My boyfriend and I just got a new Rottweiler Puppy, his name is Loki and he is three months old. Today when I went to feed him he showed Food Aggression. I have worked with him since we first got him (he was five weeks old when we brought him home) he has never showed any aggression up until today with his food, he always lets me take his bowl.
Hi, there's a few things you could try...... 1. Making him work for his food by making sit, wait etc before he gets any. 2. Hand feeding him, so he realises that you provide his food. 3. Remove his food if he shows any sign of aggression and make him work to get it back. 4. Feed him after everyone else in the household so he realises where he ranks in the pack. This will make him less likely to show aggression or challenge you. Hopefully he was just having a grumpy day and this will just be a one off occurrence, but best to get it sorted whilst he's still a manageable size and weight and not let it develop into an ongoing problem and end up with a food aggressive full sized male :eek:
P.S I think you should put on a picture of Loki....I love Rotts
1 week of hand feeding + training to sit and wait with food in reach (open hand or bowl [last 1 1/2 days]), and bring eyes to ours. Wait is up to 20 maybe 30 seconds without trouble, if wait is longer, he seems to forget what he's waiting for, but waits. He still makes a quiet growl if we touch ahead of his ears on his head, or his front paws. We talked about it and think we can live with that if it's not likely to get worse. We have no children, and none are likely to be around when he's eating. Can we expect this to get better with greater exposure ie: touching and petting closer to these areas as he gets further from the quibbling of litter-hood? He and China (8yr old female shi-tsu) have no food arguments. A couple of times a day she has to chase him off as he would really love to chew on her poofy tail.:rolleyes:
Sounds like you're doing pretty well! Have you had Loki checked over by a vet to see if there is any physical reason for him not liking being touched in certain areas? Does he only dislike being touched in these areas when he is eating? I personally wouldn't like a dog in my home to growl at me for any reason, but then I do have kids. If you are happy with the situation then that's great, but I'd still try to get him not to do it if it's at all possible just incase he ever has to stay with someone other than you...vet, kennels, relative etc. I would get him checked over by your vet and if there is no reason for him not liking having certain areas touched then I would keep trying to touch them to get him used to it. Try it when food's not around him, groom him all over, pick up his paws, rub his ears, praise and treat him for allowing you to do this without growling. He's young enough that you can get him used to all these things and it makes him far easier for a vet to examine him should the need arise
