Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds, Part II of IV

I must open this second part of how to help your "food-aggressive" dog, with a warning:  If you haven't looked at, or worked through Part I, please don't jump in with the exercise here in Part II.

Letting go of what is a very natural behavior for canines, can be challenging.  We are essentially rebuilding damaged trust, or instilling a trust that was never there to begin with.  Maybe your dog came from a situation where they actually had to fight to eat.  Or something traumatic happened, and suddenly, they've developed this horrible reaction to you when their bowl is full.  Sometimes, it starts as a growth period; a young dog tries on his big-boy pants, and it worked, so they repeat it.  Usually amplifying their threat displays with each passing day, until they've become dangerous.

In any case, here we go...

Part II, Phase A.

For the intention of saving some words, we will refer to your dog's food as "kibble."  If you are feeding a Raw, or pre-made 'fresh' meal, be sure to only provide a portion that he can finish in one or two small bites.  

When choosing the "reward" for your dog, look for something extra tasty.  Think chopped chicken breast, or cheese cubes.  As long as the dog LOVES it, and it won't take more than a second or two to ingest, that is an appropriate reward.

1. Ask your Dog to do a 'Sit, Wait.'  Step a few paces away from him, and pick the bowl off the counter.  Put only 2-3 pieces of kibble, (1-2 tablespoons of 'fresh' food for med-large dogs) in the bowl.  Reinforce the "Wait" cue if he tries to stand up, or gives any indication that he will break the Sit due to the food's presence.  Do not move forward unless he is sitting and waiting politely.

2. Place the bowl, with the small amount of food in it, on the floor a few feet away from the dog.  If being too close to the bowl is causing tense behaviors, work on your 'sit and wait' so that you can put it down all the way across the room.  Distance can be your friend.  The Dog should not break the Sit as you do this.

Practice with an empty bowl if necessary.  Build the behavior in anticipation of the reward.

3. Say "OK!" and allow him to go eat those few pieces of food from the bowl.  Call him back to you, give him a reward, and ask him to Sit and Wait again.

4. Go pick up the bowl.

5. Return to Dog, and hand him 1 piece of Reward for staying still while you picked up the bowl. Encourage him to be free from the sitting position, with a cue such as "Break" or "Free."  Let him sniff around (he'll most likely go investigate the area where you set the bowl down before) a few moments, before asking him to "Sit" and "Wait" again.

6. Repeat a few times, as long as Dog remains calm--showing no signs of tense body posture, or "aggression."  If you do notice any signals that he might be feeling his inner Golem rising to the surface, go back to Part I, and continue to desensitize him to the bowl's influence.

Part II, Phase B.

Your dog is now seeing this silly Sit, Wait, OK get the snack and come back routine, as something Fun!  There should be a lightness, almost playful (depending on his normal personality, age, etc) attitude about this game.  Time to increase the amount of kibble/food offered in the bowl...a tiny bit more.

Up until now, we've kept to only offering 2-5 kibbles in the bowl.  This keeps the dog from falling into the Gollum State, but we gotta move forward.

1. Give a small handful of food in the bowl (appx. 1/8-1/4C of 'fresh' food for med/large dogs).  Not enough to give him too much time to think about "the precious," but enough to keep him eating for more than just a bite or two.  

2. Use the same routine as before:  

* Sit, Wait.  

* Place bowl across room. 

* Return to Dog.  Say "OK!" 

* Dog goes and eats amount provided.  

* Call Dog back, give reward, and have them Sit, Wait again.  

* Go pick up the bowl.  Place it on table or counter out of dog reach.  

* Return to Dog, give small reward for Waiting.  

* Encourage dog to be free from the Wait behavior.  

* Repeat.

It is Very important at this stage to NOT move any closer to dog while they are eating.  We are building a behavior foundation, not testing to see how much we can push or get away with.  Please do not use Dog's full portion yet either.  Slowly building the amount of time Dog's face is in the bowl is how we avoid the stress of his inner Gollum coming out.  We stress that if Dog is stressed, this won't help.

Go back to whatever stage your dog was having success with, if need be.

Part II, Phase C.

Alright!  Dog thinks this game rules.  At this point, you have a choice:  You can either choose to continue to work on slowly increasing his portion, and NOT moving closer to him while he eats it (in some cases, not moving at all is a great plan.  Be sure to talk to the dog though...don't make it weird with silence).  Or you can choose to focus on his being more comfortable with you closer to the bowl while he eats from it.

Either is an OK decision, but you should only work on one at a time.

Increasing Portion and NOT Threatening his zone:

If your dog grasps the Sit, Wait routine and you want to get back to offering him the whole meal, the following steps are recommended.

1. Continue to play the Sit, Wait go eat and return game.  With each day (as long as you see zero indication of tension) give him just a few more kibbles in the bowl.  The goal being to reach his full, normal portion of food, eventually.

2. Do Not attempt to go pick up the bowl, until you've placed Dog in to a Sit, and Wait, at a safe distance* from the bowl.

*When we describe "safe distance," we are referring to whatever distance the bowl is at, that doesn't cause any of the aforementioned tension indicators -- See "Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds, Part I"

3. Swap your reward for something New and Novel and exceptionally tasty.  If you've been using chicken jerky, for instance, try using freshly cooked, warm bits of chicken breast.  Get them back into the OMG zone about the reward.  It MUST be better than whatever you are placing in the bowl.

4. After a couple days incorporating this New Reward, experiment with calling him away from the bowl while he is actively eating.  Up 'til this point we've been waiting for him to finish what we have offered, thereby giving him less incentive to feel the need to protect it.  Calling him while he is still eating some kibble can help you see just how close to the Gollum State he may be.

If he comes zooming over when you call, give him the Good Reward, and allow him the freedom to rush back to finish whatever might be left in the bowl*.  Once bowl is empty, call him away from it, as before, and set him back into the Sit and Wait.  Only when he is waiting politely, should you go pick up the bowl.

*This is crucial to helping Dog see that you have no interest in "stealing" his food.  By building his trust that he can move away from food in the bowl, and you won't get near it when he does, he lets go of more and more of the need to guard it.

Clearly nervous.

Same dog...no food bowl present.

A stiffened posture, if he stops eating but stays haunched over the bowl, any sudden increase in eating speed--as if to gulp it down and Then responding to you, instead of a more relaxed response, are all indications that you will need to decrease the amount of food offered for this exercise.  We are going for almost instant compliance to your call, regardless of there being food in the bowl or not.

Decreasing the Distance; Encroaching upon "his" Zone:

Keep the portion at an amount that only takes your dog a few seconds to finish.  Even if he's worked up to almost his full ration, you are now changing the exercise, so we need to go back to the 'safe zone' of not giving him enough time to think about 'the Precious'.

1. Begin with your regular Sit, Wait, return for the extra tasty morsel reward.  Make sure your Dog is feeling relaxed, even a bit excited about the snack.

2. After one or two successful rounds, place the bowl down a bit closer to where you've previously asked for the Sit and Wait.  Even if it's only a few inches at a time, that's ok.  We are rebuilding the idea that it is Safe for you to be near him while his face is in the bowl.  Or while he is actively eating.

Pro Tip:  Using an elevated feeding riser, can help keep your Dog further from
the haunched over, defensive, guarding posture. Not a 'magic bullet' but a helpful ingredient to this recipe.

...."Now wait a minute, Rose.  You initially said to hold the bowl and give him 1-2 kibbles from it...what's up?"  Well, to a dog, the moment you set that bowl on the ground for him to eat from, he no longer sees it as Yours.  He is more likely to "go after you" if it is on the floor.  

3. Go Very Slowly with this.  It might take you days and days to get to where you can ask for the Sit, and Wait, then allow him to eat from the bowl on the floor, only a foot or two away from where you stand.  That is asking a lot for him to feel safe with you encroaching that far into his 'safe zone' of space.

4. Once he's gotten used to the idea of your standing next to the bowl, while he quickly devours the smaller portions, this is where it can get tricky.  Up 'til now, you should be making an effort Not to move your feet, or attempt to touch him, or the bowl, while he has his face in it.  That's about to change.

As soon as he finishes the small portion (5-7 kibbles, or 1-2 tablespoons of 'fresh' food), and looks to you for the 'yummy' treat, shuffle your feet, or gently march in place as you give it to him.  You are helping him associate your movement near the bowl (now empty) as Safe.

5. Try to continue these gentle foot motions as you do the next round of Sit, Wait, Eat, Reward.  Stop moving and be calm if you notice ANY tension that might indicate his falling into guarding, or Golem State, if you will.  Do your best not to move farther away in these moments, unless you absolutely do not feel safe yourself.

This is why it is so important to keep the portion small during the Decreasing Distance phase, at first.  Allowing him to 'get possessive' by giving him too much time (too much food) to think about your being close, will put you back WEEKS in this rehab.  Better to be slow.

If need be, as dictated by Dog's responses and/or tension level, you can toss his yummy reward away from your body space.  This will move him away from the bowl, and give you room to call him back in to a polite Sit and Wait, before you pick up the bowl.

Alternatively, you can also walk away from the bowl, once the small bit of food is eaten, then call him to you for the Sit and Wait.  Give yourself space that feels comfortable for both of you, before you pick up the bowl.

Pro Tip:  Some dogs will let go of this behavior faster, by moving their bowl
(or using 2 or 3 different bowls on rotation) to a different feeding location at each meal.  
Simply shifting the bowl to the other side of the space, can upset their idea of what "belongs" to them.

6.  If Dog is handling this well, you can now begin to slowly increase the portion, but don't change anything else you are doing.  Do not assume he is 'fixed.'  Remember, he is just barely beginning to trust that you are not trying to steal his food, or accost him while he is eating.  This tenuous trust can snap at any moment; take care of it.

And that is Phase II.  Next time, we'll get started working to help him be ok with your touching him, or even the bowl, while food is in it.  Phase II is a long one folks.  Most dogs that are working through this issue, are not granted the time and patience they need to fully let go of this complicated issue.  

To be frank, if you have a busy household, and you've found something that "works," you may not even want to fix this...But beware, your dog may well hurt somebody, over something completely unrelated to dinner.