my puppy gets aggressive at meal times.

Question
I have a 8.5 week old Golden Retriever, she's ususally very good, but recently she's been gettin very agressive, growling and snapping when anyone go's near her while she eats. I have no idea how to stop this behaviour.  She's also acting as though she is starving a lot even after she's been fed.  Please can you help??  

Answer
Hello Lucy,

I don't know how long you have had your Golden, but it sounds as if she could have spent a little more time with her litter learning important lessons.  Be that as it may, she was adopted to you a bit on the young side (it is now known that 12 weeks is more ideal and that younger than eight weeks is not ideal), and you'll now be responsible for teaching her some of the lessons that she might have learned from her littermates.

I don't know how to address that she acts "as though she is starving a lot even after she's been fed."  This sentence doesn't tell me exactly what she's doing that makes you think she acts as if she's starving.  Is she looking for more food?  Does she stay by her food bowl after she's eaten?  Does she whine?  I would have needed more information about this sentence in order to address it.  Right now  can't.

It appears taht what your GR is doing is called 'resource guarding' her food.  She considers her food such an important resource, that she guards it from any potential takers.  First, I would get her into a good obedience class, one that uses positive methods only and no choke collars, so that she and you can learn a few skills such as Look At Me (you), Sit, Wait, Down, Drop It, and Leave It, etc.  Drop It and Leave It trained the correct way will be of utmost importance with a dog that has resource guarding tendencies, as will a 'Back Up' cue.  Ask if the class that you're interested in teaches these cues.  If not, you may want to go with private, cusomimzed training.

I would also immediately start hand feeding her, no longer bowl feeding her, making her 'work' for each handful of food (having her sit, down, wait, etc. - and more skills that you will learn in a class situation).  Since she was taken from her litter at too young an age, you might benefit too from being in a class where the pups get some play time with each other supervised by the instructor.  Look for a class where the dogs are basically the same age, or at least all under six months at the time the class starts.  Your GR can learn important lessons about canine behaviour from other dogs close to her own age, and even from some dog-friendly dogs who are a little older as well.

You might also start your pup on a Learn to Earn programme, making her work for (Sit, Down, etc.) and earn everything good that comes her way - leash walks, attention, affection, being given a toy to play with.  As far as toys go, many dogs who guard their food will also guard their toys, so it might be best to keep very high ranking toys away from her such as rawhides and pigs ears and instead give her consumable toys such as stuffed Kongs, and puzzle toys that will activate her mind like Buster Food Cubes.  These toys are finished in a finite amount of time rather than being 'endless' chews such as rawhides, and while they will satisfy her need to chew, they will be 'finished' in about 15 - 20 minutes' time and she will be less likely to guard these items.  With a stuffed Kong, you can also hold the Kong while your dog licks it, which teaches her too that good things come from you, not that you're going to take them away.

Resource guarding is a serious issue, and you might also want to seek professional assistance from a local trainer in your area regarding dealing with the issue.

Best regards and best of luck,
Madeline at AllExperts, www.ny-njDogTrainer.com