Growling over a snack

[Amy and Kona]

We've had Kona for a few weeks now and never had a problem with him being aggressive with food. Twice today he growled when I was near him while he was chewing. Normally when we give him antlers or rawhide bones he wants to bring them up for us to play with him.... he also doesn't mind if I take his Kong.

Today he had a frozen treat and a bully stick, both times he growled when we came near. 

Any suggestions on how to stop this before it gets worse?

[Christy&Riley]

Have you established yet that you control the food? For example, from day one we made Riley wait to eat until we said ok. Once she learned sit and down, we always make her do this before getting any food. We also put our hand in her bowl when she was eating to get her used to us near her food. We even pretended to eat her food to teach that we eat first (a pack leader thing). Riley is naturally submissive so this may not be as easy with all dogs though. Seems like she growled with an antler once so I stopped giving such a high value treat. (Also stopped because I didn't want her to break a tooth.) Maybe you want to avoid such high value treats for awhile so he doesn't feel such an instinctive need to protect it.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with Christy's advice.  Even though Kona is just a puppy, it's not too soon to teach him that you control all the resources.  I would always make him sit and wait calmly when you prepare his food.  I would take things away from him often now while he's young....and usually give them right back.

[Amy and Kona]

Thankfully the breeder had already started working on him sitting for food/water. He does well with that and we've not had any issues with taking those or messing with him while he eats. We did a little work with him last night and he seemed to be responsive to it. Will try again

[Christy&Riley]

You're ahead of us at that stage. :-) It appeared our "breeder" fed the puppies human scraps because every time we opened the refrigerator the first few weeks Riley came running in for a handout. She broke the habit quickly though. Good luck!

[Amy and Kona]

Begging for people food is such a hard habit to break. Our previous dog was given people food and begged quite a bit so we decided we didn't want to deal with it this time. Kona has eaten peanut butter and other people food in his snacks but never been given anything from the table or our plates. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Agree with everything else said here. He's a pup and testing how much "ownership" he has over stuff he sees as his.  That's normal.  But not too soon to help him understand everything belongs to you.  You can start to teach him to "leave it" pretty early. Start with low value treats, put one down, tell him to leave it and ask him to sit.  Have him on a leash and block the treat with your body if necessary.  When he sits or stands back, you pick up the treat -- make a big fuss over him -- and then give him a reward.  A different treat.  Never give back the one he was told to leave. (If you're taking something away in play without the "leave it" command, you can give it back). He's little and he won't be perfect, but do this a couple times a day - and gradually up the value of the treats. He'll start to understand.