My rottie is now 18 weeks old. When we first brought him home I notice he was food aggressive, I just thought you know, maybe he's had to fight the other pups off, but after hand feeding him for a couple of weeks I decided to give it another go, putting the food in his bowl, but no, he still had that look that you'd better leave off, so I'm back to hand feeding, how long is it going to take????
Food aggression
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I have never had a problem with Dallas and people walking up to her food bowl while she is eating. She always backs off her bowl when I or anyone walks over to it. I Hope someone in here can help you with this. I only know what I did to Dallas when I would feed her. And I will not say I was 100% right in doing it, but it worked.
Shell
Shell
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I have read that some rotts are just naturally food agressive. You will have to keep working with him, but I think instead of hand feeding him you should start handling his food while he eats. If you do this while he is eating out of his bowl, eventually he will get used to you touching his food and will know you are not going to steal it. You should give him his food, after he starts eating take it away for a while, then give it back to him. Stir your hand around in the food while he is eating, and add little tidbits to it while he is eating, sometimes removing small amounts of food,sometimes adding treats; but if you remove some of his food with your hand always return it with praise when you put it back. Tell him he's a good boy, and praise him for sharing. Always put back the food that you have taken so he knows you are not stealing from him. It is important that you let him know it is unacceptable to be a food guard. If you don't keep conditioning him to accept you touching his food you have let him win! He's still young yet, don't give up. You will have to keep doing it. Some dogs are like that all their lives and you have to keep reinforcing it to them, but hand feeding alone won't solve his problem. His guarding his bowl is the issue for him. If you only hand feed him then he still thinks he has the right to guard his bowl, and by guarding is getting you to hand feed him, and leave his bowl alone! Good luck, and remember patience is the key to success.
Cindy
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I have read that some rotts are just naturally food agressive. You will have to keep working with him, but I think instead of hand feeding him you should start handling his food while he eats. If you do this while he is eating out of his bowl, eventually he will get used to you touching his food and will know you are not going to steal it. You should give him his food, after he starts eating take it away for a while, then give it back to him. Stir your hand around in the food while he is eating, and add little tidbits to it while he is eating, sometimes removing small amounts of food,sometimes adding treats; but if you remove some of his food with your hand always return it with praise when you put it back. Tell him he's a good boy, and praise him for sharing. Always put back the food that you have taken so he knows you are not stealing from him. It is important that you let him know it is unacceptable to be a food guard. If you don't keep conditioning him to accept you touching his food you have let him win! He's still young yet, don't give up. You will have to keep doing it. Some dogs are like that all their lives and you have to keep reinforcing it to them, but hand feeding alone won't solve his problem. His guarding his bowl is the issue for him. If you only hand feed him then he still thinks he has the right to guard his bowl, and by guarding is getting you to hand feed him, and leave his bowl alone! Good luck, and remember patience is the key to success.
Cindy
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I also want to add talking to a animal behaviorist couldn't hurt. They can give you all kinds of advice, specificly aimed at your situation. Try to find out what triggers his behavior. Is he your only pet? Do other animals have access to his food? Is his aggression motivated by dominance or fear? These are all things you need to look at to best address your situation. Let us know how he's doing.
Cindy</BLOCKQUOTE>
I also want to add talking to a animal behaviorist couldn't hurt. They can give you all kinds of advice, specificly aimed at your situation. Try to find out what triggers his behavior. Is he your only pet? Do other animals have access to his food? Is his aggression motivated by dominance or fear? These are all things you need to look at to best address your situation. Let us know how he's doing.
Cindy</BLOCKQUOTE>
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Hi Carol, all you need to do is when you feed him always put your hand in his food when he is eating , he's a puppy !!!and your the BOSS and don't forget it ! he will learn what you teach him ! There is no such thing as a bad dog just bad owners.......I have 4 Rotties and none of them give me that look ! I'm 5 ft 2 and 115 lbs and I'm the boss ! You need to take control of a Rott right of the bat or else your in trouble big time .Have you owned a Rott before this one ? They can and will be bossie ! Good luck and let us all know cause we are all here to help
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