What would you have done?

[ej]

Yesterday while walking the dogs, we bumped into our neighbor with his 1+ yo rescue mix.  He has had him since he was a cute little pup, and we knew them since.  The dogs were thrilled to see each other and Z did her silly dance & bow and roll-in-dirt routine, but something quickly caught his dog's attention. He got hold of a piece of food wrapped in tin foil, and he started snarling and growling at anyone (dog and human) who got near him.  When he bared his teeth and growled at Z, we quickly bidded them goodbye and moved on.

 

Few minutes later, they caught up with us, and we were told that he ate the food, tin foil and all.  My neighbor showed us his bleeding finger and thumb, his dog bit him when he tried to get him to relinquish the food & foil.  He told us his dog is food aggressive. I felt really sorry for my neighbor and told him to get home fast and google induce vomit with hydrogen peroxide, or if it was too late (if dog ingested the item more than 10 mins), then call the vet.

 

This got me thinking, what would I have done if I were him... i.e. knowing that my dog is food aggressive, would I still risk getting bitten to try and prevent him from ingesting something which could cause serious intestinal obstruction?  Both Z & K have not displayed any signs of food aggression to humans nor dogs , although Z does guard a few things that she deems rare and high in value with her death grip (e.g. years ago she put a death grip on a piece of rawhide she found at my neighbor's, and a few weeks ago she gulped down a stuffed rabbit to prevent K from getting it).  But as long as I could get through her death grip by prying her jaws apart, she readily relinquishes the object.

 

What would you have done?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This is something I worked on with my guys from the time they were puppies.  For the first few weeks that they were home with me I sat on the floor with them while they ate and "handled" their food.  I'd put my hand right in their dish as they were eating and take pieces of the food out.  This was so that they could begin to get used to the idea that the food was MINE, and I was ALLOWING them to eat it.  I still do this every now and then.  I also make them sit and wait before I give them any food, again to reinforce this concept.  When I was teaching "drop it" there were times when I had to put my hand right into their mouths to retrieve the "treasure".  I don't think it would ever occur to them that "guarding" something from me was even an option.  I agree that there is a clear need for a trainer with this dog.

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

I am extremely cautious when it comes to scoping out the sidewalk and grassy edges and our trails when walking Maddie now especially after she inhaled a small dead bunny while we were walking on one of the trails. She was 5 or 6 months at the time and had taken 1 puppy obedience class.  We are first time doddle parents.

She was on leash and hubby was walking her - I was taking in the scenery and all of a sudden I heard him yell "what that".  I looked  up and could see 2 little bunny legs dangling from her mouth - I paniced - yelled "drop it" "leave it" "drop it" - grabbed treats from my pocket - yelled again - threw the treats at her and then all I saw was her giant Gulp Gulp and voila bunny was gone.  I ran up, grabbed her mouth and opened it hoping she was holding it at the back of her tongue but it was gone. 

Needless to say we were grossed out but most of all concerned that it could cause a medical emergency. We rushed to the car, drove home, called the vet and they said to just watch her and that she should be fine. She seemed to be perfectly fine and then about 5 days later she became very lethargic, had trouble walking and she developed little sores on her chest.  I called the vet and they asked to see her immediately.  She was full of an infection and required medication for 2 weeks. 

We are still working on 'drop it' and 'leave it' and for the most part she obeys however, I still don't trust her 100%.  It seems that she can grab a dirty kleenex, cheese wrapper or empty juice box in the blink of an eye.  She just completed her intermediate obedience and graduated but I still fear she could ingest that forbidden item at the speed of light before I could even spit out the words 'drop it'.

Sorry for my babble but I got carried awy so back to the subject.  I would not hesitate to open her jaws and stick my fingers as far back as I could to grab a dangerous object from her mouth. Thankfully she is not 'food or garbage' aggressive.

 

 

[Shelly Gouvas]

I have been sticking my fingers down Jakes throat many times this Holiday Season.He likes to eat the tinsel!Next year we will have a tinsel free tree.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

This is very interesting.  A long time ago we had a beautiful standard poodle boy that was attacked by a stray German Shephard and ended up with a puncture wound on his throat.  At that time the flea tags and collars were popular and we

always had him wearing one or the other.  I thought we had cleaned his neck and did not see the puncture wound until the next day when his neck was swollen and we rushed him to the vet.  After many tests the vet said we had no time to

lose but to rush him to the nearest veterinary hospital which was several hours away.  The end result was he did not

survive.  The vet suggest several possibilities including the possible ingestion of anti-freeze as his fluids were crystalizing.

We never knew the exact cause of his death, but we have never used flea collars or tags since and keep a careful

watch when our other pets are walked that they don't go anywhere near antifreeze.

[Shelly Gouvas]

Sad story

[Camilla and Darwin]

I don't know what I would do, honestly. Darwin has never been food or toy aggressive in any way. We have trained him to relinquish anything he has to us, when we ask. He isn't 100% perfect at it, He'll still play "keep away" with that occasional sock. But I can't imagine him every growling at me. I don't even think I've heard him growl... ever. 

 

I definitely think, like everyone else, that they should start doing some serious training with this dog. There are so many bad things he could eat...

[Donna K & Quincy]

On leash a tug and leave it is all it takes, otherwise if Quincy grabs something he is not supposed to have and he will not drop it I would have no hesitation going after it and as I told him today when he stole  a napkin for the 3rd time and my hand was in his mouth, I'll go right to your butt to get it if I have too. He gave it up. Since day one I have taken things from him on a regular basis and he doesn't have a problem with it, if it is something especially good I will give and take it several times so that he knows I'm in charge of the item and I have letting him have it. We once had my sister's small dog living with us (nickname Cujo) I would never try and take something from him no way.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL!

I love your philosophy, and I agree completely!