For those of you who have a dog that displays aggression over his food bowl, you will want to stop this kind of aggressive behavior. That is because the aggression over his dog food could easily develop into other types of aggression-and possibly end up causing some serious problems, including someone getting bit.

The watch signs of this type of aggression are very distinct and not all that uncommon. The aggression only shows up at mealtimes when the dog feels the urge to protect his food. A dog may act out aggressively at mealtimes towards either another nearby dog or a person that is near its food.

A dog that feels the strong need to protect his food from other dogs, will get aggressive if another dog is allowed to be nearby during feeding time. sometimes dogs get too worked up by nearby dogs to eat-they end up just trying to intimidate the other dog so much, they can’t concentrate on enjoying their meal. Some dogs even want to stop other dogs from eating their own meals-they want total control of the dining room.

Normally this problem is easy to correct with some common sense. If you feed your dogs in areas that are distinctly separated from each other, you should remove the aggressive dog’s urge to protect his bowl. During the meal make sure the aggressive dog does not leave his area to bother the other dog, and vice versa. You need to make sure he eats his meal without distractions. If your dog is not finishing his meals, do not leave the food out-put it away until the next meal. If you leave any uneaten food out, in either dog’s bowl, you are creating a situation that could lead to more aggressive behavior and you definitely want to put an end to that. It is also a good idea in general for your dogs to learn to finish all their food at the set meal times.

A different type of dog aggression over food is when your dog may even be aggressive over his meals towards you or other members of your family. You definitely don’t want to let this continue, because a dog that is aggressive over his food could snap and nip  someone in your family. This problem can be solved by teaching the dog that you are the Alpha dog-the one in charge-of your relationship.

Correct your dog’s food aggression by first teaching him you are the one in complete control of the food source. You will show him who is boss by immediately taking away his food bowl the moment he displays any aggression towards you growls for being nearby at dinnertime. Demonstrate that you are the boss of the food by moving his bowl while he is eating-as soon as he growls at you, remove the food bowl and put it away to show who has control of the food. His growl has cost him his food privileges for the time being. This is a sure way to illuminate him about who controls the food. It won’t take him long to figure out that by growling he doesn’t eat, and that by being cool he does.

Another form of food aggression is demonstrated by dogs that snap at treats (and the fingers holding them) when they are offered. You can also correct this, by denying the treat. Only reward your dog with his treat after he refrains form the snapping behavior. This aggressive snapping could quite easily lead to a child’s hand getting bitten by a dog trying to steal a snack. A better way to offer the treat is to hold it out on the palm of your hand. By doing this, the dog has to take the treat without snapping, and he will learn to be gentle.

Being the Alpha Dog and earning your dog’s respect and trust is very important for your relationship with your dog. Unless your dog understands that you are in charge, you will have a lot of trouble obedience training or solving behavior problems with your dog. If  you notice that your dog has any type of aggression problem, you need to make sure he can be corrected through training, or those problems could lead to something dangerous happening.

For more free tips on becoming the Alpha dog and learning how to correct aggressive behavior problems and advice on dog obedience training, please go to: http://BehaveDoggy.com.

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