Lex is starting to growl...

In my opinion, I don't think he's doing anything wrong. He's just talking. He's saying, "this little tidbit is one I'm not willing to let you have." He's warning them off, that's all. If I were in your situation, I would give Lex a bone in a crate or other protected area where the cats can't bug him while he's eating the meat off the bone. He really shouldn't be expected to put up with constant scavengers trying to take his prized bone. Just my opinion.

If that's the only situation in which he growls at them and he never growls at you, I'd let him have this one treat to himself and make sure he doesn't need to fight for it.  

I'm glad no one was hurt!  

FourIsCompany

In my opinion, I don't think he's doing anything wrong. He's just talking. He's saying, "this little tidbit is one I'm not willing to let you have." He's warning them off, that's all. If I were in your situation, I would give Lex a bone in a crate or other protected area where the cats can't bug him while he's eating the meat off the bone. He really shouldn't be expected to put up with constant scavengers trying to take his prized bone. Just my opinion.

If that's the only situation in which he growls at them and he never growls at you, I'd let him have this one treat to himself and make sure he doesn't need to fight for it.  

I'm glad no one was hurt!  

Good post! 

I completely agree here.  

 To add this as well:  A growl is pretty much universally (between cats and dogs) understood to say "this is mine stay away."

The only thing Xerxes protects is his RMBs.  He'll let the cat do anything in the world to him or take anything away from him but the RMBs.  If you want to "nip this in the bud" then keep him separate from the cats when he gets his bones.
 

Ok thanks for the replies. I just didn't want it to escalate into him trying to bite one of the cats, so if it needed to be stopped it should be stopped now type of thing. From now one he'll get bones in his crate.

Well just like "puppy license" the kittens are starting running out of "kitten license" for your dog, the problem is not your dog whatsoever, is the cats, they have learn that at least in your house they are allowed to "steal" your dog's food, your dog maybe let them when they were small but time passed and he is sure that the amount of food they could "steal" will be more now since they are older

You have to teach your cats to let the dog eat in peace, if not the dog will make sure to let them know himself and that might cause future problems if the cats dont get the point across, a growl from a dog is always a sign for you to intervene, in my opinion what i would do is trying to stop the growl with a firm no (since the time between a growl and a full attack could be less than one second and this way you are making sure the situation does not escalate all the way there) AND and remove the cats away, this way you are telling your dog that there is no need to become aggressive and you will take care of the situation yourself so he can eat in peace, the dog will see you as a responsible owner that takes care of any pack problem and you will be avoiding a fight at the same time, the dog wont feel he will need to step up himself on establishing rules for the cats since you are doing it and actually, as the owner, thats your job

Well, IMO, giving him his treats in his crate will be a lot easier than teaching the cats to give your dog more space when he's eating something delicious. If he were my dog I'd also probably do some "drop it"/"trade" work with him too, juuuuuust in case he decides to start guarding items from you, too. But Occam's razor and all, the simplest solution to this problem (using the crate) is probably the best one. JMO

Cita

Well, IMO, giving him his treats in his crate will be a lot easier than teaching the cats to give your dog more space when he's eating something delicious.

"Give a man a fish and he will have something to eat for one day, teach him to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life" Is the same with this situation, IMO is easier to teach the cats to respect the dog rather than be preoccupied for the rest of his/her life on this problem and having to put the dog every single time in his create to eat a bone, is like, at the most 6 months to teach the cats, rather than to take the dog to his create to eat a bone for the rest of his life (5,6,7 years?) AND maybe right now is the bone but what if tomorrow is also something else?

If the OP does not fix the problem the problem wont go away by itself by putting the dog in the create, that way the OP maybe solved the problem at that moment but what about in the long run? (the problem was never really solved) 

Teaching boundaries to a cat requires less effort, energy and time than taking the dog to his create from now on, thats what i call "a lot easier" 

goodness.  Have you ever OWNED a cat?  They tend to do what they want, when they want to do it.  I have one sweet little girl who will pursue my german shepherds to totally terrorize them.  The arched back, stiff tail, hissing, you name it.    The other cat completely ignores them, even if he gets a snout in his face.

Cats are not terribly ammenable to training.  And it is much easier to just put the dog in his crate for treats.  That's what I always do with mine.

 Actually by feeding treats in the crate, the problem with the cats will probably be solved.  After a short time Lex will learn that he doesn't need to guard his special treats.  And that's what the OP wants anyways.

Glenda, I completely agree with you-having had cats and having successfully trained one.  (And it's the very rare cat that is amenable to training.)  Those cats will probably do whatever they want-though it is very rare that a growl (by cat or dog) is ever ignored by ANY animal. 

Hey Ed, I didn't teach my cats to fish, but I sure do have to keep the top on my fish tank!  Smart and stubborn little buggers!  And when my dogs have fish for dinner, you can be DARNED sure they get that in their crates.

glenmar

goodness.  Have you ever OWNED a cat? 

Yes i did, and i taught him rules, boundaries and limitations, my neighbor had one too and that cat was doing whatever he wanted, my neighbor always thought that cats were untrainable, that they were doing whatever they wanted to do, i asked him exactly what my second signature says

glenmar

Cats are not terribly ammenable to training.

Maybe we should say that to this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmd2W36VgPg 

Disclaimer: i have never tried to teach THIS kind of tricks to a cat so i dont know how dangerous could be

My point is, if a cat can be taught to do that then why a cat can not learn to respect the dog's space? Well i know they can, like i said, i taught that to mine 

Not to beat a dead horse, but there is a big difference between teaching a animal to do something, and teaching an animal *not* to do something.  Training cats to do tricks requires patience, but is not difficult.  It is time-intensive.  Teaching a cat to refrain from certain behaviors ... oy, much harder.  I have much more experience with cats than I do with dogs, and their independence makes it difficult to train behaviors out.  Cats don't usually care very much that others in their social environment dislike a behavior. Dogs do care.

In order to train the average cat to stop doing x, you need to employ aversives. Even with aversives (P+) it is not easy.  Cats are notorious for finding ways around the punishment. There is a little bit of sociopath in every healthy cat.  Gotta love 'em for that. And remember: cats are fantastic predators.  Very little gets in their way when they are after food.

If the cat is willing to listen to the dog, let the dog sort it out through growls.  If not, the only reasonable and safe solution is to do what others mentioned. Crate the dog.  

yours, she with the feral rescue cats who will sit pretty for a snack, and have better recall than the dog.

Dog_ma

Not to beat a dead horse, but there is a big difference between teaching a animal to do something, and teaching an animal *not* to do something. 

What happened with all that philosophy of "dont tell the animal to stop doing something, tell them what to do instead"? if a cat is that hard to train then this ideology is great to help, click and treat the cat when is not paying attention to the dog's food?

Dog_ma

Teaching a cat to refrain from certain behaviors ... oy, much harder.

I dont know what technique you were using but the one i used made it easy (and i didnt use a clicker)
 

I have never been someone to advise that we shouldn't tell an animal what not to do.  Not sure where you got that impression.

My techniques for getting a cat to do things are treats and verbal markers.  

For getting a cat not to do something ... I've tried lots of things, but in general found that for the average cat you are fighting an uphill battle.  I am sure some cats respond well to eh's and water bottles and all that, but most respond partially if at all.  I've known a lot of cats.  Owned a lot of cats.  I was my family's primary "cat keeper" from 6 years old on. We had our main cats, took care of strays, etc.

It is probably true that I've dealt with cattitude more often than not.  We didn't tend to have family raised kittens who acted like dogs.  Cats are ... fantastic pains in the butt.  I say that with love and admiration.  They are so different from dogs.

FourIsCompany

In my opinion, I don't think he's doing anything wrong. He's just talking. He's saying, "this little tidbit is one I'm not willing to let you have." He's warning them off, that's all. If I were in your situation, I would give Lex a bone in a crate or other protected area where the cats can't bug him while he's eating the meat off the bone. He really shouldn't be expected to put up with constant scavengers trying to take his prized bone. Just my opinion.

If that's the only situation in which he growls at them and he never growls at you, I'd let him have this one treat to himself and make sure he doesn't need to fight for it.  

I'm glad no one was hurt!  

I pretty much agree with this.  Sally is fed outside her crate and Jack is fed inside, and sometimes if we are feeding Sally something canned the cats will try to sneak in there and I chase them off before Sally feels the need to defend her meal....A loud "Fsssssssss" sound sends them packing every time without bothering the dog...