Puppy Growling

[Nzuri]



Hi, I just switched my 14 week old female BB to the raw diet. She has now started growling and slightly barking at us. She intially let out a low growl, then a full blown growl

Prior to this, was easy going, pet her and touch her as she ate, but now thats changing.

I must say, I immediately snatched her by the scruff and placed her in a submissive position, and explained the rules, but she is still growling at girlfriend.

Idea? Suggestions? Thoughts?

[Aescleah]

ok thats perfectly normal dog behaviour that does not however make it exceptable raw is something they really like and has a higher value then say kibble he is treating you like a litter mate and fighting for his right to keep his food i believe when a dog eats they need to be left alone.at least dont stick you hand in taking food or taking his food away that just adds to his insecurities. however that does not change the fact he can not be lunging and growling about food but i think he is scared you are going to take it from him i would start hand feeding him his meals or at least a part of it i would also add food to his bowl and play trade games with him maybe not always at meal time but at odd times durin the day if you take something you are going to give him something equal or better it i think will help build up trust to teach him your hand near him eating is a good thing.  

i had this trouble with my zephy well with everything toys, and food perhaps others can give you better ideas  but the mentioned above worked for me

 

Ashley

[Nzuri]

Ashley,

Thanks for your help. I'll try it and keep you posted.

Aescleah said:

ok thats perfectly normal dog behaviour that does not however make it exceptable raw is something they really like and has a higher value then say kibble he is treating you like a litter mate and fighting for his right to keep his food i believe when a dog eats they need to be left alone.at least dont stick you hand in taking food or taking his food away that just adds to his insecurities. however that does not change the fact he can not be lunging and growling about food but i think he is scared you are going to take it from him i would start hand feeding him his meals or at least a part of it i would also add food to his bowl and play trade games with him maybe not always at meal time but at odd times durin the day if you take something you are going to give him something equal or better it i think will help build up trust to teach him your hand near him eating is a good thing.  

i had this trouble with my zephy well with everything toys, and food perhaps others can give you better ideas  but the mentioned above worked for me

 

Ashley

[jim l.]

Hi Nzuri, Ashley is right start hand feeding him then slowly work your way to holding the bowl while he eats, then give him half a bowl and then return and add the rest of the meal, he will then associate you to actually giving more food when you get near his food, and not be worried you will take it away, I also feed raw and my boy was crazy at feeding time, after doing this he calmed down and stopped growling, now he thinks every time i come near him at feeding time that i'am actually going to give him more food, so he calmly backs away and looks at me. hope this helps.

[Marco]

Hello Nzuri glad to hear you are feeding raw.  I also wanted to show you this article -> here <-  Some very nice info that will alos help.  Good luck, and keep us posted on how this is going for you.

[Aescleah]

nice artical marco the only thing i would be very careful of is using a prong at dinner time because prong collars  can esculate the drive you are trying to correct i would think when using that method a chokie or a aggressive dog collar would be better i like prongs but in this case i think there use would be iffy at best

 

Ashley

[Carrie Kruczek]

We've been through this issue with our male, and fortunately when the resource guarding happened, we were already working with an excellent trainer.  Her opinion is that very often strong territorial guarding goes hand in hand with resource guarding.  She told us that the object is to prevent the food guarding, because usually once it starts, there is no going back, it will often escalate.  She recommended that we put our boy into a sit/stay, put his food bowl down, release him from the stay and leave him alone to eat! We didn't have the issue with kibble, it happened when we switched to raw.  You can play the "trade up" game at mealtimes...when your dog is eating, you bring in a high value treat and (depending on the dog's aggression level) either toss it to the dog or drop it in the food bowl so that he discovers that when you approach the food bowl good things happen!   It's tough when you are feeding raw, because that is a high value food, it's almost impossible to find something that the dog likes better.  I found that my boy thought that liver sauteed in butter was even better than raw meat, so we offered that.  since the trade-up game worked with him, we used it a couple of times just to reinforce that positive association with us approaching while he was eating, after that, we took her recommendation and allow him to eat alone and undisturbed.  We had never had a problem with food guarding until he hit about 14 months old (and 130 lbs!) and then he never threatened me, just my 19 year old daughter. She corrected the growl, and fortunately he backed down, but we immediately took steps to make sure we didn't get into the same situation and changed our feeding procedures.  I think I'd put the puppy back on kibble for a few days, (it will make it easier to play the "trade-up" game) and offer super-yummy treats by hand to interrupt the kibble feeding.  When he's gotten a positive association from that, put him back on raw and feed him his meals where he will not be disturbed. I will sometimes remain in the room with him while he eats, but the trainer recommended that he be left alone...no petting, stroking, etc.  Just let him eat in peace!   

[Nzuri]

Everyone, thanks alot for the help, advise and answers. This site is an excellent resource. 
I've used some of the ideas given here, and she is back to being wonderful again. 
Thanks

Carrie Kruczek said:

We've been through this issue with our male, and fortunately when the resource guarding happened, we were already working with an excellent trainer.  Her opinion is that very often strong territorial guarding goes hand in hand with resource guarding.  She told us that the object is to prevent the food guarding, because usually once it starts, there is no going back, it will often escalate.  She recommended that we put our boy into a sit/stay, put his food bowl down, release him from the stay and leave him alone to eat! We didn't have the issue with kibble, it happened when we switched to raw.  You can play the "trade up" game at mealtimes...when your dog is eating, you bring in a high value treat and (depending on the dog's aggression level) either toss it to the dog or drop it in the food bowl so that he discovers that when you approach the food bowl good things happen!   It's tough when you are feeding raw, because that is a high value food, it's almost impossible to find something that the dog likes better.  I found that my boy thought that liver sauteed in butter was even better than raw meat, so we offered that.  since the trade-up game worked with him, we used it a couple of times just to reinforce that positive association with us approaching while he was eating, after that, we took her recommendation and allow him to eat alone and undisturbed.  We had never had a problem with food guarding until he hit about 14 months old (and 130 lbs!) and then he never threatened me, just my 19 year old daughter. She corrected the growl, and fortunately he backed down, but we immediately took steps to make sure we didn't get into the same situation and changed our feeding procedures.  I think I'd put the puppy back on kibble for a few days, (it will make it easier to play the "trade-up" game) and offer super-yummy treats by hand to interrupt the kibble feeding.  When he's gotten a positive association from that, put him back on raw and feed him his meals where he will not be disturbed. I will sometimes remain in the room with him while he eats, but the trainer recommended that he be left alone...no petting, stroking, etc.  Just let him eat in peace!   

[Bobby Jones]

First off these are all the signs of a none socilized Boerboel to me... nothing against you but you have to make the time to socilize your boerboel... take the dog to places where he will be around other animals... drive out to some ranchs and let the dog close to a horse but not to close... find a 4 or 6 inch fence panel you dog can stick its muzzle through but can not open... let the horse lick the dog... withing a month the dog will realize the horse is nice and not being mean or a threat...

goto a dog park and walk your dog around other dogs... but keep it on a leash and watch your dog... teach him what you want while walking him...

Do you pet your boerboel with a lot of affection? you do know boerboels get jealous !!! Trust me... I know this for sure... I have seen some things take place most of which can not be discused in here... your girl needs to show the dog a lot of love also... let her start out with some two handed neck rubbing... teach her to pet the dog on the shoulders where the boerboel loves to be rubed down... earn the trust and the love... the boerboel can not help but to react to this in the same way... you teach your boerboel with LOVE... this is the greatest boerboel secret of all time !!!

Last... feed him what he wants.... ill bet if you take some hamburger meat... cook it in a pan "med-well" add some salt and pepper "while cooking, just a bit" just like a person likes it... 2-3 lbs at a time.... the dog will love this more... then after this... let your girl friend do this...

 

[Bobby Jones]

When i first got ranger he was the meanest dog i had ever seen in my life in terms if desire to kill anything in site... he had gotten into some spotted mushrooms and the owner sold him to us... it took me 8 months to tame, socialize, and train him... another couple of months and we can goto the park and when he sees a dog... he dont even think about going after it... he wants to play with it if allowed... but he is not allowed to play with any dog but spygen our female... he has to be introduced to a dog first... and im talking weeks to be sure the other dog wont think he is trying to hurt him when in fact he is playing... ranger plays that ruff... the point is show the dog alot of love... never hit them... and socialize the dog... in fact go out of your way to socialize the dog to insure he knows how to behave... when he dont behave right show him the rope... after a good bit of showing him the rope he will come around... in the begining... i swated both dogs one good one while walking seperatly.... then one time when walking together to let them know just because they are together the pack dog rules are MINE and NOT theirs... after this a few walks a few lighter swats and then a simple low sounding "Hey Now" followed by a super light brush of the rope... never had a problem since... they know im the Boss... all i have to do is say stop... or down... if not on the leash... if on the leash... i just say walk... dont even have to tug the leash one bit... and unless i say Guard they dont even look at another dog... why ? because they trust me 100% to protect them by swinging the rope at the other dog if need be... now it is true... there could be that one time a crazy dog comes along and they might have to protect me... but to this date ive never had this happen... cause all i have todo is tell old Ranger Guard and he will stay in-between me and an aggressive dog... they have always backed down...  Even at the lake... this is the way it is.

[Bobby Jones]

ohh ic... the feeding thing... thats Great you handled this !!! and used a trainer... personnaly i have a fast way to handle this !!! our girl Spygen was like this and would attack other dogs over her food... she never hurt them just grab em, shake em, and then throw them... So one day (after we got Ranger) I fed them one bowl of food instead of two... She started to eat... I took the bowl from her... yeah she looked at me funny... she never had this happen before... i put the bowl down and said Ranger... she went for it... I held her back... then let her go after a talk... she growled again... so i grabed her jaw and told her no and another talkin... bla bla bla.... it did take 2 times of doing this a 3rd i monitored the feeding... works for me with an adult dog... but you did good...

[Bobby Jones]

Both my Boerboels were purchased as adults... they needed a lot of socilization, working, and love... they have takin to it like a sponge !

[D Mike Moore]

Well I bet I get swatted but here goes. When I started Jade on RAW as a pup she got real bad with food aggression. Being as I have always had big dogs and bully breeds I knew I could not have this so I just pulled her back by her scruff and scooped her food away. Then I had her sit stay and set the food down but left my hand on the bowl. She came in and pushed at my hand so I picked it up again I did this several time the first day and then again on the second day. She was cured on the third day. I can now give her a high value raw beef rib walk away then walk back and pick it up from her with no reaction except the look of "Can I have it back?" She will also share food space with the other 2 dogs (Rott/Chow mix) with now hoarding or growling.