Feeding a dog who guards his food can be dangerous. You can get bitten and you can even (accidentally) make the guarding behavior worse. There is a safe way to do it so that both you and your dog have a positive experience, which can actually help diminish the behavior over time.
Why Dogs Guard Food
Dogs guard food (and other things like toys, people, etc.) because their instinct is telling them they need to protect their resources. Wild animals guard things to survive, and while your domestic house pet is far from wild, they still have the ability to be a guarder.
For some dogs, it’s a genetic trait. These are the puppies that were brought up correctly and still exhibit the behavior, usually fairly young. For other dogs, their instinct might have been triggered by their environment – maybe your rescue dog lived on the street where food was scarce, was starved by his previous owner, or even had to fight other dogs for food.
Tips For Feeding Your Food-Guarding Dog
Regardless of the reason, dealing with a food guarding dog can be very difficult, but you can make it simpler by knowing the right tricks. The following are tips that will help you with your day-to-day routine of feeding your guarder. Then, you can get the help of a professional positive reinforcement dog trainer to help you with his behavior.
First – don’t tease. There are, unfortunately, videos online showing people taking food from resource guarding dogs. This is like playing Russian roulette with your hand. Don’t do it. Teasing a dog that guards his food will just make it worse. And while you may get luckily if he doesn’t bite the first time, at some point he is going to snap.
Second – prepare and set the food out in a separate room. Don’t have your food guarder in the room with you while you get it ready, especially if you have other dogs. Instead, be in a different room or have him in his kennel. This way, he can’t start guarding the food and/or you from other animals or people in the house. You also don’t want him to try and get the food from you, which could create a dangerous situation.
Third – don’t feed him in a crate. While crates can be a great training tool, if you feed a food guarder in his crate, he may start guarding his crate. He may even bite if you try to let him out of the crate because his food dish is in there.
Fourth – leave him be. When you are ready to feed him, have the food set out in the room and then let your dog in to eat. Feed other animals separately. As soon as he starts eating, leave him be. Don’t try to pet him, don’t try to take his food away. Wait until he is completely done eating.
Fifth – Call him away from the dish. When he is done eating, call him away or toss a toy or treat away from you and the bowl so you can pick it up safely. Some food guarders will guard an empty dish, so be careful.
