[Luvbmr]

I adopted Shadow a little over a month ago (He is Golden retreiver/Chow/Australian terrier) and while he is still a puppy
(8 1/2 months now) He is very mouthy with all of us and has become food aggressive with my two kids (ages 3 and 5). I can pet him or put my hand near his bowl while he is eating, but whenever by daughter walks near him when he is eating, he turns around and growls at her and walks towards her. I have told him no, and even had my daughter try to feed him herself, and as soon as he saw her with his cup of food he started growling again. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop tis behaivor?

 

[Maya's Mom]

I know that what I did to try to prevent food aggression in my pup was any time I would go close to her while she was eating I would put a treat in her bowl. That way she learned that good things happened when I went near her bowl. However, I would be very hesitant to advise that you have your daughter do that because I would hate to have your dog bite her before he learned that a treat was coming. The most important thing is to keep your kids safe, so obviously you don't want to use any strategies that you think would put them in danger. Has your daughter ever helped with training and given him treats? If so how does he respond to that? I think in the meantime while you try to get this figured out, I would be very careful to keep the kids away from the dog while he eats. It might make sense for you to use the strategy of putting a treat in your dog's bowl while he eats to prevent him from becoming food aggressive to you. I am nowhere near an expert on this, so I hope that the trainers on this forum who really know what they are talking about (unlike me!) chime in.

 

[BeauShel]

I would have a behaviorist come in and work with you, him and your kids.