food possession/agression

Question
i have a 1 year old female border collie who has food possession. she has never shown much interest in food (except for treats of course). when she was younger and she didnt eat her food within a certain time we would take it away so she would learn to eat it when she was given it. after a few months she began to watch her food and growl and bark possessivly when you approached the kitchen when the food was down. we tried feeding her in small amounts, which work for a little while but only when she was hungry. we did managed to reduce how often she had episodes of doing this, to it being only when she was shut in the kitchen and the food was in there. but the problem has recently arouse again and i was wondering if there was anything we could do to get long lasting results for this problem, before resorting to having to recruit a behaviourist.

Answer
Let me ask this, when you took her food away, was she still eating it? Because, unfortunately, that could be the cause. I only partly agree with the 15 minute rule. I do think that it's a good way for them to learn when mealtime is, but the downfall is it could also lead to them wanting to scarf their food down or become food aggressive. Dogs act this way when they feel they need to fight for their food or they're not going to get it.

When I first got my dog she was food aggressive. I guess it was in my blood what to do; I gave a firm "no" with a loud stomp and clamp and that was it. The fact that she is being aggressive with you means she doesn't hold you in the alpha place, which is where you need to be. Has she ever tried to bite or snap at you at all? What do you do when she reacts this way?

One suggestion is you could incorporate her eating as a reward after completing commands. Another approach would be to use a spray bottle on stream when she reacts as well. But always use a firm command along with it so she realizes that her behavior is not acceptable.

Please follow-up with me and let me know how things go.