I have a 5 month female pit bull named Piper. She is completely animal and people friendly. I've had her for a little over 2 months now. In the beginning she was fed and left alone to eat with no problems. One day i went to pet her while she was eating and she began to softly growl. I removed her food bowl and lightly scolded her. Over the past month she has become extremely food aggressive. On one occasion she has nipped me without breaking skin. I have tried removing her bowl and feeding her by hand for approximately 2 weeks with no incident. I reintroduced the bowl, holding it in my hand and adding food at intervals yet she became aggressive again. She eats from a stainless steel bowl and i thought maybe it was the reflection that may be making her nervous. I have tried paper plates and clear containers with to no avail. She is a puppy and is still being trained with very few problems until the food bowl hits the floor. She starts by shaking uncontrollably and tucks her tail. Her hackles flare when she eats and she nearly chokes she is eating so quickly. In the past she has submissively approached me after eating as if she knows she shouldn't be acting that way but cant control herself. Very recently that has stopped and when i pet her after eating she begins the soft growling again. I am open to any suggestions as this is something I absolutely can not allow to perpetuate.
Just wondering, how long have you been hand feeding her? These things take time in a lot of cases, and it may just be that you should keep perservering with the hand feeding.
When its food time, try putting down a placemat for starters. Only put the placemat down when its food time, be sure its put away at all other times.
I'd also say, if possible, increase the number of meals you're feeding a day. Don't give more food - just more meals with a lesser amount of food each time. This way she'll get more and more used to food being available, and will hopefully become less aggressive about protecting it. It will also help you strengthen your bond with her.
I know its simple advice, but I think it will help. Other members may have experienced similar problems and can offer more ideas. Please keep us posted with how things are going!
Thank you KOPCaroline. I had been hand feeding Piper for 2 weeks. I had previously read on this site to hand feed, reintroduce the bowl and feed small amounts at intervals and then return to feeding from the bowl completely. First 2 being done for 1-2 weeks each. I have a place mat under her food and water bowl stand at all times. The water is always available but i remove the food bowl after feeding her. She eats once in the morning and again in the evening. Last night I gave Piper handfuls of food numerous times while holding the bowl in my left hand and leaving my right in the bowl after releasing the food. She still seemed aggressive but was accepting my hand being there. I do make her work for the food by mainly sitting and waiting but also laying down or giving her paw. I will give the hand feeding a try again. Would you suggest a completely separate place mat for feeding or remove and replace the existing one prior to and after feeding? thank you so much for your response.
I think Caroline's suggestions are great! Reintroducing hand-feeding is always good so that she will realize that foods are coming from you and you are not there to take her food away.
In the mean time, I would like to desensitize her with being fed in the bowl so when you do training with her can you just put the empty bowl in front of her to give her treats (rewards) in it at random times she follows your commands? You will reward her other times too but not in the bowl from your hand. Don't practice this at her regular meal time though. In fact, I don't like to make my dogs do all kinds of tricks or commands when they have food in front of them. I just don't think it is fair for dogs since it is like that I would be forced to do my homework when I am hungry and when I have my dinner in front of me
By having the food bowl around her all the time and getting some treats in it from time to time, her association of the bowl = meals will be changed and the food bowl would become not so special, I hope. Leave the food bowl around the room during the day and just drop one or two kibbles every now and then when she is calm. People tend to reward dogs when they do something but I think they should be more rewarded when they are calm
