Agree with Pat,not all dogs have an objection to people taking things away from them. I know mine doesn't,wasn't trained that way nor does she have to be offered a higher treat in return.You want it she'll give it up
Understand not all dogs are the same and measures have to be taken with those who protest when food,bones etc have to be removed for whatever reason.

It's easier and best to train to avoid an issue rather than have to retrain once you realise there is an issue.

My friend got of lab pup 6 years ago and asked my advice. I told her to read and implement everything in Gwen Bailey's Te Perfect Puppy...they didn't...well they bought the book t never read it. 9 months old they asked for more advice because she had started to growl and guard food and chews. She had growled once and they had really told her off...and it escalated of course and they kept telling her off. They then had to do a lot of re training but never managed to solve it and she is still very tense when she has bones etc...I wouldn't let my children in the same room as her if she has a bone or is eating her meals. It's not a happy and relaxed time for her.

My viewpoint is that we should teach our dogs not to react if children go near their food - because in the real world accidents can and do happen. I am equally vehement that children should be taught right from baby stage that they must respect dogs, respect their space, and always ask the owner before touching.

In an ideal world, a perfect world, accidents would never happen. Sadly in the real world they do - I prefer to err on the side of caution and train my dogs not to react to ANYBODY coming near when they have food, but especially with children.

Oops! I hadn't read your post TW when I made a very similar one myself

I had a cat like that for many years! I wasn't familiar with this term 'alpha' for animals back then but she definitely WAS - not just over every person and other animal in our household but over most of the surrounding neighbourhood too!

No of course not!! But equally maybe some of us are not such brilliant dog handlers as you? I trust my dogs 100% with myself and my immediate family, but with strangers and especially children I like to err on the side of caution and say no, with strangers and children I do not trust them 100% - at the end of the day they are animals and can behave as such if terrified for instance and pushed to the extreme.

As for your 0% trust in children, I think that is very extreme! Most kids are well-behaved, well brought up and respectful of animals as well as their own kind. You get the few percent who are little monsters with parents who idolise their revolting brats and think it is perfectly OK to let them run around screaming and shouting because the little darlings "must express themselves!!".

I will give you an example of my boy Tai who I would trust with anyone. He has never ever ever even growled at anyone ever since he has been living with us. However, a few years ago he was running through the woods and impaled himself on a large dead branch lying on the ground. We had no idea what had happened at the time, other than we heard a sharp very loud crack and Tai instantly starting screaming his head off and freaking out - I thought he had been shot. I immediately grabbed him and tried to calm him down, whereupon he just very subtly lifted his lip at me just for a split second whilst I tried to calm him and look for what I thought would be shot wounds. He never growled at me, but he was shrieking his head off and trying to get away from me, and this split second of aggression just demonstrated to me how you cannot ever say that you can trust your dog 100%. Obviously you do with yourself if you know what I mean, but never with strangers. You cannot be too careful IMO.

So I will state that no, I do not trust my dogs 100% with strangers and especially children.

Very well said

That brings back a memory of when I lived in Spain for a year when I was 8. I used to walk everyone's dogs for them and on this one day I was walking a little JRT called Pipo.
We had been to the beach and were walking home through a grassy park area when he raced into the grass and wouldn't come back when I called him. I found him chewing on a cooked chicken carcass. I tried to get him away but he was snarling and snapping if I went anywhere near him. Eventually I managed to get him home. The following day I went to walk him again and was told he was out in the shed and was very ill. She allowed me to go and see him, he was just lying in his bed and didn't even look up at me he was so ill. His owner, who was our maid at the time (no we're not posh or rich) didn't have the money to take him to a vet so when I told my dad about it he offered to pay but she wouldn't accept the money.
4 days later he died. The chicken carcass had probably been laced with poison as there was a bit of a problem with rats in that area. If he'd been trained to leave things he wouldn't have died a slow painful death.

So yes, I believe dogs should be trained to allow you to take things from them.

Totally agree,I have said this before and I'd really like the meet the person who can put their hand on their heart and say they have 100% confidence in their dogs reaction to every given situation.Counting on a dog's behaviour around your own family and people they trust is one thing...their reaction to a situation with a total stranger or hyper child COULD be somewhat different,no one can say otherwise with total confidence in my opinion....rather remain vigilant and cautious than have regret

As I have mentioned before(somewhere) dogs go for Mika because of the way he looks. It happens every day, a dog and owner will come up to Mika and the owners will ask if he's friendly, I reply yes, they will then tell me theirs is friendly wouldn't hurt a fly blah blah blah and the next second the dog is going for Mika. Thankfully Mika is used to and expects it now but never retaliates. My point is, is that an owner always thinks they can trust their dog 100% but Mika will prove them wrong. I only trust Mika 99% because one day he may get cheesed off and bite back.