Case Study on Dog Food Aggression

A Great Dane, Biscuit is roughly a year old. Biscuit’s previous owner needs to relocate, thus, they had him adopted by the Scott family . In his new house, the Scotts had the two Golden Retrievers share their home with Biscuit. The new dog did not display any aggression problems with his previous owner that the Scotts knew about; however, they were surprised that Biscuit showed aggression over food . The feeding time hasn’t been set accordingly by the owners so all the dogs will have random schedule to have access on their food. At exact same time, all the dogs have their meal on individual saucer but habitually, Biscuit would stand guard over the food saucers and other dogs are declined not to eat.

In his new house, with the water dish that the dogs share and any treats that are given to every dog, Biscuit’s behavior progressed to comprise aggressiveness. The dog will bully the retrievers when given a treat, giving up their treat out of fear. With Biscuit’s behavior, the two dogs acquired nervous habits and are quickly becoming terrified. Biscuit was then separated from them, as the two dogs are hesitant to eat, for fear that the Dane might return and become aggressive. At this point, the Dane has not attacked the Golden Retrievers or its owner, but the condition might escalate into an assault .

For them to control this aggressive behavior, the Scott family has stopped allowing access to the food throughout the day and has accustomed special feeding times. Furthermore, during feeding times, the Scotts had the dogs separated from each other. In order that Biscuit cannot stand guard over the single water dish, Scotts have placed several water dishes all throughout the house and the patio. To stop aggressive dog behavior, the Scotts have stopped giving their dogs treats except if they are separated from Biscuit. To get rid of the fear in the retrievers, these changes have done little to totally stop aggressive dog behavior.

After these changes were established, the Scotts sought the help from a veterinarian behaviorist. The recommendation from professional on how to stop aggression is to have training on dog food aggression, provided had the Scotts establishing themselves as the “alpha male” of the group. The Scott family would not give Biscuit any food during feeding time if he displays improper behavior, not until he acts appropriately. Not until the dog shows proper behavior with food, the aggression with the Scotts will not stop. The behaviorist suggests the Scotts use a physical barricade to prevent Biscuit from getting the food in order to stop aggressive dog behavior with the other dogs regarding food.

The physical barrier method may be more easily said than done because of Biscuit’s bulky size. The veterinarian instructed of box usage to cover the saucer when Biscuit displayed aggression because normally, a smaller dog can be absolutely blocked from his saucer by the owner's body. The saucer should be covered until the dog ceases when unsuitable behaviors surface. Once the aggressions stop, the saucer should be uncovered and the dog should be given access.

Sharing feeding time with his companion dogs without signs of aggression is now easier for Biscuit. Besides, the family can take treat or food saucer from the dog without fear of being bitten or attacked. Biscuit is once again the amusing, loving Great Dane he once was because he acquired exceptional development from his food aggression.