The Dos And Donts To Avoid Food Aggression With Yorkshire Puppies

We all know or have heard of (and maybe even parent) a dog that has food aggression. They protect their food bowl, treats or bones with their life. Some dogs do this from a young age and others develop the behavior over time for a few different reasons. Food aggression is common in smaller dogs, although it is not known why. So here are a few easy rules to follow to help avoid this dangerous behavior in your Yorkie puppy.

1. No teasing! Don't use your Yorkie puppy's bones or treats as toys such as playing tug or keep-away with them. Play these games only with toys, nothing that can be consumed as a treat or food. Keeping food or treats away from your puppy and therefore teasing him with it can make your puppy think that when they do get food or a treat, they need to keep it safe from you and that can eventually turn in to food aggression.

2. Some children like to "share" food with the puppy. And while some puppies could care less about strange fingers in their food bowl while they're eating, others see this as a threat and think the child is going to take their food away. It will not take long before your puppy thinks that anyone around his bowl is a threat and will act out because of it.

3. Assert yourself as alpha in the pack. Your Yorkshire Terrier puppy must understand that you are in charge, you are alpha and you are to be respected. To prove this point with food and treats, be sure to make your dog sit and stay before he receives his dinner or treat. This will show to your puppy that you are the one that is in charge of the food and he will respect you because of that and respect means little chance of food aggression.

As long as you use your common sense with food and treats when giving them to your Yorkie puppy, food aggression should not be a problem. Don't do anything to your puppy that you wouldn't want done to you with your food. That's one surefire way to keep food aggression out of your home!