Food Agression!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Been reading the responses to Jane's question re Noah and Sherlock and Noah's recent issues.  I'm having a similar issue with Topper (our new foster).  He is food obsessed.  I free feed my girls, and they have never been food hogs.  They eat from the same bowl.  Lucy eats one side of the bowl and leaves the other side for Sophie.  It is sort of like cutting a pie in half.  So this is very new to me.  He gobbles down every bowl I sit down for him.  He growls and snaps if they come near (after the 1st time I separate him for his meals).  When I give them a treat I make them get on their pillows to get their treats.  The other day he went after Sophie to get her treat too.  I've since been making sure not to let that happen again.  My question is, when at the vet yesterday I asked her if what his former parents had been giving him was enough.  And she said that although he wasn't too thin, he could have more than what he was getting.  Do you think this obsession for food is related to his being hungry or do I have other issues here?  and if so, suggestions for how to handle them.  Thanks.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

How is Topper with S+L when food is not in the picture? If his issues are only related to food, you can at least manage it by separating him from the others at meal time. If there are other problems with aggression/guarding behavior, you are probably in for some hard work. It's likely that you will never know for sure what has caused his behavior. He may have a problem with trust, or he may have been used to competing for scraps. It's hard to say with a foster dog, but you are an angel for taking him in.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Eva --- Other than food he wants to play with them so badly he can't stand it. They on the other hand would like for him to go away I believe. You can see that they sorta want to play, tails wagging etc., but just aren't really sure why he is here so long. In the beginning there was lots of growling over toys and bones etc., but that seems to be sort of working itself out. We are even dealing with the food issues now that I know they are there. As I sit here now typing he is in his crate beside me because I just mopped all the floors, and Lucy and Sophie are both in the room and he is laying down in his crate. Day one and day 2 he would have been snarling and growling at them right now. So I think he is settling in so I'm hopeful the food issue will subside as well.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Sounds hopeful! Thank you.

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

It sounds like things are already working themselves out. Topper is probably building his level of trust in the other pups and you, and the more he sees that things will be OK and that no one is going to take his food, he'll be less aggressive. He's probably also 'testing' a little bit - make sure he knows who the Alpha is... YOU! Bless you for taking such good care of Topper.

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

I had the same issue when I brought Tyler home. The puppy was actually showing food agression.
What I did and what has worked was putting Tyler's bowl in the opposite corner of the kitchen and standing between the two dogs. Every time Tyler left his own food bowl to go after Benny I corrected him by stopping him and returning him to his own food bowl. He was literally inhaling his food to make sure to be finished before Benny and then get some of his food.
I moved the food bowls closer to each other every day, still standing between the dogs.
After a week the food bowls are standing now next to each other and they are eating together without showing any agression and without trying to steal from each other.Tyler now takes the time to eat his food and actually needs longer than Benny. I do not need to supervise them anymore, Tyler has realized that Benny will not steal his food and that he doesn't need to defend it. Benny just walks away when he is done with his own food.
Good luck.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'd be really surprised if the food obsession is because he is actually hungry. We had a Lab who was food obsessed his whole life...and he definitely was never hungry. I think some dogs are just like that...they can't get enough. He would inhale his meal as if he thought he'd never eat again. His "sister" was a Golden Retriever, and the Lab would devour his food and then stare at the Golden while she ate, drooling the whole time. This went on for 13 years. There was never any aggression...they worked that out when they were puppies.