Food Aggression in a Shelter Dog

    • Gold Top Dog

    Food Aggression in a Shelter Dog

    I have a problem I want to present to all of you to help this dog so she can get adopted.

    Each dog at the shelter where I work is temperament tested before it is ever available for adoption. If the dog passes it is deemed adoptable and will remain in the shelter usually until it gets adopted. If the dog fails, well... not good.

    I helped with the temperament test for a young GSD (with maybe some corgi) mix who passed most of the test with flying colors except when it came to the food part. When presented with a bowl of food she let out some warning growls, lifted her lip, held her head low then bit the dummy hand. This could be considered an automatic fail unless there is a way to work with the dog so that it's not an issue. Another employee and I agreed to give a shot at working with this dog to see if there is a way she may not be food aggressive anymore. We have about one week before she is put up for committee review and the decision will be made. So, my question is, is there a way in such a short time to turn this behavior around? Any advice on what some of you would do in a shelter setting? No name yet, but she really does deserve a good home.
    • Gold Top Dog

    The first thing I'd want to know before trying this is whether the dog actually put holes in the dummy hand.  A dog with no bite inhibition is generally unsafe, but if she didn't puncture, that's a point in her favor.  Keep in mind that even if you manage to get her not to guard food from an adult, you may not be successful in teaching her not to guard food against kids - so she isn't a safe family dog.  There are also children in the universe, and as much as you want to save this dog, she has to live in that universe...  This is a monumental task for one week, but one thing I would do is NOT feed her from a full bowl.  Instead, start by feeding her first meal by hand (if she's safe enough for that) kibble by kibble.  Next meal, put an empty bowl down for her.  When she looks at you as if to say "Where's dinner?" drop a few kibbles in.  Do that for a couple of days, always waiting for her to look to the human for the food.  If that goes well, put some kibble in the bowl, but as she is eating, drop a couple of pieces of chicken or cheese in (this tells her that a human hand coming near her bowl is a good thing).  Some dogs only guard in environments like shelters, others guard everywhere, and some guard things that are NOT food as well, which can be devastating when they go to a home.  Give it a good go, but don't let your heart overrule your head.

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    I agree with Anne.

    One week, IMO, is not sufficient time to totally re-condition a dog away from food guarding. Not enough anyhow that the dog will be calm around all strangers, children, grandma, etc in the presence of food. Food guarding reconditioning takes place over time in order to call it rehabilitated. With a lot of dogs, it will always also be a *first choice* to fall back on given not enough teaching, during stressful times, or when startled while eating, as it needs to be kept up constantly for training to work. In other words, the family that takes this dog will have to practice this for a long, long time, and do maintenance training.

    • Gold Top Dog
    hand feeding is a great idea. when you're not able to hand feed, my shelter behaviorist always recommends feeding the dog out of multiple bowls at least 3-4 bowls. We've also given the dog a very FULL bowl, depending on the age of the dog (ie -a puppy would probably eat it all, and still want more) to help teach the dog that they are not going to starve, and there is no reason to guard. shelter behavior assessments are tricky...is the dog guardy with just kibble? what about bones, treats, toys? I know a lot of people do not agree with the 'hand', but frankly, I would not want to be using my own hand for testing.... I've been bit, and do not enjoy it!
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks for your advice. Even if I believe she is a good dog, I don't want to set her up where she may be a potential threat. I am not trying to totally recondition the dog in the next week but rather see if this is something that can be managed and get an idea of the severity of her issue.

    She takes treats from the hand well but drops the treat then looks up for another. Then when I walk away she will eat the treats she dropped. She did not puncture the dummy hand but it was a rather quick and sharp hard bite. She gave several warning growls beforehand and sped up eating with her lips curled. She's right on the edge of whether or not this is an issue that can be worked so I was presented with a chance to get to know what is going on with her. It could also be possible to place her in foster with someone who is knowledgeable and willing to work on this issue. If this is a problem that can not be worked with then another decision has to be made.
    • Gold Top Dog
    IME - it is NOT easy to puncture the dummy hand. I've seen large, powerful dogs, tug, bite, and shake at the hand, only to leave a tiny scratch. they aren't meant to be easily damaged - considering what they are being used for. If she's dropping treats, I would feed her in multiple bowls and see if that doesn't get her to slow down. It creates the illusion that there is much more food than usual, and she wont be able to guard all the bowls at once. Allows her to learn to trust her environment, if you will.
    • Gold Top Dog

     The actual bite would really concern me - at the shelter I worked at we did have some success with dogs that froze, but if they were biting it was too big of an issue for us to be ok trying to rehab in the shelter.  The shelter was a huge open admission place though, so your time and resources may be more flexible than ours were and that certainly should play a role.

    If you haven't already, please try and assess if the dog guards other things - the more items they decide to guard, the poorer the prognosis ime.