Ddog growled at DD

[Dontcomeforme01]

TLDR - DD (10 ) tried taking food tray dog ( almost 3 ) had taken from the bin. Dog has growled and barked at DD. Never done it before.

Took his crate down today but now wondering if I should put it back up

We've had Ddog since he was a baby, hes almost 3. Hes been raised alongside my children ( 8 and 10 ) and 4 cats.

He has always been absolutely fantastic with us and is a very loving boy. He has always been a food thief 🤣 cant leave anything out or he will have it. Hes never been bothered about having things taken off him that he shouldnt have. He's always had a very large crate and has always been fed in his crate. He's been protective of his food with the cats and would growl and bark at them if they went near his crate whilst he was eating ( not a regular thing I've fed them in separate rooms for years now )

His crate is really large and takes up a good chunk of my front room so I took it down today ( given hes nearly 3 I was hoping I could get rid of it, I only got it because he used to chew as a puppy if I had to pop out )

I've been tidying up and had a bag of rubbish by the door to take it out, I nipped to the toilet and Ddog has gotten part of a food tray with a bit of left over food on it and DD has gone over to take it off him. Hes growled at her and then barked at her. I've rushed off toilet calling down and DD has come upstairs to tell me

I've come downstairs to take it off him and he moved away from it and didnt growl or bark when I took it.

I told him to get on his bed and took the rubbish outside. He was very shameful when I sent him to his bed ( yano what dogs are like when they know theyve done somthing wrong )

after about 10 minutes I got DD to make his dinner and give it to him. He listened and did as asked when she asked him to sit and wait

Do you think I should put his crate back up? Obviously I dont make a habit of leaving rubbish by the door, when DD fed him earlier I made sure he had his space and none of us were near him.

I'm just worried this might now transfer onto his toys ect.

So he's always been fed in a crate where noone bothers him, he managed to get leftovers out the bin and DD tried to remove it? I'm not surprised he growled. Sounds like basic food aggression. Especially if it was something yummy like stew or lasagne.

Our old dog warning growled twice in his twelve years . Once when he stole a chicken out of a bin and another time when he stole a birthday cake.

He was never aggressive in any other way, not even when he got older and in pain.

Agree the high quality reward swap is probably best.

Dog was giving your son a warning, which is good and normal communication for a dog.

I've always found that if a dog finds something themselves(even if it has been stolen from a bin), they will instinctively be a lot more possessive over it (dog is in hunter mode), your ds needs to be told to never try to take food or even toys off the dog, especially as he's only 10. It's bullshit that dogs need to be taught to have food taken away, any good trainer would never advocate that.

You should get a bin lock and give your dog its food in a different room away from dc.

I'd also put the crate back up, it's likely that's it's your dog's safe space, ours have been crate trained since being puppies, and they still use that space to eat biscuits and take favourite toys into there. Our dc have been taught never to take anything out of ddog's crate, if they are worried the dog has something he shouldn't, they come and get either me or my dh.

My dog (spaniel x) has a bit of a tendency to resource guard high value items and, as I've never experienced this in any previous dogs, I sought advice off a trainer. He basically said the only way to stop resource guarding is to never let it happen, so just to be very mindful of what he classes as high value, don't approach him when he's eating (we never do anyway), don't grab at things from him, and be prepared to do a swap. My dog isn't hugely food motivated, so I always have a squeaky ball to hand, as he'd sell his kidneys for one of those!

He's only actually growled at me twice - once over a foil takeaway container that I'd stupidly put down for him to lick the remnants of crispy duck and once over a lamb leg bone that I'd let him have to gnaw the last little scraps off. Both things he's never having again. Any food gets put in his bowl in the kitchen and he's left alone to eat. Every time you try to take something off a dog with a bit of a tendency to guard, you're reinforcing their need to guard it.

Calm down OP.

First of all, never mess with a dogs food, it's the quickest way to get them riled up.

All animals have emotions, dogs, cats, cows, humans, elephants, rats, you wouldn't post on here about your DD getting upset because her sibling took her last slice of pizza, dogs are no different if you try to take their food. Unless you have an XL or some other giant breed I really wouldn't worry. I think there is massive hysteria about dogs showing any aggression what so ever, it's nonsense. Just because a dog growled, doesn't mean they're going to go rogue and rip someone's arm off, anymore than one of your kids will turn into a serial killer if they punch their sibling for taking a toy.

It sounds like you know your dog very well.

I keep getting told on here that its wrong to handle their bowl and food so I'd best stop saying it. Mine are not food orientated but obviously yours being part Labrador it will be. Looks like high value treats will be the way to go.

I can understand that the crate for such a large dog must take up a lot of space so I hope you can find a solution to that problem.

If he growls with food around cats, he's a resource guarder.

Read up on this as it can get worse.

Don't take things from him, prevent him from getting them (easier said then done!).

In situations like this, you should swap the food tray for something higher value. He chooss to give up the tray, you don't take it from him.

Taking things from him teaches him he needs to guard them.

We've got a rule with our kids that nothing is taken from the dog, only swapped.
Thankfully this has resulted in a dog that automatically drops what's in their mouth when we come by in the hope of cheese!

Agree with PP your dog has been showing you signs for a long time that he has resource guarding issues.

But, I don't think you should be taking training advice from people off the internet - if you missed such a big sign of resource guarding, I'd describe you as a novice owner (no offence) and novice owners shouldn't be trying to fix issues like resource guarding alone as it's difficult and can easily be made worse. You need be behaviourist - and a good one.

Dogs most certainly do know when they’ve done wrong. I soon as I open my front door I can tell, by my dog’s behaviour, if he’s had an accident. He’s a 14 yr old GSD, so accidents happen these days , but his lack of eye contact and behaviour is an instant giveaway.

I don’t think you need to put the crate back up. Just make sure your dog can’t get food out of the bin or anywhere else. And if they do, I would expect an adult to facilitate a swap for something they are allowed, not a child to take it from them.

Nobody has said hes been showing resource guarding for a long time.... aside from me when I've mentioned what he is like with the cats 🤣

And I didnt miss it, if youd bothered to read my comments youd see that I spotted he was like this with the cats from being a puppy and avoided putting him in situations where he felt like he had to gaurd his food 🙄

I wont be getting a behaviourist, hes almost 3 and this is the first incident we've ever had where hes growled at one of us

Growling at the cats when they go near him IS resource guarding.

And if you knew he was like this, why of earth didn't you warn your children away from him and to not take food from him? Poor dog ownership and poor parenting.

Tbh I revise my opinion, you're not a novice owner - you're a negligent one.

Havent read the whole thread.....

This is a non event.

Teach your DD how to swop an item and job done.

Throw treat on floor pick up item the dog has. No need for growling, crates or behaviourists.

Thinking of if the thread had been written by the dog

Got lovely owners for the last 3 years they are lovely to me we are a family with children and cats and all get on.

Suddenly for no reason the child tried to steal my best ever food item. I was so surprised I growled to let them know I wanted to keep it. Then barked in surprise. Not my finest hour but I was shocked and really wanted to keep it. Why had they left it out if I couldnt have it?

Yes mine has given himself away in the past by doing the same 😅

Yes dear, of course I am 🤣 Can tell when someone hasnt read the full thread. And it wasnt food, it was rubbish. But by all means, keep making up a story that suits whatever narrative you have going on 😅

"Ddog has gotten part of a food tray with a bit of left over food on it and DD has gone over to take it off him."

I mean...you said food.

I read the full thread, but apparently you didn't 😉

But you did say he has issues due to the cats. You overcame this by feeding him in his crate. You've also said he's always been a food thief. So he has been resource guarding for some time.

You've changed his feeding routine. If the crate is down where is he now fed? Is he in a room alone? The food out the bin, to him is a high value treat that he didn't want to give up.

He's also in the teenager stage So I would be mindful of that as well. I don't think he's going to be an issue to you as long as you remove the temptations but just be mindful in the future.

Haha nicely written 😅

I think I just needed other people to say it wasnt a big deal. I have AUHD so i tend to overthink things as it is,

Hes played nicely with my children since yesterday ( he loves tug a war, fetch ect ) & DD fed him again this morning,

I didnt end up putting his crate back up, I'm going to see how he gets on without it,

Yes exactly, so I cant see how I've missed it when I'm aware of what hes like with the cats and I've avoided putting him in situations where he felt like he had to gaurd his food

I dont think being a food thief is a sign of resource guarding, lots of dogs/cats steal food

He's still fed in the Same room in the same spot just without the crate now, last night one DC was upstairs whilst he was eating the other was sat on the sofa at the other side of the room with me, none of us ever bother him while hes eating

I was hoping he'd be almost out of the teenage stage soon, everyone i know with a Male dog has said theirs really calmed down/started gaining weight after 3 😅

I was once alerted to the fact that Something had happened by the behaviour of one of my dogs. I went into the kitchen in high alert and lo, some little bugger had just discovered how to reach up onto the worktop and had swiped some cakes.

Also - and this is a genuine question - if you teach a dog to swap an item for a high value treat, how do you then stop a clever dog from milking this for all it is worth? One of mine is clever, downright cunning and food obsessed. If she was prone to resource guarding - luckily she isn't - it would take her a handful of repetitions to realise that carrying a shoe = rabbit's ear or whatever. Putting all shoes away always wouldn't be feasible in a busy household. So then what?

I assume if a dog learnt to play the system like this then things would just have to be put away at all times 😅

My dog absolutely loves stuffed animals and plastic. The kids cannot leave any toys unattended downstairs or he will take them/chew them up ( he has never had an issue with me taking the kids toys from him, it doesnt happen often to be fair, we very quickly learnt he loves plastic 😅) DD loves those furry tail key rings and the dog will take them if the opportunity arises 🤣

Mine is food obsessed too, apparently it's the lab in him. He is such a lovely boy and very very clever.

From this it sounds as if the situation was unusual and is hopefully just a one-off. If you can usually get things off him then this is clearly not how he normally behaves. As long as you monitor the situation and ensure that the kids know about high-value treats in an emergency such as that, where you need to get something off him quickly, then hopefully the growling won't recur.

Well DDog has been known to bring me something he shouldn't have and place his whole face in my hand while not letting go of said item in a "swap this for cheese before I eat it and die" manouvre.

Well, obviously the ideal is to avoid resource guarding in the first place but there are still occasions when you need to get something off them in a hurry and this is where the high value treats like a bit of cheese come in handy. I think in this case, a high value treat would have been the appropriate quick fix; the situation with a binned food carton is highly unlikely to recur so there's no reason why it should become a habit.

I do see your point though and I do think food is overused in dog training. When I had some recent training sessions with my pup this was an issue for me because I prefer my LGD not to be food motivated/food obsessed. I do use high value treats but I use them very sparingly, the reward/motivation is generally affection and play. We've never had an issue with resource guarding either but I know my own dogs and I know what motivates them.