It is a bad behavior for a dog to guard its food. If a dog guards its food from a young age, not only will it be difficult to learn the previous “food refusal training”, but it will also develop into guarding toys, territory, etc., which will be a headache for you as a dog owner. At the beginning, you need to learn some ways to caress the dog. For example, learn to caress the dog before it eats, and then feed it with your hands little by little.
Training methods:
1. At the beginning, the dog will be very disgusted with your approach to its food, and may even threaten the owner with a sound. So at the beginning, you can first use your hands to put a little food in front of it not far from your hand, and then gradually feed it directly with your hands. In this way, the dog gradually understands that you are not a threat to its food, but a giver, so that it will relax its vigilance against you.
2. Secondly, you can often feed it with your hands. Spread your palms and put the delicious food on the palm of your hand to feed the dog. This way of feeding is very safe, and the dog will lick it and will not bite your hand. After the dog gets used to it, you can try to hold the food bowl in your hand and feed it to your puppy.
3. Then, you need to let the dog get used to having someone around when eating. When you feed it, put your hand on it first. While petting it, pour the food into its food bowl. Don’t stop petting it while it eats. The action should be gentle and slow, and you can talk to it, so that it trusts that you will not steal its food.
4. Don’t be too aggressive in petting, and take it slowly depending on the dog’s acceptance. You can start by petting its back half, and when it doesn’t object, gradually move to the head (this process sometimes takes several days to complete).
5. Once the dog gets used to having someone around and petting it when eating, that is, not threatening. Start trying to take away the food bowl. During the whole process of eating, if you find that it has signs of threat, such as wrinkling its nose, making a whirring sound, looking at people with squinting eyes, etc., yell and take away the food. When it calms down, praise it, pet it and say, “Very good.” Then give it the food bowl. Repeat this until it stops resisting.
Note:
Training a dog to “not guard its food” requires a little patience. Don’t snatch its food from the beginning, as this is more dangerous. Especially when taking away the food bowl, pay attention to observe the dog’s demeanor. If the dog shows signs of attacking, stop taking away the food bowl.
