raw Minced Tripe, 1/4tsp Probiotics.
1/4-1/2 capuale Sippery Elm with each meal. He soon put on weight & no more Colitis.

Goog Luck.

Your dog does what many spaniels do, resource guard, not only food, but object and locations.

It is very common in spaniels, but that does not mean it is acceptable.

It is simple to cure, although it can be time consuming.

One of the most important things is to make sure both you and your husband agree a plan of action and abide by the same rules.


Mine! A guide to resource guarding in dogs by Jean Donaldson is a very good publication.

In the meantime look here.

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/re...ndfoodgame.pdf

Think about what you want to achieve, what you do not want and put together a plan of action.

I would feed this dog in DIFFERENT locations every day for a while, and follow the destructions in the link

And I would consider the sofa sharing currently, if he objects to being moved then I would have a short light house line on him in the house (when you are there) so you can move him without risk.

Teach him ON and OFF.

There is nothing wrong in sharing sofas, but the emphasis is on SHARING, not OWNING it.

Resource guarding is natural, it does not mean your dog is nasty, just normal.