Dog food aggression isn’t always a sign of dominance. For many dogs, it can be a sign of fear or anxiety. If your dog is a rescue or shelter dog, or if they haven’t received sufficient food in their lifetime, if another dog in the house has tried to prevent your dog from eating…these are just a few reasons for dog food aggression.
I’ll tell you about my personal experience with this later in this post. But before that, I’d like to refer you to a dog food aggression training method that’s super effective.
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Grab my list of dog aggression safety tips!
Dog Food Aggression Training
Professional Dog Trainer and Behavioral Specialist, Doggy Dan (owner of the dog training website, TheOnlineDogTrainer.com) has a fairly new dog training program called, The Dog Calming Code.
It’s easy to follow and it’s particularly effective for stopping dog food aggression, regardless of the cause.
You can read my full review of The Dog Calming Code here. But the way it works is by teaching you 5 simple steps you can take to make your dog see you as the pack leader.
It builds a strong bond with your dog, makes the dog trust and respect you, and basically results in the dog having no reason to feel they need to be aggressive with food.
It’s interesting…check it out here:
Stop Dog Resource Guarding
Doggy Dan also has a helpful tutorial called, 5 Ways to Overcome Resource Guarding, which provides effective tips on understanding the cause of dog resource guarding and how you can fix it.
It was written as part of his rescue dog series, but the information pertains to any dog with food aggression.
How to Deal With Dog Food Aggression Safely
Here’s a short video from Doggy Dan showing you how to deal with food aggression safely until you get it solved:
My Dog’s Food Aggression
I have a bit of personal experience with dog food aggression. Several years ago, I adopted a miniature Dachshund named Taz. That’s her in the picture…”awww!”
She was well into adulthood when I adopted her and I had her for six and a half years. She was one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever owned!
I remember when I arrived at the dog shelter to pick her up, there were well over a dozen dogs running around the shelter. You could see little Taz felt a bit intimidated and outnumbered.
She settled into my home quite quickly and I didn’t have any behavioral issues with her until one of my cats would come anywhere NEAR her food. She was downright aggressive about food. She repeatedly scarfed up all the food from the cats’ dishes.
She’d eat her own food so ridiculously fast that she’d often choke a bit. And once, when I’d purchased one of those enormous bags of dog food, she sat next to the bag in the kitchen GUARDING IT ALL NIGHT!
My heart breaks when I think about this, because I think that perhaps the reason she was aggressive around food was because she’d spent time in that shelter.
It was a “dog eat dog” environment where she may have had to fight other dogs for her share of the food, or perhaps actually missed out on eating completely if she couldn’t hold her own.
Seriously. Can you imagine?
Anyway…I do recommend Doggy Dan’s training techniques to help you not only teach your dog to overcome food aggression, but also teach you how to communicate with your dog to create a loving bond between the two of you. After that, your dog will happily obey you. Always.
Who is Doggy Dan?
Doggy Dan is a Professional Dog Trainer and Behavioral Specialist, and the creator of the dog training website, TheOnlineDogTrainer.com.
His dog training website has been my top recommendation for puppy and dog training for going on 10 years now.
I believe in his training methods. They’re kind and super effective. You can read my full review here. Also check out my Complete Guide to Dog Training.
For More Help With Dog Aggression
- What is Dog Aggression? Dog Behaviorist Explains
- Why Your Dog Thinks Aggression is Necessary
- Why is My Dog Suddenly Aggressive?
- Dog Aggressive Toward Other Dogs?
- Dog Aggressive Toward People?
- Dog Aggression Towards Owner
- Dog Aggression Toward Children: A Parent's Guide
- Fear Aggression Dog Training
- Dog Food Aggression Training
- Stop Dogs Fighting: 7 Ways to Stop It and How to Prevent It
- What to Do (and NOT Do) if an Aggressive Dog Approaches You
- Why Do Dogs Growl? When It's Normal and When It's NOT
- Common Misconceptions About Dog Aggression
- Dangerous Dog Behavior: Solving Serious Aggression
To learn more about dog aggression, read my Ultimate Guide to Understanding & Managing Dog Aggression.
I Donate to Animal Charities
Thank you for visiting my website. I donate 10% of my profits on this website to animal charities. You can see a list of the charities I donate to here.
If you like this website, please share it with your friends and family who have pets. Thank you! Debra
For alternative approaches to stop dog food aggression, check out this post, How to Prevent Food Aggression in Dogs.
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