A dog guarding food from another dog is quite a common scenario in many multi-dog households. The dog may guard the food bowl, bones, and even areas where there is food around such as the dining room table or the kitchen counters. Tackling this behavior is important considering that left to his own devices, a dog guarding food from another dog can escalate to fights and potential injury, sometimes even involving well-meaning dog owners attempting to separate the fighting dogs.
An Instinctive Behavior
A dog guarding food from another dog typically sends clear signals of his intent to harm should a dog steal his food or attempt to steal it. Typically, the dog is in front of his possession, head low, growling, barking, lifting the lip and exposing the pearly whites, lunging and even biting if provoked enough.
Food being guarded may include kibble, bones, treats, crumbs, a cookie hidden in between the couch, a bone buried under the ground and even items that have come to be conditioned to represent food such as empty food bowls, treat bags, clickers or empty food-dispensing toys.
Generally, the higher the value of the food, and the closer the other dog, the more the behavior becomes intense.
Some dogs may be particularly predisposed to food guarding because of a history of scarcity. If the dog has been found starving, was a free-ranging street dog or a runt of the litter, there are chances that food has become particularly salient to these beings. Food may also become a source of conflict when breeders raise large litters of puppies providing only a small food bowl, triggering the puppies to compete. Providing several food bowls can help prevent this early onset of the problem.
At a closer insight, food aggression among dogs is a highly adaptive behavior. Wild canines who protected their food resources from other canines or competing predators, were those more likely to survive. Because food aggression has played a big role in a dog’s evolutionary history, explains why this issue is often quite challenging to treat.
Protocol for Dog Guarding Food From Another Dog
There are various ways to tackle the issue of a dog guarding food from another dog; however, the most important piece of advice is to practice caution. Dogs who are guarding food are tense, and as such, they can react impulsively if touched, even by a well-meaning person. Should fights erupt, there are risks for redirected bites to people or children who are nearby. It is therefore important to consult with a behavior professional for an in-person assessment and treatment plan to play it safe.
The Importance of Management
It is far easier to manage a situation than attempt to completely treat a highly instinctive behavior such as food guarding between dogs. If your dog is prone to guarding food from other dogs, the best thing to do is to avoid giving high-value foods such as rawhides or bones and to feed meals and other goodies in a safe environment where the dog cannot be disturbed.
Confinement options vary. The dog can be kept confined in a crate, behind a baby gate or behind a closed door. A locked door may be best in households with children.
Care must be taken to confiscate any traces of foods left behind before releasing the dogs from their confinement areas. Also care must be taken to remove all sources of possible conflict when the dogs are out of the crate. Children should be discouraged from walking around with foods that be dropped and cause tension among the dogs.
If the aggression is mild and restricted to only ritualized displays (ho history of harm), sometimes, the solution is to simply feed the dogs at a distance from each other where no dogs are disturbed. If a dog eats faster than the others, he or she should be prevented from disturbing the other dogs.
A ritual can be set, such as taking the fastest eating dog outside in the yard immediately after finishing eating or having all dogs who finish first perform down stays until released. Tethering the dogs during meal times can also turn helpful, although supervision is always needed when tethers are used.
Desensitization and Counterconditioning
Although guarding food is a highly instinctive behavior and one that can be challenging to treat, there are some options to improve the situation, but these options require the intervention of a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification exercises.
Each case may be different and may therefore require a specific protocol. Some dogs may require sub-steps to prevent escalation (eg. in exercise 1, initially feeding the treats to both dogs simultaneously). The protocols listed below are therefore just some examples that can practiced under the guidance of a professional.
It’s important to point out that in between sessions, strict management must be in place to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior. This means the guarder should never be set up in a situation where he may be predisposed to guard.
Also, any time a setback takes place during an exercise (e.g. dog manages to growl), this would be indicative of proceeding too fast in the behavior modification process. Further distance must be granted if closer proximity evokes the problem behavior. Also important to point out is that behavior modification requires maintenance. Maintenance sessions should be held every now and then to maintain all the positive associations.
The goal of desensitization is to take a step-by-step approach by systematically and gradually exposing the dog to the less intense versions of the aggression-provoking event, while keeping the dog under threshold. At the same time, positive associations are created so that the food guarder’s emotional response to the approaching dog changes.
In order to carry out these sessions, tethering or use of leashes with a helper are initially needed at least until the dogs are capable of responding flawlessly to an owner’s requests to sit/stay and down/stay, come and other important cues.
Exercise 1: The guarder is tethered or kept on leash by helper. The other dog is kept at a distance of a few feet either tethered or kept on leash by another handler. The owner holds a bowl full of some tasty treats. The owner feeds the non-guarding dog a treat first, and then immediately afterward, praises and feeds the guarder. This should be repeated several times and a brief pause should take place between the reps.
The goal of this exercise is, after several repetitions, to create a conditioned emotional response in the guarder. Trial after trial, the guarder comes to associate the other dog being fed with him being fed. The dog basically learns that, every time Rover is fed, then he’ shortly fed right after, therefore seeing Rover eating means good things are about to happen! This is the opposite of before, when Rover’s presence was perceived as threatening, evoking food guarding behaviors.
Once the conditioned emotional response has been established, it is possible to move the dogs gradually closer and repeat the exercise, playing close attention to the guarder’s body language for signs of tension. If there are any signs of subtle tension, more distance should be granted.
A plan should always be in place should a fight erupt at any time. It is important to avoid touching fighting dogs and always keeping some tools handy such as a blanket to toss over the dogs, a bucket of water or hose to drench the dogs, or an air horn or pan covers to clunk together so to startle the dogs and stop them from fighting.
Exercise 2: The guarder is on leash in a quiet room held by one handler who is reading or watching TV and not paying attention to the dog. The non-guarder dog (on leash as well with a handler) is introduced in the room. The handler of the guarder acknowledges the non-guarder dog “Oh look, here comes Rover! “The non-guarder dog is fed by his handler a tasty treat, while the guarder dog’s handler praises and right afterward feeds the guarder dog a treat. The non-guarder dog is then taken out the room and treat delivery ends. The process is then repeated.
After several trials, the guarder should show signs of a conditioned emotional response upon seeing Rover coming into the room. From dreading the other dog’s approach, he now feels “happy” because he knows that the approach of the other dog signifies that treat time is coming. These exercises should be practiced in different areas of the home, always emphasizing that the approach of the other dog means treats happen, while departure means treats end.
Exercise 3: This exercise is a next step for dogs who guard food bowls. The guarder is on leash in a quiet room held by one handler who is reading or watching TV and not paying attention to the dog. One empty food bowl is placed on the floor next to the guarder, another one is placed at the entrance of the room. Several minutes should elapse with the handler ignoring the dog.
The non-guarder dog (on leash as well with a handler) is introduced in the room by the food bowl at the entrance. The handler of the guarder acknowledges the non-guarder dog “Oh, look here comes Rover!” The non-guarder dog is given several pieces of kibble tossed in the food bowl while the guarder dog’s handler praises and right afterward feeds the guarder dog several kibble in the bowl. Upon the guarder dog finishing the kibble, the non-guarder dog is then taken out of the room to emphasize that the delivery of food ends when he leaves the room. The process is then repeated several times every meal time spitting the meal portions so to get several reps until the guarder shows signs of looking forward to the non-guarder dog’s approach into the room.
Caution in this exercise is needed when reducing distance between the dogs and when the non-guarder dog looks at the guarder dog eating (he can be fed a treat every now and then to prevent direct staring). The non-guarder dog looking at the guarder eating can create setbacks considering that it means he has an interest in the guarder’s food (this is ultimately something that can be worked on too later on).
It is always best to maintain a certain level of distance for safety and to reduce the chances for setbacks. Even dogs with a history of not resource guarding should be provided space when being fed their meals. Food bowls should always be picked up after practice sessions and eventually real meal times to avoid conflict.
Teaching the Dog to Avoid the Guarder
Sometimes, a dog needs to learn how to withdraw from potential conflict. Most dogs naturally understand that a growl means “move away, I am not comfortable with you so close,” however, some dogs may underestimate things or they may not wish to back down.
Teaching the dog to avoid the guarder by using a verbal cue, if the guarder’s growl doesn’t work, may be a way to avoid conflict. A verbal cue such as “withdraw” or “leave him alone” should tell your non-guarding dog to follow you in another room or the yard where you can praise him and give a treat and then hang out with him there for some time.
With time, the response should become more and more fluent to the point of the non-guarder withdrawing from the guarder even before you pronounce your cue.
The Bottom Line
Resource guarding among dogs is a natural behavior that has been part of the dog’s evolution. Often, conflict involves ritualistic displays and no harm among the parties occurs.
It’s the same as a child saying “this is my toy” to another child and it all ends there. The child has used her words rather than pulling hair or biting, and that may be acceptable, although the child can be taught the virtues of sharing. In dogs, sharing though is maladaptive and could have led to extinction of the species. Rather than teaching them to share, we can manipulate their environment and condition their emotions.
Mild cases of food guarding can often be solved through management. More serious issues where dogs risk injuring each other and there is tension and fear in other dogs sharing the household, may require behavior modification. These cases often require the aid of a professional.
As seen, there are several ways to deal with a dog guarding food from other dogs. Often times, the best option is to simply avoid as much as possible circumstances that may evoke troublesome behaviors. Many households avoid feeding bones for this very reason. Alternatively, confinement is another good option.
Although it may be challenging to change deeply ingrained instinctive behaviors such as food guarding, there are some options to ameliorate things; however, there are no guarantees on the outcome and maintenance exercises are often needed. Consult with a behavior professional for help and guidance.
Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If you are dealing with a dog guarding food from other dogs, see a behavior professional using humane, force-free behavior modification techniques for safety and correct behavior modification implementation.