that sounds like a plan

hi
good avice given(re eating at the table etc )
imo you do need to work on this problem,say some food dropped on the floor(unoticed at the time) and both child and dog went to pick it up.
as with the other advice given i would make 'swap' into a fun game..when my pup is playing (or with a treat) i ask him to 'swap'. the object i am swapping with him is always higher value(in his eyes)than the one he has..you need to be seen as the 'provider' not the taker away

agree with this, I don't think any one thought you were hitting your dog, but just wanted to make sure you didnt as some articles say to hit your dog, to encourage them to do what you want (but really they will either do it out of fear or the aggression gets worse) I had a food agressive dog, to the point if I even tried to put his food bowl down to feed him, he would try to bite me, I am not sure how you can even get a dog to do that, but would like to give them what for, I basically sat with the food bowl about 2metres away from me and sat while he got use to having me near him while he ate and saw me as no threat, basically any method you use you need to make it positive and make sure you dont take things away forcefully, make them want to give it up for something better. Goodluck

i dont agree with that. i dont take jakes food bowl off him, but i think it is extremely important that dogs get used to people being close to them when they eat, and are able to get food they shouldnt have taken off them. i had a friend whose dog was extremely food aggressive, and it was something i didnt want jake to be like so i made sure he was used to people being close to him, and that he got used to food being taken off him. i think it is important for both their and others safety.

what makes you think they dont eat at a table? my nieces and nephew sit at the table to eat, yet still manage to get food on the floor... i even manage to get food on the floor occassionally.

But Lozzibear, yes I agree with you that it is important for family dogs not to be food aggressive. However, regularly taking food away from them is the most likely cause of a dog being food aggressive - so there is a good chance that you will cause what you are trying to prevent.

Some dogs have such a nature that they will accept whatever you to do them. My family dog was like that, although to be fair, he wasn't very food motivated.

But other dogs will only let you push them so far.

So yes, a good proportion of people will say 'I've always done this with my dog and its been fine'. But these people are going to be in for a shock when the next dog they have doesn't take too kindly to that treatment and before long they have major food guarding issues (which will no doubt be blamed on the dog rather than the owner).

ALWAYS respect your dog. Don't take their good nature for granted and don't give them cause to feel that humans are a threat to their food.

This doesn't mean that I'm saying the dog is allowed to eat what he/she wants - helping themselves to food from the counter, bins or floor. It means building up a relationship so that the dog realises that you being there and even you telling them to leave some tasty food is a good thing rather than a bad thing.

I don't know the circumstances whereby your children were splashing water in the dog's bowl so you had to remove the bowl but I'd be very careful of allowing your children to be around your dog at feeding time. It would be awful if your dog bit your children, so until you have the problem sorted, I would ensure that the dog is fed in one room while the children are in another room. Likewise, can your children have their meals away from the dog so that any dropped food can be cleared away before the dog is allowed back in?

I agree with those who have said that you shouldn't routinely try to remove the fod bowl while your dog is eating ~ that would be recipe for food aggression (& how would you like it if somone kept taking your dinner away while you were trying to eat it ~ I bet you'd get pretty grumpy too!).

If you have problems with people approaching your dog while she's eating, then the best way to handle it is to firstly ensure that people don't go near her at these times. After a while, when she's used to eating her food without interruption, you can try approaching but only to add something even tastier to her bowl. Then gradually allow other people to approach & drop something tasty into the bowl.

can't add to any of the advice given other than mine was a food agressive puppy & my first dog too. I didn't really know what I was doing & I made the whole situation worse at first. It was not a pleasant experience & although my kids are much older, I banned them from the kitchen whilst the dog was eating, although they didn't mean it, they too made the situation worse. It took me months of work to get over it. Although you say yours is ok with her food & that it's just things she has picked up, it could escalate into any food if your'e not careful. With the things she has picked up I would certainly trying swapping for something higher value rather than just taking it off her to avoid conflict.
I never take my dog's food bowl away but I can ask her to move away from it now which she duly obliges if I need to get to the cupboard or something.

Thank you so much for all your advice, I am just a learner!

We are having our main meals in the dinning room away from honey. Honey is eating hers in the kitchen on her own now and kids not allowed in

It is only the snacks that kids eat (pear or appple) that sometimes the 2 year old will drop on the floor. Honey seems to like fruit!!! But next time she hoovers it up I will try the subsitution for reward of higher value (dog treat) hopefully this shall work

thanks again!

Sophia

One of my dogs like pears and apples . It could save you a bit of hoovering.

and mine i wouldn't get the chance to remove any fruit