puppy agression when given treats

Question
QUESTION: I have two puppies at home.  A 7-mo male pom and a 5-mo female maltese/shih tzo mix.  I need help in a training process to break my female of a bad behavior.  Everytime I give them both a treat, she eats hers and then go to him, sniffs his mouth and then attacks him with this horrible, snarling and growling agression.  I don't know how to break her of this.  Any suggestions?

ANSWER: Hi, Jean,

What have you been doing to teach her NOT to behave this way?

While I wait for your answer it might help to know that dogs can't learn a negative. IOW, your desire is to teach her NOT to do something. But she can't learn how NOT to behave. She has to be taught an alternative behavior to replace the old one.

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The only thing I have been doing is yelling loudly at her saying "NO".  I do not know what else to do.  I would love to know what I can do to teach her an alternative behavior.  What's interesting is, my husband will give them both treats outside in the yard and she doesn't exhibit this behavior.  Only seems to happen in the house. Your feedback was helpful.  Please let me know what steps I can take to teach her an alternative to her mean aggression.  I think it stems from her being in a pet store for several months with other dogs.


Answer
You have to stop saying, "No!" It's only making matters worse.

For now don't give them treats when they're together. Also, give them lots of hard vigorous playful activity outdoors every day, and take them on long walks together preferably in as natural a setting as possible.

I think you should also hand-feed the female all her meals for the next few weeks, using what's called the "pushing exercise." She's "attacking" the Pom because she feels "threatened" by him, that he's going to get something that she NEEDS. You and I know that she doesn't NEED that extra treat, but there's some inner "voice" telling her that if she doesn't get that treat from him her life will be over! (She sounds like a pre-teenage girl, doesn't she?) So there's some deep inner turmoil that's causing her to misbehave. The pushing exercise is designed to help dogs push past emotional issues like this. (It's similar in design to an exercise done to help autistic children deal with social and emotional stress.)

Here's how it works: you hold the food in one hand and offer it to her. As she eats you gently place your other hand palm up against her chest. Don't put any pressure on her chest. If she stops eating pull that hand away, and hold the food out for her to eat, but gently pet her with the other hand. As she gets used to being touched while she's eating you can start to try to sneak that second hand in against her chest. She doesn't eat big meals, so this is going to take time.

As she gets used to having the hand against her chest, you'll begin to pull your food hand away slightly while keeping the other hand steady so that she has to push into YOU in order to eat. Gradually build up her ability to push into while eating until she's pushing as hard as she can. That will remove most of the inner stress she's feeling. One other note: she should never feel any pressure against her chest unless she's also eating at the same time. So each time she finishes a handful of food, pull the other hand away. That's very important. Here's a link (print it out and follow the rules carefully):

http://leecharleskelleysblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/swimming-upstream.html

It might also help for you to teach her the "eyes" exercise. Here's that link:

http://leecharleskelleysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/eyes-have-it.html

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

LCK
www.LeeCharlesKelley.com
"Changing the World, One Dog at a Time"