Food aggression lead to my mum in hospital- please can someone help

[Akela]

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I rescued my dog Akela at 3 months, he is now 16months.
He showed food aggression from a young age and I made adjustments to his feeding regimes following an incident that left me scared on my hand. After biting me (there where warning signs) he was no longer allowed into the kitchen where I prepared his food. (He gets nothing for free, he must always wait for his food).
I marked the incident down to his past, it transpired that all his litter mates where taken by Romanian gypsies and he was left at the shelter. I presumed that was because they could tell he had bad hips and would be no good for hunting (after having Akela for several months he developed a limp and further examinations showed he has severe hip dysplesia) however now I think he may have been the runt of the litter and probably had to fight for his food.
I’m absolutely solid with his routine and did everything books and professionals told me to do to help desensitise him, and help him trust that people are no threat to his food. All went well for many months and my confidence was rebuilt with him. Sadly I have two cats that started to become a problem for my dog, my cats would climb onto the kitchen table as I made my dogs food in the kitchen (where he’s not allowed) and they started to get his attention. One day one of my cats fell of the table- I could sense the energy of him and he ran into the kitchen to grab my cat, I slid in the middle and his redirected aggression got me a bite to my tummy. I stayed calm, Akela ran off. Two days later my cat was taunting Akela from the kitchen table (hissing) and he ran into the kitchen and tried to pull him of the table, this time my mum was there and she blocked him again, he bit my mum and drew blood.
The cats have now been moved to the upstairs section of my house and are safe. They won’t be meeting again.
Last night a horrible incident happened, my mum was preparing his food and she slipped in the kitchen Akela charged in and bit her calf before running back in the front room. SLIPPED!! My mum being in shock fed him still!! She lost so much blood I had to call an ambulance, they had to call the police and I’m in absolute shock and pain. My mum is ok.
The problem is my mum is terrible with Akela, he is a big dog and she is an alcoholic. She speaks to him like a baby and no matter how much I try to diplomatically teach her how to behave around him she never remembers or acts on a word I say. I don’t completely blame my mum, to see her loosing so much blood was a heartbreaking ordeal.
My Akela is an incredible dog, he is so intelligent and wonderful but around food he’s suspicious and aggressive but not to me.
I have a behaviourist booked for Thursday, everyone at the vets loves him, he loves everyone. This morning when I fed him I wanted to test him and I refused to feed him until he was lying down and looking away, when I put his bowl down I made him wait a full minute (I wanted to test him, I couldn’t believe what had happened!) I gave the ‘ok’ command and he respected everything I said, he doesn’t growl at me. I can take his food away and he’s fine, it took months of training him myself to get him to do that. I thought I’d solved everything but then this happened.
I know he’s a dog but he means so much to me (he’s my buddy for adventures, he’s my world) I’m currently not in a position to move out and despite my mums flaws this is her house and I feel utterly responsible.
My whole family are distraught and of course have placed judgments on Akela. Me and him will now spend Christmas alone because some of my family don’t want him around there children, I completely understand. It’s heartbreaking, to put so much into him and it’s hust shattered.
I really love my dog. We had the best life but he hasn’t been himself today, I haven’t felt so good either.
Can anyone give me any advice, has anyone ever gone through this? I’m in tears as I write this. I feel like I’ve let him down, I would do anything for him but I can’t separate him from my mum, this is her house. I’m so lost!
Just to talk to someone would mean so much!
Can he come back from this. It was marked as a serious bite bu the police but it was a bite, then he ran back.
I don’t know what to think..
I’m sorry for the huge message everyone. Laurie x

 

[Ari_RR]

My 2 cents - "nothing in life is free" theory is... well, the theory may have something to it, but the way many folks implement it is IMHO unnecessary harsh, losing the sight of why certain things are required of the dog.

When I require something - it’s certainly not just for the hell of it. And not to reiterate one more time that the dog should always remember its dependency on the human, and “know its place”. Most often is to reinforce already built in habits or behavior patterns, in a little bit more complex situation, which needs a little more patience of some kind of action from the dog. But most often - just to reinforce good basic manners, I my case.

I think complexity should be added after basics are learned, and the basics are learned best when the dog is relaxed and as stress-free as possible.

In Akela’s case, I would probably look to minimize the stress level and excitement, instead of adding to both by creating additional rules and restrictions on the boy.
Why make him look away for a minute, laying waiting for his meal.. to what end, what does it do?
Impulse control exercise are good, but I would start small, baby steps, and then grow.
Throw a small treat on the floor, make him wait for 5 sec before he can run to grab it, then slowly gradually progress to 10 sec and many little pieces, but to start with waiting for a minute for his meal is IMHO setting him up for a failure.

This is a complex environment as is, with mom and cats, i would really look to make things easier for him, not harder. When things are easy, and free, and his leave of nervousness is down and he is not worried as much about his food - start slowly and gently introduce rules to reinforce good manners, like sitting before diving into his food bowl, but the key word here is slowly.. 2 seconds will be a good start, then 5, then 10, and i am really hard pressed to see why anyone would need a dog to sit for a minute waiting for his meal.

Good luck! Don't stress too much over this, i think taking things easy and slowly will go a long way for you both.

I would agree that keeping him away from children is a good thing at this point, better safe then sorry. If it was me - i would do the same, but not necessarily only because i don't trust the dog. You need to be able to trust the children before you let them interact with your dog.

 

[JudyN]

I agree with @Ari_RR , making him wait for his food, or taking his food away and then giving it back, won't help with food aggression - it will simply make him more anxious around food and potentially exacerbate the problem. If the behaviourist suggests doing this, or continuing with the Nothing in Life Is Free approach, or reinforcing your status in the pack, or similar, I'd look elsewhere - this approach is very outdated.

I used to make my dog wait, but one day I got involved in a discussion with my hubby after asking him to wait and forgot to say 'OK' After I realised, and gave him his food, when I brushed against him he growled which he wouldn't have normally, because he'd been stressed by waiting for so long. In my experience, any training you do in one situation, e.g. waiting for food, doesn't translate to other situations - a cat falling off the table, your mum slipping, or whatever.

It sounds to me as if these incidents could have been prevented by having a stairgate on the kitchen door - could you fit one? (You can even get freestanding ones that are very easy to use, as long as he doesn't have a tendency to barge through them.) Then whenever you're doing anything with food in the kitchen, ask him to leave the room and shut the stairgate. (This is what I did with my dog - I trained it by saying 'Out of here' and throwing a treat into the hall, now if I'm preparing food he'll actually wait just inside the kitchen so I'll tell him to leave and give him a treat!)

Sometimes guarding can be 'fixed'. Sometimes, though, it seems to be so hardwired, either through nature or early experiences, all you can do is manage it.

Kudos for sticking with him, as it must have been very upsetting for you and your mum.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Agree with the above.. This making them wait amounts to teasing which leads to frustration.

Benny had food issues in the beginning and we just allowed him to eat in a seperate area so that no one disturbed him and he was not threatened.

As for your mum, if she cant be trusted to remember the basic safety rules around the dog you will have to limit or prevent her feeding him. For both their sakes.

 

[Akela]

My 2 cents - "nothing in life is free" theory is... well, the theory may have something to it, but the way many folks implement it is IMHO unnecessary harsh, losing the sight of why certain things are required of the dog.

When I require something - it’s certainly not just for the hell of it. And not to reiterate one more time that the dog should always remember its dependency on the human, and “know its place”. Most often is to reinforce already built in habits or behavior patterns, in a little bit more complex situation, which needs a little more patience of some kind of action from the dog. But most often - just to reinforce good basic manners, I my case.

I think complexity should be added after basics are learned, and the basics are learned best when the dog is relaxed and as stress-free as possible.

In Akela’s case, I would probably look to minimize the stress level and excitement, instead of adding to both by creating additional rules and restrictions on the boy.
Why make him look away for a minute, laying waiting for his meal.. to what end, what does it do?
Impulse control exercise are good, but I would start small, baby steps, and then grow.
Throw a small treat on the floor, make him wait for 5 sec before he can run to grab it, then slowly gradually progress to 10 sec and many little pieces, but to start with waiting for a minute for his meal is IMHO setting him up for a failure.

This is a complex environment as is, with mom and cats, i would really look to make things easier for him, not harder. When things are easy, and free, and his leave of nervousness is down and he is not worried as much about his food - start slowly and gently introduce rules to reinforce good manners, like sitting before diving into his food bowl, but the key word here is slowly.. 2 seconds will be a good start, then 5, then 10, and i am really hard pressed to see why anyone would need a dog to sit for a minute waiting for his meal.

Good luck! Don't stress too much over this, i think taking things easy and slowly will go a long way for you both.

I would agree that keeping him away from children is a good thing at this point, better safe then sorry. If it was me - i would do the same, but not necessarily only because i don't trust the dog. You need to be able to trust the children before you let them interact with your dog.

Thanks for your reply, he will already stay when I throw treats on the floor. He is well trained and very happy except for with food!
Nothing in life is free is my approach, he is a very smart dog and this is one of the ways I keep his brain occupied too! He is a very large dog and he can’t just be allowed to do as he pleases, that may be lovely for him but not everyone else! This genuinely has nothing to do with dominance, im a young female. Not a bitch!
I feel terrible to think that making him wait that long seems harsh but the point was to try to calm him, his over excitement around food time is a huge cause for concern which, as the Attacks shows can lead to terribly poor impulse control.
Nothing in life is free - my translation = Akela must sit and wait as I go out the door first. He must wait for people to go down the stairs before he goes down. We train everyday. He gets home cooked meals due to his endless allergies.
The basics where learned long ago! Your reply is offensive

 

[Akela]

Agree with the above.. This making them wait amounts to teasing which leads to frustration.

Benny had food issues in the beginning and we just allowed him to eat in a seperate area so that no one disturbed him and he was not threatened.

As for your mum, if she cant be trusted to remember the basic safety rules around the dog you will have to limit or prevent her feeding him. For both their sakes.

I feel bad if making him wait wasn’t the right thing to do, I’m definitely feeling a bit lost about what’s right now!
I thought making him wait longer would stop the over excited behaviour that accompanies meals, he always used to sit and wait for his meals but the drool and anxious licking of the lips was intense after he attacked y mum I thought I had to change something?
I thought that by making him lie down and waiting for a minute he would be calmer. And he seemed to be! It feels like a long way to wait until Thursday to see a behaviourist. That’s why i came here.

 

[Kara 1]

Making him wait may make sense to humans but dogs think so differently. ..making him wait could be doing the opposite and making him more frustrated that all he wants to do is get to the food ...
I also think you have to take into consideration where he came from ...most dogs from Romania are bred totally different to our dogs here and no matter how young you get them some things cannot be trained from how ingrained they are ....
I hope you find a solution

 

[JudyN]

Your reply is offensive

Please don't take offence at advice, freely given, that the poster believes is relevant and could help your situation. There is a world of difference between not always demanding that a dog obeys a command before he gets anything, and allowing the dog to do whatever he wants. As I found out, making my dog wait for any length of time for food made him more anxious around food, not better.

Trying to find the right approach is confusing. There's a saying that the only thing two trainers will agree on is that the third one is doing it wrong.

I suggest that for now, continue as you are doing but make sure your requests are 'easy' for him - a short sit & wait before going through doors and food, say - and manage him so that he is kept away from food at 'flashpoint' times. Then see what the behaviourist says, read advice on the internet, ask away if you want to, and decide for yourself what approach seems to make most sense.

There's often an urge to DO something to fix a problem. Sometimes, reducing stress and marking time is the best way to go. Remember that Akela is a 'teenager' now and many dogs are bolshy at this stage and calm down as they mature.

There's a brilliant book about resource guarding by Patricia McConnell called 'Mine!' It has a detailed set of instructions for working on resource guarding which didn't really work with my dog for various reasons, but it gives a lot of detail about the dog psychology behind it and some great general advice. It's a short book, but it really could help you.

 

[Akela]

I agree with @Ari_RR , making him wait for his food, or taking his food away and then giving it back, won't help with food aggression - it will simply make him more anxious around food and potentially exacerbate the problem. If the behaviourist suggests doing this, or continuing with the Nothing in Life Is Free approach, or reinforcing your status in the pack, or similar, I'd look elsewhere - this approach is very outdated.

I used to make my dog wait, but one day I got involved in a discussion with my hubby after asking him to wait and forgot to say 'OK' After I realised, and gave him his food, when I brushed against him he growled which he wouldn't have normally, because he'd been stressed by waiting for so long. In my experience, any training you do in one situation, e.g. waiting for food, doesn't translate to other situations - a cat falling off the table, your mum slipping, or whatever.

It sounds to me as if these incidents could have been prevented by having a stairgate on the kitchen door - could you fit one? (You can even get freestanding ones that are very easy to use, as long as he doesn't have a tendency to barge through them.) Then whenever you're doing anything with food in the kitchen, ask him to leave the room and shut the stairgate. (This is what I did with my dog - I trained it by saying 'Out of here' and throwing a treat into the hall, now if I'm preparing food he'll actually wait just inside the kitchen so I'll tell him to leave and give him a treat!)

Sometimes guarding can be 'fixed'. Sometimes, though, it seems to be so hardwired, either through nature or early experiences, all you can do is manage it.

Kudos for sticking with him, as it must have been very upsetting for you and your mum.

Please don't take offence at advice, freely given, that the poster believes is relevant and could help your situation. There is a world of difference between not always demanding that a dog obeys a command before he gets anything, and allowing the dog to do whatever he wants. As I found out, making my dog wait for any length of time for food made him more anxious around food, not better.

Trying to find the right approach is confusing. There's a saying that the only thing two trainers will agree on is that the third one is doing it wrong.

I suggest that for now, continue as you are doing but make sure your requests are 'easy' for him - a short sit & wait before going through doors and food, say - and manage him so that he is kept away from food at 'flashpoint' times. Then see what the behaviourist says, read advice on the internet, ask away if you want to, and decide for yourself what approach seems to make most sense.

There's often an urge to DO something to fix a problem. Sometimes, reducing stress and marking time is the best way to go. Remember that Akela is a 'teenager' now and many dogs are bolshy at this stage and calm down as they mature.

There's a brilliant book about resource guarding by Patricia McConnell called 'Mine!' It has a detailed set of instructions for working on resource guarding which didn't really work with my dog for various reasons, but it gives a lot of detail about the dog psychology behind it and some great general advice. It's a short book, but it really could help you.

thank you, I’m sorry. I hate to think I’ve let Akela down.

 

[Akela]

My 2 cents - "nothing in life is free" theory is... well, the theory may have something to it, but the way many folks implement it is IMHO unnecessary harsh, losing the sight of why certain things are required of the dog.

When I require something - it’s certainly not just for the hell of it. And not to reiterate one more time that the dog should always remember its dependency on the human, and “know its place”. Most often is to reinforce already built in habits or behavior patterns, in a little bit more complex situation, which needs a little more patience of some kind of action from the dog. But most often - just to reinforce good basic manners, I my case.

I think complexity should be added after basics are learned, and the basics are learned best when the dog is relaxed and as stress-free as possible.

In Akela’s case, I would probably look to minimize the stress level and excitement, instead of adding to both by creating additional rules and restrictions on the boy.
Why make him look away for a minute, laying waiting for his meal.. to what end, what does it do?
Impulse control exercise are good, but I would start small, baby steps, and then grow.
Throw a small treat on the floor, make him wait for 5 sec before he can run to grab it, then slowly gradually progress to 10 sec and many little pieces, but to start with waiting for a minute for his meal is IMHO setting him up for a failure.

This is a complex environment as is, with mom and cats, i would really look to make things easier for him, not harder. When things are easy, and free, and his leave of nervousness is down and he is not worried as much about his food - start slowly and gently introduce rules to reinforce good manners, like sitting before diving into his food bowl, but the key word here is slowly.. 2 seconds will be a good start, then 5, then 10, and i am really hard pressed to see why anyone would need a dog to sit for a minute waiting for his meal.

Good luck! Don't stress too much over this, i think taking things easy and slowly will go a long way for you both.

I would agree that keeping him away from children is a good thing at this point, better safe then sorry. If it was me - i would do the same, but not necessarily only because i don't trust the dog. You need to be able to trust the children before you let them interact with your dog.

Hi again,
I’m sorry for saying your reply offended me. I don’t want to let my dog down and I won’t do that again. I won’t make him lie down and wait, in the back of my mind I just thought adding further distance and more commands may be what needed to be done. But if it’s detrimental to him I won’t. Your right things need to be less stressful, it’s just really hard now. Thank you for your time.

 

[Ari_RR]

No worries. He is only 16 month old, a teenager, so you have a long road ahead of you, being able to experiment and try slightly different ways is not a bad thing ;-)

This is a stressful time for all of you, mom getting bitten, and all.
Dogs feel the elevated stress level in their humans, but they can’t really handle this and it raises their own anxiety.

It’s great that you are thinking this through, losing sleep, reaching out to others including the behavior specialist, it just shows what a committed owner you are, Akela is lucky to have you.

No offense was intended, of course.

But, wow, my initial commentary on NILIF was a lot more negative and animated, i am just happy that I scaled it down and edited my response before you read it

It’s so easy to come across condescending with not carefully thought through words. One man’s junk is another one’s treasure, have to always remember this, I seem to have slipped somewhere if you took offense, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Akela]

thank you, I’m sorry. I hate to think I’ve let Akela down.

Also I want to add, he gets my affection for free! I love my dog! I just read the NILIF approach online and it’s way more severe than what I do. I just try and teach good dog manners..

 

[Akela]

No worries. He is only 16 month old, a teenager, so you have a long road ahead of you, being able to experiment and try slightly different ways is not a bad thing ;-)

This is a stressful time for all of you, mom getting bitten, and all.
Dogs feel the elevated stress level in their humans, but they can’t really handle this and it raises their own anxiety.

It’s great that you are thinking this through, losing sleep, reaching out to others including the behavior specialist, it just shows what a committed owner you are, Akela is lucky to have you.

No offense was intended, of course.

Thank you. I’m really concerned about adding to his stress levels. He hasn’t been himself since it’s happened. I don’t want to ruin him in this crucial time! All I’m doing is watching endless training videos, I don’t want to mess this up. He really means so much to me.

 

[Rhythmpig]

I'm not very good at translating things in to words about training dogs,I just do what i do...but I always say remember the two C's...calm and confidence,they really do go along way

 

[merlina]

We've been in exactly this situation with our corgi x, (severe food aggression) and my late FIL who had dementia and couldn't be left alone with him. Both my husband and I were badly bitten one Christmas grabbing the dog (who had taken possession of a cracker!) before my FIL could. Sometimes you have to take one for the team! Boxing Day in A&E- lovely. Anyway we learned that for some dogs you have to be self-disciplined pretty well forever. Five years later corgi's still with us. Like in your house, he isn't allowed anywhere near food prep. He has to follow us outside and into the summer house where his bowl is put down after he sits. He's left in peace to eat and comes out when he's ready. We never take food or anything else off him. If anyone we're not sure of is at our house (elderly neighbours yesterday) he's locked in the summer house in his box for an hour or even two. You can make limited changes to the dog's behaviour but you can make any amount of changes to your own. I'm afraid it's the only solution we've found. Good luck.

 

[Akela]

I'm not very good at translating things in to words about training dogs,I just do what i do...but I always say remember the two C's...calm and confidence,they really do go along way

Thank you. I appreciate your time. Being calm around Akela is so important. My confidence has definitely been shaken up. Especially thinking I’ve been doing things wrong x

 

[Akela]

We've been in exactly this situation with our corgi x, (severe food aggression) and my late FIL who had dementia and couldn't be left alone with him. Both my husband and I were badly bitten one Christmas grabbing the dog (who had taken possession of a cracker!) before my FIL could. Sometimes you have to take one for the team! Boxing Day in A&E- lovely. Anyway we learned that for some dogs you have to be self-disciplined pretty well forever. Five years later corgi's still with us. Like in your house, he isn't allowed anywhere near food prep. He has to follow us outside and into the summer house where his bowl is put down after he sits. He's left in peace to eat and comes out when he's ready. We never take food or anything else off him. If anyone we're not sure of is at our house (elderly neighbours yesterday) he's locked in the summer house in his box for an hour or even two. You can make limited changes to the dog's behaviour but you can make any amount of changes to your own. I'm afraid it's the only solution we've found. Good luck.

Thank you for sharing your experience. You made a really good point.
I feel so bad I used to take his food away! It was never a regular thing and was always switched for higher rewards.. and immediately given back. I always thought this would help him know people are the source of good things. I have a lot of children in my life (friends/family) I wanted to make him the most well adjusted boy, able to handle and accept anything. Know I feel like an idiot.
Knowing you have stayed with your dog has brought me so much hope.
Honestly thank you so much for taking the time to message x

 

[Rhythmpig]

Don't beat yourself up,we all can make mistakes,none of us are perfect when I comes to dogs. None of them are the same,it's just it can take longer with some to find the right key to open the door to a long and happy life together .

 

[Akela]

Don't beat yourself up,we all can make mistakes,none of us are perfect when I comes to dogs. None of them are the same,it's just it can take longer with some to find the right key to open the door to a long and happy life together .

Thank you x

 

[JudyN]

now I feel like an idiot.

Taking food off your dog and giving it back would have been standard advice a number of years ago, and many people (including some behaviourists and trainers) are still adamant that they 'must be able to take things off the dog' and won't 'let' the dog even growl in response - they won't 'tolerate' the behaviour. And to be fair, with very many dogs you can do this and it seems to work, so they may well have done this all their lives with all their dogs so 'know' it works. It's only when you get a 'different' dog that you need to step back, unlearn everything you thought you knew, and start pretty much from scratch. So don't feel like an idiot, and don't feel bad - you're neither.