01.02.2019

Dog Behaviour, Dog Training, Food Aggression

The best way to deal with a dog that is protective over its food bowl is to dispense with the bowl altogether.
This usually solves the problem very quickly.
You can scatter your dogs food, making it harder for your dog to protect, which diffuses the situation.
Feeding a Puppy -
One common recommendation is to take the food bowl away occasionally as the pup eats. However, experience suggests, the only thing that this teaches the pup is that something negative is likely to happen when people come near as he or she is eating—they may snatch the food.
Even if the removal of food is synchronized with a reward, the dog may still consider the abrupt removal of their food more threatening than any benefit from the reward.

Another common thought is to put your hand in your pup’s bowl as they eat, so they get used to the close proximity of people during meal times. Once again, a dog with a nervous temperament or a high food drive might feel this is too threatening and become more reactive in the situation.

Bones -
Food can be used as a trophy by dogs and a bone is an extra special trophy.
Lookout to ensure there are no bones left lying around that your dog might want to protect, gather them back in and give them out when you want,
Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant, Dogs Best Friend.