No one will tell you to shush

Like you said, it depends on your training methodology, but most trainers/behaviourists have moved away from that theory now. It is a matter of opinion - I don't think it is worth considering for the OP's dog, because the circumstances don't fit.

Also, if you've got a massive dog, you'd be surprised what they can reach! I'm looking after a Great Dane today whose owner neglected to tell me can open the fridge...

PS - Welcome

I had a dog who food guarded after she stole it.

I made sure there was nothing available to steal---bin on the side everything put away.

There is no point in getting confrontational about this---you will always lose, the dog has bigger teeth.

I overcame it gradually by clickering a swop and making siure she trusted that EVERY time she swopped she had a good reward. In the end she gave objects including food up very easily and would go to the cupboard for her swop.

However it took a couple of years to get to that stage from the point of her trying to bite, it is a real trust issue and the dog has to trust everyone who is likely to have to cope with it.

The pin cushion should have been easy to get away from it with a good food swop---it isn't easy for owners to reward what they see as bad behaviour but you have to look at it from the dogs point of view.

rune

Thanks and yes I guess there is only so many high shelves you can have lol, and being only 5"1 myself i guess these big dogs can reach higher than me

also added to the mix is the panic you must feel when your pup is running about with a pin cushion in it's mouth, must be hard to think straight

Yes we do try to do that but as you can imagine sometimes things do get left out when they shouldn't be, it's an occupational hazard of having teenages in the house.

This has been a big learning curve for us as our other dog would never touch 'human' food or anything else for that matter so we are having to get used to having a opportunist thief in the house. If someone has left the baby gate to the kitchen open during the evening while we are watching and it's suddenly gone quiet we can predict that Alfie will be counter surfing to see if there are any goodies on offer.

We have had 7.5 years of not having to worry. Also he is as tall as me, you cannot even put something at the back of the kitchen worktop because he can reach it. This is a 35kgs, 11 month old puppy we are talking about.

this is a bit like having a second child when the first one slept through the night, never had colic, never had teething problems and was a model of perfection.

Then along comes number two............

Never sleeps, never eats, has colic 24/7, takes two years to be potty trained.

As I used to say (when I was a nanny) when they are all 12 years old (and older) nobody will be able to tell who walked, talked first; who had the first tooth, who was potty trained first.

It is always a shock to have had a relatively event free experience with your first (dog/horse/child) to be met with "apocalypse now" with the second.

It is much nicer to have the ghastly one first, and then the second one is a nice surprise.

You just have two different dogs, both are normal.

My dog didn't counter surf---she jumped onto the work surface!

rune

Mine jumped on the kitchen table....and pooed on it

I had a similar situation when I rehomed Dex. He was 14 months and large for a Labrador. He would guard everything, including the sofa. I was in fact so scared of him that I spent the first two nights with my door locked!

It took a while for Dex to relax and for me to learn how to best handle him. Even so, several months in, he bit my brother... My brother was furious.

I was lucky, someone put me in touch with an experienced ex police dog handler and she really helped me understand Dex a lot better. So I would echo what others have said to you about seeking help from a professional - he/she will help you develop strategies for dealing with the guarding issues and anything else that you need help with.

If it's any consolation, it's now a year and a half on for us, and Dex is a far softer, far more affectionate, more relaxed dog. He does not guard any more and my brother has realised that he must NOT indulge in play that gets Dex over excited.

I know it's scary when you have a large, young dog that guards and has bitten - it's great that you guys are all working so hard to help this dog

sorry for laughing but i couldn't help it.................