puppy food aggreasion

[lynnk]

Hi, I have a 2.5 yr. old female pyr., and a new 8 week old female pyr puppy. I think the puppy thinks she is dominant, and my older girl lola takes it . Now ...should I be worried,??? 1st. that this puppy growls when she plays( or is this normal?) 2nd. When the big one is eating the puppy noses in and helps herself, to which Lola just lets her, but on 2 separate occasions lola came too close to the puppy,s food and she growled, and once the same with a rawhide. I don't want this to become a problem, when she is older so if this isn't "normal" puppy behavior, (and I don't think it is) what can I do now when she is so little to stop food aggression. Thank you Lynn...Please respond asap as I'm so worried

[risestar]

Hello,

Yes, some growling during play is normal, you will be able to tell if things get out of hand as it will escalate quickly, although this is very rare with a young pup.

Many adults will issue a "puppy license", where they will give it a greater degree of leeway than they would if the dog was older.

Its not common for a adult Pyr to allow a young pup near its food without telling it "no". Is your adult fairly submissive?

If it is, then its likely that the pup will assume the dominant role as it matures and the adult will accept it if it is not dominant.

It is normal for an adult to growl if pup approaches its food. This is how the puppy learns good canine etiquite and manners. The pups mother usually will do the same thing. If the pup persists, the adult may nip it and the pup will back off. This is the adults way of telling it that its behavior is not acceptable. Generally after a couple times, the pup will accept it and it will not be an ongoing problem.

Usually, there are only problems when there are 2 dogs, both of which want to be the dominant dog or if you have an extremely dominant dog that wont tolerate another dog. This does not sound like the case.

In any event, it is far too early to begin worrying, make sure you socialize the pup really well, have it taken to obedience and chances are the two will work out any differences naturally

:)

[dixiesmom]

I am new to the breed & am worried about my puppy's recent behavior. She's 8 weeks old and I've had her for a little over a week. I am feeding her & kenneling her inside. We go outside to potty & play - but my border collie is fed outside & Dixie has found his food bowl. Most of the time I remember to remove it when we go outside, but on two different occasions she's beat me to it and started to eat his food. When I try and take her away from the bowl, she growls & tries to turn and bite my hand. Is this normal behavior? How do I correct this, or will she outgrow it?

[risestar]

Hi Dixiesmom,

Not, that is a sign that the puppy believes that it has dominance over you. This must be corrected immediately to avoid a problem that will be difficult to fix later.

You must be the Alpha, the pup must clearly understand that you are free to remove the food anytime you want.

Easiest way to fix this is to take the pup, when it displays aggression of any kind, gently flip it upside down and pin it to the ground, upside down until it gives up and relaxes. It will squirm and try to get up, do not allow it to until it stops resisting and relaxes. This is the pup submitting to your dominance. 80% of the time, one of these early on will cure human aggression problems for good. Odd time it will be required to repeat.

Also, show clear dominance when feeding, if the pup growls, take the food away for the night, then the pup will understand that you control it and can take it away if it does not play by the rules. Do the same with toys as well.

I have put together a comprehensive page here: http://www.greatpyr.com/great_pyrenees_training.php

Scroll down to "Proper control techniques", which will really help you through this period.




I am new to the breed & am worried about my puppy's recent behavior. She's 8 weeks old and I've had her for a little over a week. I am feeding her & kenneling her inside. We go outside to potty & play - but my border collie is fed outside & Dixie has found his food bowl. Most of the time I remember to remove it when we go outside, but on two different occasions she's beat me to it and started to eat his food. When I try and take her away from the bowl, she growls & tries to turn and bite my hand. Is this normal behavior? How do I correct this, or will she outgrow it?

[Sallygirl]

I had a pup that had food aggression and my trainer advised to drop treats...something they don't usually get into their food bowl as they eat. Pepperoni is great...just drop a few bits into the bowl as you walk passed.

I have a great pyrenees now, which has never had food aggression, but I still keep it up...dropping special treats into her bowl once or twice a week while she is eating. My daughter by accident pushed over her food bowl while she was eating...tight fitting area and while my daughter was picking up Sally Girl's (my pyrenees) food, she got a big kiss. Mind you I can never leave any food out or gobble guts eats it before you can say her name. While we are eatting she is great...never bothers us, as I can't stand a dog hanging around me while I eat, but once that is done it's free for all. She ate my whole pumpking pie I just made the other day. So microwave or oven are great places for food.

So you might want to try that...worked wonders for my pup with food aggression, but like anything it took time. As for my pyrenees, She is my pre-rinse cycle as I like to say!

Sallygirl :D

[Sallygirl]

I am sorry I did not explain why giving a treat in the food bowl cures the food aggression. They realize that instead of being aggressive something good is coming. Suggestion is..do this once a day in his food bowl. With a pup you tend to feed them several times a day, so if you only do it once a day he does not know when he will receive his special treat, so he must be good at all feedings not just the one he get the treat with. It will take time for him to realize but if I know pyrenees, I expect in a week he will start to learn.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Sallygirl :)