Carine Terrier Food Agression

Question
I own a one year old Carine Terrier named Bubba. We got him when he was about 8 weeks old. He diddn't have a food agression problem until he got a little older and thats when I noticed that he would get tense when anyone got close to his food while he was eating. One day he snapped and actually lunged and bit at me. Its now a regular thing and I don't know how to stop him. He has drawn blood twice on me, but I do not want to give up on him. Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior?

Answer
Emily

The bad news - Bubba is a terrible teen in cairn years.  Male cairns often become a little (or more) belligerent at this stage in life.

I have a bunch of questions, but maybe I can start by listing some suggestions - I do NOT feed free choice. Not only do dogs tend to overeat, but they no longer make the connection between the food and you being the source.  If he will take treats gently, I would resort to feeding him 2 meals a day, and taking the time to feed him one kibble at a time from your hand... or at least dropping each one into his dish with your hand in the dish.

This goes along with the practice called Nothing in Life is Free... and here's a link.  I am also linking to Toto - The Other Side of the Story so you may be able to have a better understanding of the breed.

http://www.cairnrescue.com/general/index.htm#toto
http://www.cairnrescue.com/docs/NILIF.pdf

I STRONGLY recommend you read and institute Nothing in Life is Free for Bubba right now. While many extremely "positive" trainers do not particularly like this method, the vast majority of them have never routinely worked with cairns or some of the other tougher terrier breeds.

I also STRONGLY recommend going to a series of obedience classes.  My goal for you in this would be to re-establish the relationship between the 2 of you and not just teach him to "obey" but to teach him to look to you for leadership.

Please please, let mw know how you make out and if there is anything further I can do from a distance to help. and God forbid you reach the end of your rope, PLEASE do not take him to a shelter and please consider breed rescue since we are the folks most well equipped to work with the breed (and we are much fussier about adoptive homes than any shelter has the resources to be)

-Beth