need bigtime help
 

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.

RE: need bigtime help
 

Oh my last dog was like that, back when I was like 4 I was petting her when she was eat then she bit me, I heard try freeding the dog with your handfor a whilemight help.

RE: need bigtime help
 

Good advice by Ruffer.



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RE: need bigtime help
 

With any of the dogs I've had, after the first week or two of having them I would take the bowl away while they were eating always praising them at the same time and/or petting them. I would continue this while raising them for the first year. This always did the trick up until the black GSP came along. BUT, now that my black GSP is older, sometimes he doesn't like you pet him while he's eating but it's usually b/c he's crabby....eventhough he's the nicest dog in the world. And in all honesty I believe it's b/c he wasn't raised in a completein-house environment like the my white GSP was. I think that if you condition them to eat while you are around them while giving them attention they will be fine. A sharp reprimand (sp?) might be in order while they're young but you don't want to discourage them from eating. It's simply a dominance issue. If you have young children then the growling while eating might be an issue.

RE: need bigtime help
 

.maybe you didnt know but there aggressivenesswas bred into them when the breed was started,,back in the market hunting days. i ve seen alot of biteing chessies. to be around kids try a lab.

RE: need bigtime help
 

We have two cheesie's and neithier of them growl at us while eating. i take her bowl away and feed them by hand when i'm bored never have bit me or growled. let the dog know who's boss. I have seen 1 really mean chessie. it tried to bite me when i was going to pet it and he wasn't eating. he was also raised in the city probaly used as a gaurd dog to(waste of time).labs are ok last one we had went crazy and gave her a way

RE: need bigtime 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.

RE: need bigtime help
 

I believe in using this method, but, I would try using a bone that your dog would really like. When your dog gets growling take it away and when he stops pat him and say good dog or something along those lines. When he calms down give him back the bone and try again, eventually he should come around to you.

I agree 100 percent with this never let children around him while feeding until you have him mastering the bone trick really well and then only while supervising the dog as a precaution.

RE: need bigtime help
 

I never really owned an aggressive dog but this may help. It can't hurt. When I use to feed my dog, I would place the bowl down but would not let the dog touch it. I was basically teaching the dog to woah. Then using the whistle, release her to eat. This was a good segway into actual training.