My rottwieler never used to growl when you went near him when he is eating, but recently he has started. He doesn't go to bite or anything, but he does growl when you start walking towards him and growls enough that he starts to choke on his food. Is there anything that I can do to stop this. I have 4 kids in The House and while I don't think he would do anything you never know.
I would be concerned, too. Dogs usually do this because they think something will take their food away from them. If someone gets too close, he may actually bite them and perhaps more than once. I would try feeding him in an out of the way location where it is quiet and he can eat alone. I would also teach everyone to not go near him until he is done eating.
Maybe he doesn't like the food? This seems like a serious issue however, so I won't joke around. This is something the veterinarian should address. Growling while eating is not common at all in dogs. It could mean that he now feels threatened or that something unknown to you is bothering him. Just be careful until he gets a check-up!
Yes, this does indeed sound like the dog feels as though the food is being threatened by your presence. You should try feeding him away from the rest of the family and monitor his behavior. If it gets any worse, a vet would most likely be the safest option for you. Good luck.
Sounds like your dog is very possessive/territorial about his food. I think there was an episode on Cesar Milian about this.. I think he suggested (and I could be very wrong here!!) that humans eat first, then the dog eats. And of course, assert a calm stance (not always easy). I remember an episode where Cesar got his face between the dog's bowl and the growling dog. Anyway, good luck!
The term that you are looking for is called "food aggression" and may be caused my many things. There are tips and training methods to help with this. In all honesty I am not a dog trainer so the best I can suggest is to search for that term in google and find more information about it and perhaps seek the help of a professional trainer. It is something that you want to nip.
I would recommend going to a local pet store, or perhaps a groomer - anybody whom you may have access to with a good working knowledge of animal behavior. I don't know if you have a "Petsmart" in your local area, but places like that offer training classes. I'm thinking you can ask one of the trainers for an opinion (free of charge). I don't think you want to encourage the dog's behavior by giving it space, per say. I think that it may learn that it can bully people a little bit by growling at them. I think for someone in your situation, you want to eliminate the behavior if possible.
Have you had a trainer work with the dog? This aggressive behavior isn't good and should be corrected soon. Does the dog feel threatened like this around other dogs or pets too? Seek out a trainer in your area and save yourself the risk of some serious biting!
I would recommend that you take your dog to a vet or trainer or buy a Do-it-yourself training guide. It is never sensible to take chances when kids are sound so you must act fast to get to the bottom of the problem and get it resolved as soon as you can. Here are some helpful videos that will help you to understand the problem and perhaps find some solution Log In
How old is he? Dogs may not do it at first but can do it later on if you didn't break them of it early. My dog did it once when she was a puppy so from then on we would only let her eat if we were standing or sitting right next to her. We would also pet her on the back and then eventually were rubbing her head so she would be used to eating with other people around. I can put my hand in the bowl and she won't even go near it because we broke her of the habit to be protective of her food.
My Shih Tzu became the same way when she got a lot older. The only thing she ever wanted and was hostile over was her food. If you went near her, she would growl, but wouldn't bite. I learned to just accept it and she never did anything harmful to anyone throughout her entire life.
I agree that age has something to do with this behavior. But from my experiences, only dogs who are really getting up in age become less tolerant around people. You did the right thing, and fortunately it's probably not too late for this dog to be broken out of this habit too - especially since it is a new behavior. I don't know if anyone agrees, but how about spanking it when it does that? And taking it's food away?
Wow, a very cool discussion. I like that. But let me append something. First tell me that don't you think it may be some psychological issue? I think, it should be treated naturally. The dog must be trained about such activities. Food aggression is usually found in dogs who suffers from worms in abdomen or they are not fed proper and enough food.
That's a sure sign that a dog thinks that you're gonna steal his food, and to discourage you from doing it, they growl at you. Our dog is also like that. So I think that there's really nothing that you can do to change your dog's behavior. Just let him be and avoid being near him while he eats.
Reading this thread reminds me of my friend's dog.. that dog was pretty aggressive when it was meal time... He was chilled out at other times. She had to take him to a trainer to get that behavior sorted out as she has three children of her own... I just though that I will share this video here as it could help you... [video=youtube_share;yXE-fwI0SWU]http://youtu.be/yXE-fwI0SWU[/video]
I had a dog once that decided one day to growl at me when I got close while he was eating. I gave him a little bop and he never did it again. If that were to happen today I would probably have a spray bottle on hand instead of newspaper, so I would more than likely go and get the bottle and walk back to where he was eating and if he growled again I'd give him a good spray.
It does indeed sound like your dog feels threatened with his food being taken away, the idea of putting his food in a nice quiet location away from everyone is good and will make him feel safe again. Have you children been teasing the dog? My dog nipped my nephew recently and when I asked him what he had done he admitted he had yanked the dogs tail very hard.
