Am I nasty?

I had my mum over the other day and when she saw me do the following she said it was mean.

Due to the fact my son is in the house and after we get married we want to have another baby, when I give Vegas food I sometimes, (not too often) go up during the meal and play with her bowl, or pat her and every now and then actually touch the food she is eating.

The purpose of this is to get her used to this so she doesnt become food aggressive. I also make sure my son knows that he is not to go near her when she is eating.

Mum says I should leave her be during meals.

Opinions please???

People have different views on this, some would say 'leave her' as you wouldn't want anyone messing with your food whilst you were eating and it is not difficult to put a dog away from people whilst its eating.

However Im a foster carer and my dogs have to be accessed every year, thats in their protocol, so I have to train my dogs not to react if anyone touches their food,dishes,take things off them, but TBH if this wasn't required by the FCA who I work for I wouldn't bother.
If Im honest although I do this I don't allow foster kids near them anyway when they are eating, but there are times when they have a a chew or something and foster kids reach out and take it.....so I can see why FCA have such rules in place but I feel even with such training a dog will never be 100%....even though we have not (upto now) had any problems with kids touching them whilst eating....and I DO remind kids about this fact

Great thanks, I dont ever tease her at all, I just want her to know that if someone touches her food its ok they are not taking it from her.

She is a very placid dog and like I said I would never let my children unsupervised but I would prefer her to know its ok if someone touches her food.

Its like I always play with her ears, tail, feet etc during grooming and play because I want her to be used to this for vet visits etc..

No i think that's great what you're doing.

I used to do exactly that, I was worried about our akita pup becoming food aggressive when reading up on bringing a pup up so what i used to do was not take her food away, or pretend to eat it which i think is ridiculous, but just move it to one side for a second and tell her to 'wait there keish' to pretend to clean the bit of floor under the bowl or pretend to need to be past and move her out the way, or give it a stir and add a bit more in whilst she was eating, she never resisted or complained, it worked for us, and even though she's a greedy monster she's never been 'food aggressive'..

I did this with mine just place my hand near there food without teasing or removing food. I think like everything it is a personal decision
ATD x

Rather than playing with the food she already has, I would be more inclined to keep a bit of it back, and then add a bit more (just the once) to her bowl, so that she see's your hand going in, but is getting a reward by letting you put your hand in that bowl, a gentle quick stroke, job over. Personal choice, but I like to leave mine in peace when eating once they understand as puppies, knowing I can always move it, take food out, add food whatever without getting bitten. You're doing a good job though, just don't overdo it, coz it could have the opposite effect, or she could turn into a picky eater coz she's fed up of having the highlight of her day intereferred with.

I am doing this with Taz as he is aggressive when food is around. I stroke him along his back and his head, not for too long, and then leave him to get on with it.

I am starting to get there with him, he doesn't growl at me now!

They have to realise that you are a giver of food and not a taker away.

Awesome idea thank you, love it. I only ever bother her once while she is eating and not all the time

Thanks so much guys, I just want to teach Vegas while she is a pup that she doesnt have to be concerned for her food

None of my dogs have any problem with anyone approaching them when they are eating because the only time this happens is to add to the food in the bowl.
TBH my kids were always prevented from bothering the dogs while they were eating - and vice versa.