My dog seems aggrasive

[Lovesanimals]

His not exactly my dog (yet) but he growels at me when I try to his treat or something to chew away from him. Is this normal? :confused: (I'm a first time dog owner.)

[LilacDragon]

Can you tell us a bit more about your dog? Breed? Age? Circumstances of growling?

[luvofallhorses]

It sounds like he is food/toy aggressive. Don't keep on taking it away from him. you might end up getting bit. You can try NILIF (Nothing in life is free)
http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm and let him know you are the boss. It has tips on that site how to practice NILIF with your dog. good luck! :)

[Lovesanimals]

His a poodle mix and his 7 years old. Today mom and I went to petsmart and got him a smoked pork rib. I try to take it away while his chewing (and ripping it) and he started to growel a bit. Its the same with his treats to. He doesn't growel when u put ur fingers in his food.

[LilacDragon]

Smoked bones such as the ones from the pet store are not so good...but...unless you absolutely have to take the bone away from the dog - don't.

Sounds like you need to work on "Give". Get yourself some type of special treats that your dog can have ( I use small cat treats). When your dog has a not so special treat, tell him to "give" and offer him the new treat in exchange for what he has. After he has given it up and devoured the "special treat" then give it back.

As you work on this and your dog becomes more willing to part with items, you can move up to things like bones, pig ears, etc.

Ideally, if you have a crate, crate your guy and just let him eat or chew in peace.

[Lovesanimals]

I do have a crate I do give him a treat at night before he goes to sleep.

[BC_MoM]

Here's how I would handle this situation.

Say I gave my Border Collie Molly a treat. If I wanted to go take it, and she growled at my hand as I was reaching, I would sternly say "NO!" and take the treat away and she lose her treat for a while.

When going to give the treat back, I would make her sit.

Everytime I give her a treat, (and if she growls) I would repeat this.

It does sound like your dog is toy/treat possessive. I would do some researching on it. As another member said, the NILIF program is excellent.

[sanford8916]

Lou Lou is bone aggressive. Our trainer suggested hanging onto the bone while she chews. Good luck! :)

[Lovesanimals]

My dog doesn't know any tricks, before he came with me he lived with an old person when she deid no one in the family wanted him so he was taken to a animal shelter. So how do u teach him to sit? -_-;

[luvofallhorses]

My dog doesn't know any tricks, before he came with me he lived with an old person when she deid no one in the family wanted him so he was taken to a animal shelter. So how do u teach him to sit? -_-;

well it's simple. :) You can use treats and say sit and if he doesn't sit just push on his butt gently and when he sits give him a treat. also you don't want to give him treats all the time..when he sits just say "good boy" and pet him. good luck! :)

[Lovesanimals]

Well ok I'll give it a shot. (I'll post if theres any improvements.)

[BC_MoM]

Another way to teach sit is to hold a treat above their nose and slowly move it backwards (away from you) a little bit and say "Sit".

[Lovesanimals]

Well his kinda getting the sit thing

[Giselle]

Yikes! This 7 year old pup doesnt know sit? :eek: Poor thing..

I'll have to agree with LilacDragon in this case. Instead of negative reinforcement, work on convincing the dog to "Give". Use the method described in LilacDragon's post. Give a regular biscut to the dog. Say "GIVE" and hand the dog a yummier better treat. As soon as he takes the yummier better treat, quickly take the regular biscuit. Repeat this with toys and other treats. As soon as he gets the idea, DON'T treat everytime. You want to use the benefit of "jackpotting". Eventually, your dog will give up whatever he's chewing if you go about this the right way.

Have you any previous experience training dogs? If not, I would suggest you attend your local shelter's obedience classes. The place where you adopted this dog should hold them for discounted prices. :) Also, advise them that your dog may be developing food aggression so they can help you with that.