ORIGINAL: vadeerkiller
I have a 8 month oldchesapeakethat have had since 6 weeks of age. Around 5 months old, I noticed that when I fed her she would growl at me if I went near her food dish. Not knowing the proper way to handle this I did the best I could with some attitude ajustment. Now I can put my hand near her dish put she is real guarded, has her tail between her legs and will nudge my hand to try and remove it. It appears she would bite my hand off if given the chance. What can I do as this is unacceptablebehavior and I am afraid she will bite one of the kids. HELP.
This is food possesiveness. In shelters, if a dog fails the food test, they consider it grounds for euthanization.
I know that there are things that you can try, but if you have kids, I would never, ever, ever, let her eat with the kids around. Your kids come first, the dog last. Don't put your children in a situation to get bitten.