What To Do

[DeerhoundLurcherMan 997]

Every time a issue arises with a wayward, nervous or new pup I recommend f**king the bowl away and hand feeding, you can pet , stroke fuss over or sweet talk or whatever you like but food is a huge issue with dogs/pups and over coming that brings an element of sociality,

If a pup has any sort of an issue with you it will come out with food, hand feed never lets an issue arise because food then is never an issue, it has to get over the resistance of you to eat , you make a pup push through one hand to get to the food in the other then food never becomes a problem

It's not a dominance issue, food has become the issue

 

If your bowl feeding a nervous or unsure pup, your just feeding the fear

Some good points there I agree with, but the pup will relate the bowl to food, and you putting food in the bowl...I think of it more like a tool...

 

I don't like the idea of hand feeding young pups at meal time because while you think your giving the dog food, the dog might be thinking its ok to take food from you...

[Casso 1,261]

Hand feeding does a number of things , food never becomes an issue, fear must be displaced to eat , the harder it is to get the food , the harder it has to work to get the food the more social your making the dog , because fear is the enemy as far as human /dog relations go , fear is totally untrainable, trust is built ,

I'm not sure of your questions , dogs know when it's dinner time or not , the more social you make the dog the more the dog tunes into you , it a win , win,

[whippet 99 2,613]

_{normal behavour really , you need too sort the dog out as it grows you dictate , it will soon learn the hand what feeds it and all that , as for your kids that's your decision , too me it would depend how malicious the dogs reaction was , pups are learning and its a natural re- action too any pack member too protect there food , learn from it , sort it yourself and then you will earn the dogs trust and go on from there , you cant 100 % trust any dog , that's a fact , trust is built on a bond between its master , dogs are my world and you have too make decisions very carefully and thoughtfully , that's the dog world for you}

[hare_n_hounds 157]

_{normal behavour really , you need too sort the dog out as it grows you dictate , it will soon learn the hand what feeds it and all that , as for your kids that's your decision , too me it would depend how malicious the dogs reaction was , pups are learning and its a natural re- action too any pack member too protect there food , learn from it , sort it yourself and then you will earn the dogs trust and go on from there , you cant 100 % trust any dog , that's a fact , trust is built on a bond between its master , dogs are my world and you have too make decisions very carefully and thoughtfully , that's the dog world for you}

 

[BIGLURKS 874]

Very tricky subject I don't think there would be any clear cut situation too what you could do specially when kids are involved I know if I had kids and any dog bite or give a puncture wound on any kid of mine it would of been sharp side of a shovel but it would still of depending on age I mean 16 weeks is not really that old in my opinion and pups will be pups it's the age were they have too be tought boundaries but is something only you could decide

[two crows 3,342]

pups compete for food. from day one there after the best tit and the lions share stroke him carefully while feeding him from his bowl he will soon know he is keeping his meal. and keep your food well away.atb two crows

[matt1979 766]

Had similar with a pup a few years back any sort of bone she would guard with a growl as a young pup and show teeth. Not something I have seen with other pups but she soon learned I wasn't a threat and it was obviously an effective method with her litter mates. I went down the route of hand feeding for a few weeks intermittent again and using a bowl to place food in and let her eat bits slowly. As she grew I purposefully stroked her as she ate on a regular basis and hand feed occasionally. With high value bones I just made a habit of making her come to me for them and would swap them for high value chicken and then give back repeat didn't take long to sort out. I have followed this plan with other pups since and it has worked well. 16 weeks is no time IMO to consider drastic action, but I wouldn't be leaving kids alone with the dog full stop. You can't fully trust the dog and neither can you the kids in my experience especially as youngsters atb

[chook1 184]

Its a natural instinct for a pup or even an adult dog to do this, a leg of lamb to a dog is like you finding a pot of gold

its a high value prize, would you give up the pot of gold if you found it ? would you fight to keep it - if i came to take it away ?

 

Think how your dog feels, the only thing your dog can see is that pot of gold ( lamb leg) being taken away,

in its own mind it has to do what ever to keep hold of that pot of gold, your dog doesn't know its not going to starve

its part of our job to teach our dogs that they don't need to steal food and that its OK if someone take something from it.

 

First thing you need to do is not set your pup up to fail, by leaving things out where they can reach it,

your pup doesn't know that things on the counter are not for him, that's your job to teach him,

teach him to lie down on a bed when foods around or being prepared, no feeding from the table etc

unless he's lied down on his bed.

 

second teach your pup a swap system, so if he does pick something up, he gets something in return,

this should also help you with retrieve training, as hopefully the pup will learn its more rewarding to give you the item than buggering off with it

or protecting it.

 

Have a read of this, it explains resource guarding better than i can.

http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Resource_guarding.html

[flipbull 1,139]

Its a natural instinct for a pup or even an adult dog to do this, a leg of lamb to a dog is like you finding a pot of gold

its a high value prize, would you give up the pot of gold if you found it ? would you fight to keep it - if i came to take it away ?

 

Think how your dog feels, the only thing your dog can see is that pot of gold ( lamb leg) being taken away,

in its own mind it has to do what ever to keep hold of that pot of gold, your dog doesn't know its not going to starve

its part of our job to teach our dogs that they don't need to steal food and that its OK if someone take something from it.

 

First thing you need to do is not set your pup up to fail, by leaving things out where they can reach it,

your pup doesn't know that things on the counter are not for him, that's your job to teach him,

teach him to lie down on a bed when foods around or being prepared, no feeding from the table etc

unless he's lied down on his bed.

 

second teach your pup a swap system, so if he does pick something up, he gets something in return,

this should also help you with retrieve training, as hopefully the pup will learn its more rewarding to give you the item than buggering off with it

or protecting it.

 

Have a read of this, it explains resource guarding better than i can.

http://www.training-your-dog-and-you.com/Resource_guarding.html

Think they key sentence is set your pup up to fail.

16 weeks is young and surely it will come round with the right training, now that your aware of what the pup has done. Shame you wasn't there when it happened because you maybe could of put a stop to it straight away.

Edited January 11, 2015 by flipbull

[Dewclaw69 484]

16 weeks is young and as said the pup is probably doing what pups do. but as you have young kids around you have to involve the kids in the training as the pup has to know its place in the pecking order. i've always had dogs while my kids were born and growing up and the dogs have always respected my kids. we frequently have a friend round who has a two year old boy. my two dogs even do what he tells them. its how it has to be or kids get bitten and dogs get binned. not fair on either.

[skycat 6,173]

Several things spring to mind:

 

NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN AND PUPS TOGETHER UNSUPERVISED.

 

Learn to put meat, desirable food items well above where a dog can reach.

 

If the pup is being brought up in the house crate it when you are not there to supervise it.

 

Teach the pup the rules of the house by being bossy, not cruel, but firm and fair. Don't let a pup do its own thing in your house. It is your house, your rules:; by which I mean, that letting a pup run around with child when you're not about is setting it up to fail.

 

Don't let the pup get into temptation; think about everything from the pup's point of view: it quite possibly sees the child as a litter mate, especially if the child is allowed to play with the pup all the time with no restrictions from you.

 

DO NOT LET THE CHILD PLAY WITH THE PUP UNLESS YOU CAN ENFORCE CERTAIN RULES: such as: no excitable silly games which involve the pup grabbing, playing tug of war with the child and toys. The child should only be allowed to play with the pup if she/he understands the rules you have laid down, and sticks to them. Do not allow the pup to sit on the child's lap, or on furniture. Do not allow the child to feed the pup anything at all.

 

As has already been said, it is normal for a pup to defend its food, or what it thinks is its food, from another pup, or your child, in this case.

 

AS for thinking of having the pup put down: words fail me. YOU set up the pup for this situation by leaving the meat where the pup could reach it. Plus you left the child alone with the pup.

 

DO NOT punish the pup in any way at present: it is your fault this happened. Just make sure that the situation cannot happen again.

 

Meanwhile, teach the pup the rules of your house. Get a crate. Teach the pup to be fed in the crate. Do not feed titbits of human food. Dogs get into good habits very easily at this age, just as quickly as they get into wrong habits.

 

It is a huge responsibility to rear a pup in a house with a child, no matter what the breed.

 

To overcome the pup's possessiveness of food items then hand feed into bowl as has already been suggested. I take on board Casso's suggestion of hand feeding, but in this case, I would disagree as there is a child involved and you don't want the pup to get into the habit of taking food from hand and if the child isn't able to control the pup then it is better not to allow any hand feeding at present.

 

Lastly, make sure the pup is being fed enough and the right sort of food. I don't know what you are feeding the pup, but meat will always be far more appealing than dry dog food. Dogs fed on raw food are not more likely to be vicious, but a dog that smells meat in the house, but isn't allowed to eat it, may well be more likely to be desperate to get hold of it than one whose needs are totally satisfied by feeding an appropriate diet.

 

If the pup is always hungry then you are either not feeding the right sort of food, not enough or it may have worms. Pups should be wormed for round worm every 3 weeks until they are over 6 months of age.

[Blackdog92 2,047]

Get it in a kennel and feed it in there job done.

[TOMO 26,068]

Dogs should only be in a house,,,when kids have left home....or at least grown up...

 

Let's not forget these dogs we own,,are stone wall killing machines,,,your avrage lurcher is 50 lb of muscle and teeth,,,wich if it wanted could kill a child proberbly double that weight

[bird 9,872]

Dogs should only be in a house,,,when kids have left home....or at least grown up...

 

Let's not forget these dogs we own,,are stone wall killing machines,,,your avrage lurcher is 50 lb of muscle and teeth,,,wich if it wanted could kill a child proberbly double that weight

deff mate , why why they have feckin dogs in the house for god knows , put the thing outside in its own kennel+ run away from kids, then you not got to(start) these probs in the 1st place. there not little humans there animals , that got long hair, stink, 4 legs, and as tomo said a set of teeth + strong jaw to crunch big bones . any dog even little 12lb jack would hurt a child never mind a 50-60 lb lurcher

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

No doubts about it,..you have to vigilant, where dogs and chavies are concerned,..or the child might have to pay a terrible price.. One of our neighbours is a smart looking gal,..but she ain't too keen on jukels..

When you look closely at her face,..there is a definite scar on her cheek...

This was done by a terrier when she was a young girl,..she has never forgotten it...

 

However,..from a different angle,..one should always bear in mind the fact,..that dogs ain't humans,..and to treat them as such is foolish. A 10 week old canine, does not regard a young child as a human,.in its eyes it is simply another whelp to be bullied or obeyed,..whatever is appropriate...

Dogs will always snatch back chunks of meat and bones,...this is what they do,..it is no indicator that the lurcher is destined, to become a vicious or dominant animal...

SO,..it pays to keep calm,.not read too much into the situation,..but remain cautious...

Edited January 11, 2015 by Phil Lloyd