How to Feed Dogs That Are Food Aggressive

You may have a family dog that shows signs of food aggressiveness, such as growling, the flaring of teeth, the hair on his back standing up, and a tail that is not wagging, but rather is stiff and pointing downward. It can be very difficult when dealing with a food aggressive animal, especially if you have other animals and children, but there are some approaches that you can take to better deal with your food aggressive dog

Separate Your Food Aggressive Dog During Feeding

The first thing to remember when dealing with a dog that is food aggressive is that you do not want other animals and children around the dog when she is eating. A dog that is food aggressive may have had a history of abuse and has developed traits that enable her to attack to survive. Pain in an animal’s heart due to abandonment, maltreatment or other heartaches, or even physical ailments, can come out in tension and aggression. A dog may also become food aggressive when it feels like it is competing with other dogs to get enough to eat, especially if other animals or people it lives with are taking its food or messing with it in a way that prevents it from eating and feeling satisfied and with enough to eat. To prevent this from happening it is best to keep your food aggressive dog in a fenced-off area, away from other animals and people when it is time for it to eat.

Properly Presenting The Food to Your Dog

To keep yourself, the feeder, safe from being bitten, it is best to wear thick leather gloves and a heavy jacket and pants when feeding your dog, until the dog breaks its bad habit of aggressive eating. You must calmly and lovingly present the bowl to your dog in a way that does not play games with the dog and is consistent to build a pattern of trust with your pet that shows him that he will always receive food and that you are only trying to feed him, and not take from him.

Choose a bowl that has a maze pattern in it or place a tennis ball in the bowl to keep your dog from eating too fast, have your dog sit before seeing food at all, gently pet him, and then guide him into the fenced area where you will beforehand have placed his food so that you may close the gate behind him to eat at peace.

Many dogs are very lovable, and have a good temperament overall, except for their bad habit of food aggressiveness. Like all bad habits, there is hope, it just takes a lot of patience, and time, training, rewarding and discipline in order to get bad habits conditioned into favorable behaviors. It is important to take proper precaution when working with food aggressive animals in general, but if you are up for the challenge never lose hope and stay positive that even the angriest eaters can become very docile and gentle with time.