puppy growling while eating

ok my puppy is now 11 weeks old... yesterday we went on a road trip and we stopped to get her something to eat bc is was past her feeding time and i knew she must be hungry..while she was eating in the truck i went to move something by her and she started growling at me pretty bad..this is the 2nd time she has done that.. the first time she snipped at me and my boyfriend..i i understand that she may be into her food..but what if she bit a child or someone else...what should i do?? i just told her no in a strong tone and then shortly after started petting her and rubbing her beely while she was eating..she only growled at me one other time after that and i again told her no when she started...any suggestions?????

What she is doing is absolutely normal and natural dog behaviour although obviously not what we as humans desire in our pet dogs

Basically teach her to like humans around her food and help her believe they come to add, not to take away.

Álso don't tell her off as this will "prove" to her you are wanting to have what she's got ie her grub!

Wys
x

You need to stop this behaviour ASAP.

Bostons are lovely dogs but they can have a tendancy towards being aggressive, especially over food, if not trained and handled properly. I know several boston owners who have this exact same problem, and one person even had her (fully grown, adult) pug killed after the boston attacked it during "food time".

I personally disagree with the "dont tell her off thing" but i guess you have to do what method you think is right. If one of mine were to growl at me, or another of the dogs, over food they would get a very firm "no" and have the bowl taken away from them for a few seconds.

As a matter of course with pups i do pick the bowl up and take it away (only for a couple of seconds!!) and give them loads of praise when i put it back down. And, thankfully, when all ten of my dogs are in the same house they can all be fed in one room with no problems whatsoever! So it does work, for me at least.

Hi Frogdog, here is a thread with a similar topic which may be of help to you..

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=102958

Frogdog please read the link I posted, I think you will find it helpful in explaining why you should not chastise your dog or try to remove its food.

Can I also add in the case of your puppy, it is 11 weeks old so how long have you had it, 2 weeks? Your puppy hardly knows you and has yet to bond with you and to learn to trust you. I am not at all surprised she growled at you when feeling unsure about your actions .

What do your dogs learn by you doing this ??

If you were eating a meal & someone came & took the food away before you finished you would react wouldn't you ? I can see no point in giving a dog food & then taking it away-it does not IMHE teach the dog to give up something it should not have, it simply feeds the guarding instinct that is present in all dogs & belongs with the human must dominant dog in the past.

If you want to teach your dog not to worry about humans being close to their food, then placing the bowl on the ground & gradually adding the food shows the dog that you are a source of food & no threat.

Teaching dogs to swop has nothing to do with feeding regimes.

Agree with Jodee and Mini.

I've helped dogs and owners who have gone down this route and it's not pretty

I hope Pidge and Tillymint will come on and give their advice also

Wys
x

They learn that i can take food (and toys,bones etc) off them and they have to put up with it.

Its a dog, not a person

I just gave my opinion, it has worked for me (and i have trained a lot of dogs, my own, and others that have been sent to me with issues) and i've never had any issues with feeding times.

I am aware that we are speaking of dogs, but why do you feel that you need to remove food that you have given to your dogs ? They do not learn to give up toys or things they shouldn't have by doing this, you are IMHE trying to assert domination over the dog & for the life of me I cannot understand why. At our pet motivational dog training sessions we teach giving up toys etc by rewarding the behaviour, taking food supplied by you to a dog doesn't teach this, it can & frequently does encourage resource guarding(we've just managed to get over this with one of the dogs that attends the sessions-thanks to a lot of work by the owner)

Personally, id start hand feeding this dog, feed kibble by kibble with one hand & stroke the dog with the other. Build up then, one kibble in the hand one kibble put on the floor, (take in turns)continue with the stroking, then build up with one kibble in the hand , one kibble in the bowl (take in turns) Continue with the stroking, then trickle feed into the bowl from your hand.

Do not take any food away once given.

Teach a leave command on toys rewarding with food!

Good luck!