Re: [PyrNet-L] Chat: Anais at 5 Months

["Janice Swenson" <janices@jump.net>]

I'm not going to get into dominance theory.  There is a natural 
inclination in all dogs to guard food and it usually comes from 
insecurity and paranoia.  This is what I do with all my dogs and 
they all eat in a room together.  Everybody has their spot.  I try to 
get the dog secure and confident that what they've got won't be 
taken away and taking the bowl away means something good and 
my presence or any other dog's presence around their food is not a 
threat.  I sit on the floor and pet dog while eating and dangle hands 
in the food bowl.  Take it away and put something tasty in it and 
replace it.  Feed in small installments to get the association that 
my approaching the bowl is good news.  Then I work approaches 
with my other dogs going up.  

The last one I did this with is Sonny and my old male newf can 
walk around him and pick up tidbits that slop out of his bowl and he 
just continues to eat and pays no attention to him.  A food stealer I 
feed them and put them on a sit or down and they are not allowed 
near the other ones until they're finished.  I've got one food stealer.  
And once everybody is finished then desert comes out and they 
get their treat.  

A possible set of exercises can be:    
1. Approach empty bowl and dog, put small amount of food in bowl 
and retreat, keep repeating until food gone.  
2. Approach empty bowl and dog, remove bowl and put small 
amount of food in, and repeat.  
3. Sit next to bowl and dog, keep one hand on bowl, and with other 
hand feed meal in installments.  
4. Sit next to bowl and dog with one hand on bowl, pet and talk to 
dog, occasionally add tasty addition to food with other hand.  
5. Sit next to bowl while dog eating, remove hand from bowl and 
add tasty addition.  
6. Approach dog and bowl while dog eating, add tasty addition to 
bowl and retreat and repeat.  
7. Approach dog and bowl while dog eating, remove bowl, add 
addition tasty treat, replace bowl and repeat.  
8. Start back at #1 with another person.  

If at any point get guarding behavior, back off to easier exercise, 
and proceed more gradually and then start modifying the harder 
exercises.  Say if growls on approach, do a modification and 
approach to maybe 3 feet and throw morsel toward bowl and 
gradually decrease the distance until able to touch the bowl or wait 
until finished before approaching with desert.  

As to feeding the dog in it's crate.  The crate is the dog's den so 
what do you expect.  Have you really taught the puppy in it's den 
with it's food that someone approaching is not a threat.  Dogs if 
unsure of a situation will either fight or flight.  If a puppy doesn't 
really know what to do and it does have an inclination for flight, in a 
crate it has no where to go and once backed into a corner they will 
fight.  

Janice, janices@jump.net
Admiral & Linsey (newfs), Bianca & Sonny (pyrs)  
http://www.jump.net/~janices/
Leander, TX