FOOD-GUARDING 10-MONTH OLD ROTTWEILER
Reader please note: The following recommendations are based on many things, not least of which are the fact that the problem JUST started, and the dog's age. If this dog were any older, or if the problem had been going for any longer, the following exercises could be too dangerous to use, particularly with children.
If your situation is different in any way (breed, age, your household setup, history of problem) I strongly recommend you send in your own question with your own individual information. Every case is different and every recommendation is tailored to the information I am provided.
Please exercise caution with any possessive dog, any dog who is growling, and/or any dog who is lifting his/her lip, snarling, snapping or biting, again particularly when children are involved, and/or when food or possessions are involved.
Question:
My 10 month Rott guards her food she growls and tenses up if someone walks by her bowl. This just started out of the blue and now sometimes she’s starting to growl if she’s asleep and you touch her this happens very rarely but I want to nip it in the bud now rather then later. What can I do to stop this? Please help - Thanks
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Answer:
You've got a big problem here but you can solve it using the possessiveness exercises below: start these today.
It's also a good time to enroll in a good positive reinforcement obedience class. The class very likely will not address the possessiveness problem you've got but it will be very good for overall control, which you need. You can find a good trainer at http://www.apdt.com, preferably a person with CPDT certification in your area.
It is natural for dogs to become possessive over food, toys and other objects as they approach adulthood. We humans can however, teach the dog to actually look forward to people approaching him while he has a possession or food.
You need to work from a distance at first on these exercises: Whenever your dog is eating a meal or chewing on a toy, casually walk by her AT A DISTANCE WHICH DOES NOT CAUSE HER TO GROWL/SNARL and as you casually pass by and casually toss a piece of hot dog/balogna/salami/ pepperoni. Keep walking. No talking necessary. Don't involve the kids during the first 2 weeks yet.
Do this several (5+ times) daily. You can do 2-3x per meal if you like, but also do it whenever she has a toy or something it's OK for her to have. After 3 days, slightly reduce the distance from the dog as you walk by, always making sure she's ok with you at that distance.
As long as she's not having a reaction, reduce your distance slightly and gradually, day by day, until you are pretty much right next to her as you walk by.
If she shows any stress reaction, you have reduced your distance too rapidly and must add distance again for a few days.
Your kids should keep clear of the dog during these 2-3 weeks at all meal times and anytime she has a possession.
In 2-3 weeks you may be ready for the next step but don't try it until the dog is calmly accepting your proximity. What's happening here is you're teaching her that it's actually profitable and non-threatening to have someone near her when she has something.
Now you can start to bring the kids with you as you start walking by the dog at the original distance, gradually reducing distance over the next 2-3 weeks as you did before the kids were involved.
Now you've been doing proximity exercises for 4-6 weeks. As long as your dog is no longer showing any signs of stress (staring, stiffening, growling, averting eyes, staring, snarling, snapping, or anything else you deem a sign of stress), you should now stop and stand next to her for a few seconds during your regular walk-bys. Do this without the kids for a week or so, working up to 30 seconds, praising and even petting her if she's OK with it. If all goes well, bring the kids for another week of stopping/praising/petting. Safest if her possessions are not animal based.
Now let's see if you're ready for the next step: Walk up to her while she's eating her food and put a super wonderful treat into her bowl and walk away. If you can do this, you may progress to keeping your treat-holding hand on the bowl for 2-4-6-8-10 seconds or so before putting the treat in, then walk away. Do this for a few days. picking up the food bowl, putting the treat in, and immediately giving her the bowl back to finish up. No need to speak, although you may praise her if you like. If she tenses up or growls, do another two weeks of the walk-bys, pausing for a second or two near her before you gently toss the treat near her. After she's comfortable with all this, repeat for several weeks with the kids involved.
When she allows you to put a treat into her bowl, without growling or tensing, you are ready for "Drop it".
Drop It:
You must have something in your hand which is far yummier, softer and stinkier than what she has. Approach your pup when she's got a toy or bone, crouch down and give her the treat. Walk away. If no problem, go to her with the treat and hold it in front of his nose while you command "Drop it". She has to spit out the toy to get the treat, and when she does, immediately give him the treat, pick up the toy and immediately give the toy back to him. Walk away. This is teaching her that it's profitable to spit something out of her mouth when you say "drop it".
Similarly, approach the dog while she is eating her meal from a bowl. Walk up casually, pick up the food bowl and quickly put the treat into the bowl. Put the bowl back down immediately and walk away.
YOU MAY NOT DO THESE EXERCISES WHEN SHE HAS A "STOLEN" OBJECT or other inappropriate chewable, unless it is truly life-threatening (string, pantyhose, knife) and you shouldn't have life-threatening objects around the house for her to steal.
Make it your job to keep off-limit doors CLOSED and the rest of the house puppy-proofed http://www.dogdaysusa.com/puppyproofyourhome.html.
Practice the possessiveness exercises as well as the Drop it exercises as much as you can, with kids, without kids, in different rooms in the house, with different toys, using different treats (but what you have must always be FAR better than what she has), inside, outside, etc.
What you have must always be better than what she has; Here's a general guide:
Tuna/salami/hot dogs/balogna/freeze-dried liver are better than rawhides/pigs ears/bones (but not much, so be careful!) are better than
dog treats which are better than
dog food which is better than
squeaky toys which are better than
plastic bones and toys
From your description of her reaction now, I'm guessing with 4-5 trials daily, this should take you about 2 months. Don't rush it.
After that time you are ready for the "Off/Leave it" command training at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/offandtakeit.html
Good luck and thanks for writing.
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com
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