ZaNnY zAnE

Question
I adopted Zane, a retriever mix, from the street. He is a wonderful dog, but even like good humans he has some problems. One, he is always jumping our back yard fence. I will let him out to go to the bathroom and he will head straight for the fence and jump. Granted he doesn't go that far. He mainly stays in our front yard, but how can I get him not to jump the fence with out replacing the whole fence? Two, he sleeps in the garage and wake up in the middle of the night crying like he has to go to the bathroom. So I will take in out and all he wants to do is play. Is there a way that I can get him to sleep the whole night through? I have tired keeping him up late but that did not seem to work. Third, he is very aggressive with food. In fact he has bitten my sixteen year old sister and has gone to the pound for that reason. Is there a good way to teach him that he does not need to be aggressive around food?

Thanks,
Zack


Answer
There is no easy answer to the fence jumping.  Perhaps he ended up on the street by jumping somebody else's fence.  You could add a farm like electric wire to the top of the fence.  You can also give up on the fence and tether him.  This is Ok for a dog that most lives in the house and is only out for a short while to relieve itself.  

When he wakes you at night, give him as little attention as you can.  Let him out to relieve himself, and shut him back in the garage.  If he finds he doesn't get what he wants, he may give up.  

A positive approach may be the best thing for the food aggression.  Only put out part of his food at a time.  When he is finished, take up the dish, and put more food in it.  Soon he will welcome you touching his food dish.