We now have two Cavaliers and adore them both. Each gets obedience training classes every week. The older (Parker at 18 mos) got to do some agility this past week. He loved it. Kinsey is a clumsy four months, now, and is doing well in basic obedience.
A week ago, Parker - out of the blue - became food aggressive. I am devastated. We talked to the vet, some dog owners, and our trainer. Each said that's end of game. Feed them in separate rooms.
They will each take kibble out of my hands - one at a time. Treats are not a problem. They will drink at the same time out of a bowl. Kinsey is learning to pay attention to Parker's growls when he wants to be left alone, or telling Kinsey that's "his" toy at the moment. He'll even give up toys willingly if Kinsey barks loud enough.
It's just food. I'm feeding 3 times a day, yet. What a chore.
Does anyone out there have a suggestion? I can put my hand in the bowl, or hand feed him. That's not the issue. I'm broken hearted and desperate for a solution.
I wish I could offer you a solution, but I can't. I do know that I've had dogs that would let you take their food right out of their mouth, and one who would growl and snarl if you passed the dish while he was eating and we were never able to change things. I think it's just in their nature to do that.
I really never thought of it as a major problem and just put the dish down and walked away.
As long as he's fine with treats and eating out of your hand, I probably would ignore it.
I believe that at 18 months you really can feed Parker twice a day.
I imagine that in Parker's mind he thinks, I have had to give up my privacy, my toys, my exclusive rights to my masters but I refuse to give up my meals.
I have a 2 year old dog (a cockamo) and five cats. I took Kizzy to dog obedience when she was a puppy and it certainly helped as she is a very sensitive dog. Also having to live with five cats has resulted in a certain pecking order. She can sometimes become rather possessive of her toys, treats and food but I don't allow her to get away with it. If she's particularly aggressive to one of the cats I put her through some exercises my trainer taught me to show her who is in control (ie me). In rapid succession I make her sit, lay down, sit, lay down then release, or lay down, release, lay down, release a number of times. She finds it fun and it breaks the mood. If I feel it's a very serious behavior problem, I'll put her pinch collar on her and walk her through the situation again with corrective behavior modifications.
One of my cats is super possessive and aggressive about her food but she gets fed wet food with the rest of the cats so she can learn to share better. She does have a separate dry food dispenser in one of the bedrooms which, though any cat and the dog can eat out of, makes her feel better that she knows that that food is always there for her. If she becomes seriously bad, I'm not above putting her over my knee and giving her a swat or two on the bottom. ;->
I think your dogs are just learning the pecking order in your house and the older one is trying to show that he's the top dog. You have to remember that YOU are the top dog in the house. I think with some training and patience you can get through this problem and if not completely solve it, at least minimize the impact and come to an acceptable solution.
One of the things I have seen on the Dog Whisperer is dealing with this. First off, the dogs have to know that you are pack leader and as such are BOSS of the food. It's YOUR food and you give it to them ONLY when YOU decide to do so! One way Caesar has managed this is to put the food in the bowl and then hold the bowl up off the ground so that the dog has to stand up to get into the bowl while YOU are in control of the bowl. You keep holding the bowl and, while the dog is eating, every few bites you lift the bowl out of the dogs reach to show the dog that YOU control the food because YOU are pack leader. It seems that once the food aggressive dog has accepted the fact that it's YOUR food not his -- you are just sharing it when you want to
-- then s/he starts to fall in line. It's basically a power and control issue and YOU must be the one with the power and the control if you plan on being pack leader. It certainly won't happen overnight but at least it's something you could try. Regardless, someone in the house must be pack leader and it had better be the humans or life could get very unhappy! CiaoMeow >^;;^<
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at
Thanks, everyone. Mary: I was trying to remember how Cesar Milano did this. I'll give it a try. Although the Am. Vet Soc. has come out emphatically against his techniques. :~)
Dianne, I think I'm missing something. Are you trying to feed them both from the same bowl? Each dog should have his own bowl and should be fed away from the other, if not in separate rooms, at least in separate parts of the room. My boys mostly eat in their crates, but if I don't have the crates available (like in a hotel room), then I give them each their own corner.
If I'm mis-understanding the problem, can you clarify how the food aggression manifests? Thanks.
I had a problem with 2 dogs and food, too, but it wasn't aggression or guarding but how much each actually ate! The mixed breed (40 pounds) would occasionally eat hers and then eat the Yorkie's, too. And sometimes the Yorkie would eat all of hers and then eat a lot of the mixed's, too. It wasn't easy to see who was eating how much, and I didn't want either dog to get fat or to be hungry from not getting her fair share. I solved it by putting the mixed breed's bowls on a platform about 10" above the floor where the Yorkie didn't get at it, and put the Yorkie's bowls in the bathroom just off the kitchen, which I blocked off from the larger girl with a piece of plastic lattice across the doorway with a hole for the Yorkie to get in and out. It worked very well!
You really have no reason to feel upset about this. The dogs are just doing what dogs do! My neighbor has two springer spaniels, and each has her own distinctive bowl. What he does is put both bowls on the counter, fill both, and while the dogs are wiggling at his feet, he puts the older dog's bowl down first, on his right, and says her name, and a very few seconds later puts the younger dog's bowl down to his left and says her name. Another neighbor has 2 fox terriers, brother and sister, and has to feed them separately since the female will eat hers very fast and then chase her brother away and finish his food -- so nowdays, the female eats in the kitchen and the male eats just around the corner in the small bathroom. The long and the short of it is, really, that each dog should have his own bowls and be able to eat in peace, without worry about whether another dog will go for the food. And, you need to be sure that each dog gets the proper amount of food. Free-feeding obviously is not a solution for multi-dog homes, and neither is sharing. You really don't want to inadvertently foster development of aggression in the "pack"!
Each has their own bowl. Parker used to eat once a day and it was a chore to get him to eat even one bowl of food. He wasn't interested since he had been sick for months and food, to him, was the culprit. We found out what the problem was (an auto-immune response to heartworm and flea/tick medication) so he never got sick again, but he lost his appetite. Except for treats, which were only given during training, and tiny bits at that.
When we got Kinsey, Parker wanted to eat with him. He suddenly got interested in food. So, each got fed in separate bowls, their necessary allotment, three times a day. I understand pack behavior and always made Parker sit before I set down his bowl. When Kinsey arrived, Parker was given his bowl first, then Kinsey would sit and get his bowl - right beside Parker in the same area of the kitchen - a tiny distance apart.
Then suddenly - without warning - Parker went into a red zone. He wouldn't eat his food out of his bowl but went immediately after Kinsey. It was nasty. I'm not talking about a little growling.
So, we're now putting Kinsey in the bathroom (off the kitchen - I now have to give it to him first in order to get him out of the way) and then giving Parker his bowl. I tried giving Parker his bowl first and then putting Kinsey in the bathroom . . . but Parker watches and goes immediately after Kinsey when I put Parker's bowl down. I've literally had to pull Parker off Kinsey. It is pretty awful. I'm not afraid of being bitten, and I have a firm command over Parker. I've laid him on his side and held him down ala Millano until he settles down. To no avail.
When food time is over, they're the best of friends. They'll drink water out of the same bowl.
I can't make Parker do push ups or other activity to tell him who's boss. This all happens in seconds. I'm so broken hearted. I had two loving dogs who lit up my life and now this happened. Out of the blue.
Since Kinsey is now 4 months, today I changed feeding to twice a day. One less moment of despair.
I could feed them in their crates. The vet suggested that. She also suggested leashing them in separate parts of the kitchen. I tried that. Parker just growls the whole time and tries to get to Kinsey. He won't eat. Kinsey - who loves food - eats and worries every minute.
I've heard that this "happens", but I can't imagine that there isn't a resolution so that I don't have to separate them and so that Parker doesn't go ballistic.
First, from everything I've heard of Milan (I don't have cable), I suspect he's an ass. Second, why not just separate them? Feed each one in his own crate and then Parker won't be able to hurt Kinsey and you won't have to worry. There are some battles that aren't worth fighting and Parker could really hurt Kinsey. If he gets that upset over meals, I think it might be worth separating them. If their crates are near each other, put a towel or blanket between them so that Parker can't see Kinsey eat.
Not an ass -- controversial, sure and wayyyy different than most any other animal trainer most of us have seen but he does love his dogs and treats them with respect but takes absolutely NO "back talk" from any of them. The one thing he advocates that I think is absolutely necessary in living with dogs is to make sure the dogs firmly believe YOU are the boss and pack leader. His mantra in having what he calls a well balanced dog is to make sure you impose rules, boundaries and limitations AND to make sure the dog has plenty of exercise. Most of the stuff I see him do is stuff I was taught as a kid because it's the way my mom raised and taught our dogs. We always had pretty good dogs who were well behaved and loved us as much as we loved them. Can't hardly complain about that. CiaoMeow >^;;^<
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at
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