Unintentional Trainged Food Aggression

Question:
 Hi guys.
It's me again. And I'm back with Major Mistake No. 2: Unintentionally causing Food Aggression in our 3 month old Corgi, Cookie. She was perfectly fine with the idea of us touching/petting/stroking her when she ate her food initially. Sadly, after what I believe is my mistake, she began to growl and bark whenever we touch her when she's eating. Other than that, she hangs around us perfectly fine.
I am very disturbed by this and I feel like a big idiot (maybe I am). I hope you guys can help me out. Read on to find out more.
Here's what happened:
During the first two weeks, we fed Cookie by just giving her the bowl (even though she was jumping and running around in her play pen), at fixed times. However, we later realised that that was not the 'right' way of feeding her. Thus, we changed.
Whenever we walked into her view with the food bowl, she'd get excited - we'd walk out of her view, saying things like "Not yet," or "ohh.." She managed to learn fast enough - took about 15 tries if I'm not wrong, before she sat there and waited for us to set the bowl down. That was the first time.
On the next meal, I did the same thing. While doing the same thing, I wanted to make sure that she'd only walk to her food when we gave her a command. She learnt it - she sat there and only got up and walked to her food when we asked her to.
However, I believe I made a grave error during this process. When she ran towards her bowl during one of the last few attempts (the bowl was already on the floor, hands off), I said "No" and tried to left the bowl up, but she was too fast. Therefore, I picked her up to stop her and removed the bowl. That happened twice. This is what I believe caused the food aggression. She would growl and bark whenever anyone touches her, but continue to eat her meal.
While it might be a combination of 2 factors, 1) She worked for her food 2) My actions, I believe my action is the main aggravated the matter.
Just now, during her dinner, held a piece of treat in my hand and reached towards her head (from the side), intending to give the treat to her withotu disturbing her. However, she turned around and bit me hard - hard enough to cause a minor tear and bleed slightly. It's just a minor "scratch," but I know it could lead to bigger problems. She then continued her meal. Despite that, I continued to stroke her, and she continued to growl. When there was about 1/4 of her food left in her bowl, she stopped growling and continue to eat peacefully.
How bad is my situation? Was I too fast in bringing my hand towards her mouth? While she growls and barks when we pet her, it usually subsides towards the end of her meal. Is this a good sign?
My current relationship with my puppy is a good one - she plays with me, comes to me - everything is perfectly fine (well, except that she sometimes bite hard, but not enough to cause injuries, when she playing vigorously. I think this might be a sign; she's quite bite-y).
I'm very troubled and guilty that I
1) Caused this big problem single-handedly
2) Cause possible problems for her and the family now, or in future.
Please help!
Thank you.

Answer:
i would just find a way of showing her that the food is actually yours. your sharing it with her.

Answer:
Hi. Thanks for the speedy reply.
How do I actually about doing that?

Answer:
Hi. Thanks for the speedy reply.
How do I actually about doing that?
Hi you have sent your doggie mixed messages and hey we all tend to do that on the occaision. Stuff happens.
So now what I would do is work on the built up aggression that she so feels is right for her to do. So now you will have to restructure everything.
Okay so I would do this,
1) Play with puppy prior to feeding her. Once the play time is over have some one else place the food for you.
2) Now you have your pup on a leash and walk her to her food, Have her sit in front of it, You give her her command to stay and wait. She does Good, Now you want to give her a happy face and start petting her to reasure her she is a good girl.
3) You reach into the bowl and hand her a kibble or two, Then you release her from the position but leave the leash on her.
4) You reach down to pet her, or stick your finger into the bowl of food, She growls at you. You state No in a harsh mannor. You may have to check her a little now not to hard. Thus giving her the right correction that can be reinforced with a positive. You do this a few times. Everything should be alright.
I beleive that you have a young pup that has the willingness to learn. There fore you have to watch how you restructure the dog. We all humans expect a lot from our dogs and do not realise that we re sending two or three messages which totally confuses them. With that they react and act out. good luck

Answer:
It sounds like you accidentally set yourself up to be seen by the dog, as competing for the dog's food by messing with her while she was eating. It mostly has to do with your demeanor and how you were interacting with the dog and is not the dog's fault she is acting this way.
Since you have now been bitten, I'd say you need help in person by a behaviorist who can help you through this issue and also give you lessons on how to interact with your dog so this doesn't also come out in other areas of the relationship, because it will.

Answer:
It sounds like you accidentally set yourself up to be seen by the dog, as competing for the dog's food by messing with her while she was eating. It mostly has to do with your demeanor and how you were interacting with the dog and is not the dog's fault she is acting this way.
Since you have now been bitten, I'd say you need help in person by a behaviorist who can help you through this issue and also give you lessons on how to interact with your dog so this doesn't also come out in other areas of the relationship, because it will.
Yes you are right she did accidentally send the dog the wrong message, and attempting to correct her wrong. Which I totally commend the poster for. Yes your suggestion is a good one as well. latter

Answer:
I'm sorry but I have to say that the advise to give a harsh NO when she growls will get you in deeper rather than actually fixing the problem.Please NEVER punish the growl. That growl is the only warning mechanism that your dog has and without it, you're at a hightened risk for a bite.
I would take her food bowl away intirely for the next little while and feed her kibble a bit at a time BY HAND and only for behaviors.
When you do start to reintroduce the food bowl it should go like this......
Hold the food bowl drop a few kibble in and ask for a behavior (sit or down...whatever she knows), once she comply's offer the bowl to allow her to eat the kibble (do not set it down). Repeat this at throughout every meal for a few days (or as long as it takes) until she appears to enjoy the part where you take the bowl back as she anticipates more kibble for her.
Next step - Same as above except set the bowl down to allow her to eat the kibble after each behavior then pick it up again to drop in more kibble and ask for another behavior...and so on throughout the meal.
This process TEACHES her that not only is the bowl yours, but there's a benefit in you picking it up as that's how she's getting her kibble. Having her do the behaviors before each bit of kibble strengthens that message.
Finally, when it's time to start to set her bowl down for longer periods, be sure to do it gradually by only putting portions of her food in at a time. Pick the food bowl up often with a happy LEAVE IT command, look at it or add something to it, the give it right back with a "happy" TAKE IT command.
Make sure that, because she has proven to have the knack for resource guarding, you practice trading her for every item she has (bones, toys). Do this ALWAYS with a happy tone so that she doesn't feel the NEED to resource guard. Never let her have ANY item for more than a minute or two without this pleasant interruption.
AGAIN - NEVER PUNISH A GROWL, IT'S A HUGE AND NECESSARY MESSAGE THAT TELLS YOU THAT TRAINING (CONDITIONING AND DESENSITIZING) IS IN ORDER.:D
A good little book to get as well is : http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB740

Answer:
I sent you a PM as well:)

Answer:
I'm sorry but I have to say that the advise to give a harsh NO when she growls will get you in deeper rather than actually fixing the problem.Please NEVER punish the growl. That growl is the only warning mechanism that your dog has and without it, you're at a hightened risk for a bite.
I was going to ask about this...because it didnt seem right to me either to punish the growl...and Im not a trainer :)

Answer:
I was going to ask about this...because it didnt seem right to me either to punish the growl...and Im not a trainer :)
You're right, it's the worst thing that you can do when dealing with resource guarding issues...:confused:

Answer:
I don't think putting my hand in there/correcting her growling is a good idea because she's going to bite me the moment she sees my hand.
I did ask myself if I should have removed her from her food when she bit me, but I didn't, because I felt that removing would make her feel that she needs to guard her food more because my presence = no more food. But thanks for the advice, still.
It appears that the situation has improved - at least to me - as she growls and bark less when we touch her during her meal.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Thank you for the advice. ;)

Answer:
Hi,
dr2little gave you an excellent plan to follow to help turn things around so that you are sharing your food with your dog, rather than being seen by your dog as competing with her for her food.
Since none of us can be there to help you in person, her suggestion is what I would follow.

Answer:
It appears that the situation has improved - at least to me - as she growls and bark less when we touch her during her meal.
Stop touching her while she eats. She's not ready for that yet. If you're getting an aggressive response to your presence then you need to take a step back in the training process.
I second the suggestion to only feed her by hand for a while. Take the food bowl out of the equation at this stage. This should also give you a great opprotunity to practice some obedience training through out the day, just stuff your pocket with some kibble and ask for random obedience comands, then reward her with her some of her meal.
You say she's also biting hard during play...what do you do when this happens? It's possible you've given her the idea that biting you is okay if you do nothing to tell her otherwise during play.
You've got a dog who likes to use her mouth to make a point - play biting should not be tolerated.

Answer:
Hi guys.
I just fed her 10 minutes ago, and here's an update.
I hand-fed her, by asking her to come or sit, and lowered my hand to her when she complied. She ate happily. She did not see the bowl all this while.
When I was at the last 3 "mouthfuls," I left the first mouthful in the bowl, and 2nd mouthful clenched in my fist. When she complied to the command, I lowered the bowl and let her finish it. Then, I brought the bowl up, dropped the other mouthful, and repeated. She had her meal this way, this time. It was great - it felt like a training session. She didn't protest, and she was very well behaved. So, I'm going to continue for a few days.
The reason why I continued to touch and let my presence be felt (after setting the bowl down) is because I felt that if I continue to touch her and not take her food away, she'll soon learn that I'll not take her food away. Please correct me if my mind set is wrong.
Also, she tends to bite when she's very excited. During normal play time, she would lick and play (sometimes light mouthing). She used to bite a lot more, but she's now more disciplined. She knows that during play, she's not supposed to bite.
However, when she gets really excited - an example would be running around with her - she'd get very excited and would try to bite our legs. Once she does that, we'd isolate her and completely ignore her. Currently, she is showing improvement.
Yes, as you guys would have guessed, she likes to use her mouth a lot. So, whenever she bites anyone, social isolation will take place. But my brother would always give her a "second chance," by giving her verbal reprimand and then letting her to continue play. I'm trying to convince him (and his gf) otherwise.
THanks for all the help, once again.

Answer:
Hi guys.
How bad is my situation? =
Thank you.
How bad is your situation? Horribly Bad, i know others have already told you. Its bad enough when your dog bites someone else and disrespects them, but its even worse and sad when they bite their owners... i hope you do something to change this, i would never allow a dog in my home if it showed any aggression whatsoever towards me or my family members. sorry...

Answer:
[QUOTE=baineteo;482807]Hi guys.
I just fed her 10 minutes ago, and here's an update.
I hand-fed her, by asking her to come or sit, and lowered my hand to her when she complied. She ate happily. She did not see the bowl all this while.
When I was at the last 3 "mouthfuls," I left the first mouthful in the bowl, and 2nd mouthful clenched in my fist. When she complied to the command, I lowered the bowl and let her finish it. Then, I brought the bowl up, dropped the other mouthful, and repeated. She had her meal this way, this time. It was great - it felt like a training session. She didn't protest, and she was very well behaved. So, I'm going to continue for a few days.
Terrific! You should be doing this for more than a few day though and at a very gradual and slow pace before ever reintroducing her bowl. She's still very young and has proven herself to have the predispostion for resource guarding so I would be staying on top of this as she gets older and practice "take/give back" exercises often even after she seems "cured'.:)
The reason why I continued to touch and let my presence be felt (after setting the bowl down) is because I felt that if I continue to touch her and not take her food away, she'll soon learn that I'll not take her food away. Please correct me if my mind set is wrong.
You don't want her to think you won't take her food away because it's best for her to understand that it's YOUR's to take..at any time. She should however, not feel a threat during this process and that's why the "give/take" exercises are taught using a trade or reward system. A dog will of couse guard harder if they assume you're stealing something from them without the "bonus" in handing it over. Also, just petting a dog while they're eating without a direct message like the one in the exercise, will likely be seen as a threat or at the very least..an annoyance and it WILL eventually backfire.
Also, she tends to bite when she's very excited. During normal play time, she would lick and play (sometimes light mouthing). She used to bite a lot more, but she's now more disciplined. She knows that during play, she's not supposed to bite.
However, when she gets really excited - an example would be running around with her - she'd get very excited and would try to bite our legs. Once she does that, we'd isolate her and completely ignore her. Currently, she is showing improvement.
Yes, as you guys would have guessed, she likes to use her mouth a lot. So, whenever she bites anyone, social isolation will take place. But my brother would always give her a "second chance," by giving her verbal reprimand and then letting her to continue play. I'm trying to convince him (and his gf) otherwise.
"Time outs" should occur after a direct message like "NO TEETH" so that she can associate the isolation with the offence. Also, make sure that she is able to see what she's missing as she's not able to project or imagine that you're still having fun without her if she can't see you. You're right about consistency for sure. Whatever method you choose for a particular behavior MUST happen every time that behavior occurs and after the SAME verbal marker, if it's going to work.
Good Luck!!:D

Answer:
Its bad enough when your dog bites someone else and disrespects them, but its even worse and sad when they bite their owners...
Hi. I don't think you fully understand the situation. Her biting (other than the food aggression part) is not due to aggression, but due to her puppy-playfulness. She bites because she's playing, like all puppies, and she doesn't bite anyone or everyone she sees. Nonethless, I appreciate your input. ;)
As for dr2little, thank you very much for your encouragement, and also correcting my wrong mindset. We'll continue to work with her and keep you helpful guys updated.
While we're at it, could you help me with another problem:
She likes to tear and bite the newspaper in her play pen (where she 'stays') right before she needs to potty (shitting). She's alright when she needs to pee. She would run around and jump around in her play pen, and bite the newspapers and tears them. THe only time she kept quiet was when we gave her a chewable bone (you know, the kind of 'bone' where they bite and disintegrate). She doesn't seem to like milk bones a lot. She gets very vocal, too.
What's the best way to deal with this? We'd leave her alone but she'll tear everything up. Sometimes, at the end of her run, she'd fall asleep without eliminating.
THanks!:)
Edit: Oh, I think I forgot to say that we leave in an apartment and we paper-train her. Her potty-area is the size of a piece of newspaper spread out wide, and she haven't missed for days.

Answer:
Hi. I don't think you fully understand the situation. Her biting (other than the food aggression part) is not due to aggression, but due to her puppy-playfulness. She bites because she's playing, like all puppies, and she doesn't bite anyone or everyone she sees. Nonethless, I appreciate your input. ;)
As for dr2little, thank you very much for your encouragement, and also correcting my wrong mindset. We'll continue to work with her and keep you helpful guys updated.
While we're at it, could you help me with another problem:
She likes to tear and bite the newspaper in her play pen (where she 'stays') right before she needs to potty (shitting). She's alright when she needs to pee. She would run around and jump around in her play pen, and bite the newspapers and tears them. THe only time she kept quiet was when we gave her a chewable bone (you know, the kind of 'bone' where they bite and disintegrate). She doesn't seem to like milk bones a lot. She gets very vocal, too.
What's the best way to deal with this? We'd leave her alone but she'll tear everything up. Sometimes, at the end of her run, she'd fall asleep without eliminating.
THanks!:)
How many hours (maximum) is she alone during the day?

Answer:
Regrettably, she's home-alone (in a her play-pen) for about 6-8 hours on 9/16 days so far. There were people around the whole day for the other 7 days.
Things appeared to be getting better, until she finished her dog chew. With that around, she could chew on it the whole night without making a noise (until she drops it out of the cage, and we don't come out to pick up what-so-ever). Sometimes, in the day, she'd rather chew when we're around.
On sunday, we played with her pretty much the whole day. We ran in the house, trained her etc. But at the end of the night, she started making a din.

Answer:
Have you tried freezing some stuffed puppy kongs? You can also try the tricky treat ball or other food dispensing toys instead of putting her food in her dish -- that will occupy her for a while.
You can stuff & freeze kongs with all kinds of things- yogurt, peanut butter, canned dog food, cheese whiz etc
How about bully sticks? How about a nylabone? Better yet give her a few different things and change it up every day to keep her interested.
Milk bones are like a cookie- only they are made out of crappy ingredients. Most of those edible bones aren't very good for dogs either.
http://www.sitstay.com/store/toys/toyskong.shtml
the kong machine that dispenses the kongs every few hours (you can set as as to when) looks REALLY cool for a dog who is left alone for eight hours- it's ot cheap but I'd be tempted to get one if I had a pup.

Answer:
Hi Sam.
I'll try out the other toys you recommend. That kong machine sounds and loosk really cool, but I don't think they have it here. Not cheap, too. :D
Anyway, I realised I missed out some facts.
1) The restless (or full of energy) behaviour only occurs at night.
2) She would sometimes fall asleep, only to wake up to start the racket.
3) Other than that, she potties (excretes and egests) peacefuly.

Answer:
Hi guys.
Here's an update on the food aggression problem. There's good news and bad news.
I woke up this morning to find myself shocked - not by Cookie, but by my brother. He had asked me to demostrate the method of feeding you guys recommended, but instead when ahead to feed like in the past (leaving the bowl there).
When I fed her just now, I did what dr2little told me to, and got very good results. In case you're a little confused, I fed by hand and bowl the previous time. This time, I fed totally with the bowl. Read on for details:
I placed a few kibbles in the bowl, and asked her to 'come'. She's always seated in her play pen when the bowl comes, so there wasn't much chance for me to say 'sit'. In fact, I only said that once.
Anyway, for the first few 'bowls,' I allowed her to finish before lifting the bowl up for a refill. Then, I began to say "Leave It," as I removed the bowl. I also lifted the bowl up before she finishes everything. Towards the end of the meal, while she didn't understand the command, she'd gladly lift her head up slightly, but not completely yet, for me to remove it; she didn't do this initially.
I guess you already know that's the good news.
THe bad news is, I am now pretty sure that one her character leans towards the aggressive side. This is seen when she plays - she would growl when she chases us during play. She used to bite the moment the we with her, but now it takes a few more runs. In fact, when I stopped for a while just now, she didn't bite immediately. She was trying to hold back the urge, but was strong-willed enough. But her bites are no longer as hard as before. I'm more worried about the growling (maybe because when she was growling, we were stroking her and saying 'Good girl'?) If so, how can I rectify this?
She also sometimes growls when she becomes when playing with her ball, usually when she's into it. She'd shake her head (like trying to yank off something) and growl in the process. When this happens, I would remove the ball and leave her alone.
What's your view?
I'm planning to get her into a behaviour class as soon as she's vaccinated this coming thursday.

Answer:
It sounds to me that when she's playing with her ball, shaking her head and growling that this is a play growl. My dogs growl when they're playing. That's normal and fine. There's a difference between growling at you in a serious warning when you take her food and the growling that dogs do when they're playing, tearing up a toy, shaking their head, bouncing around. One of my dogs particularily likes to play tug and he growls with a pretend ferocity and hangs on, shakes his head, but his body language is all play. He's having fun. There is no aggression whatsoever. So, I'm wondering if you're mistaking the play growl for aggression.
Now, if, when your dog is playing, chasing...whatever and he bites you, whether it's in play or not, you need to abruptly end ALL playtime. You can even cry out in terrible pain one time. That works with some dogs. The dog needs to be socially starved for a few minutes. He needs to see that when his teeth make contact with human skin that there will be NO payoff for it. Everything good goes away. Take away his toy and ignore him for five minutes. Then you can try again. If you are very consistant, reinforcing gentle play with praise and even a treat, if there are enough reinforcers for the wanted behavior, he will get it. Everyone who interacts with him MUST do the same. The rules cannot change.
I would discourage really wild play with your dog with humans. Its just not a great idea. Dogs play rough and they can get really "into" it. It can go from play to a sort of prey thing. And they can get more serious. You need to draw a line somewhere with the rough housing.
Before you start using the food bowl, I recommend hand feeding for a while still, having him earn his handfuls of kibble by performing some skill. Keep working on basic obedience every day a little. This will improve the partnership you have with your dog. Use motivation and reward methods. Never put your dog on the defensive by challenging him.
Then down the road a little, use the bowl, but only put say about 1/4 of his ration in. Drop in a hunk of cheese or fresh meat, making sure he sees you doing this. Then try lowering your hand to put the goodies into his bowl. Then add another 1/4 of the food. Do this for a week or two.
Then what I would do, is not only have him sit/wait before you put his full bowl down and wait until you give a release word, "OK" or whatever you use, but one time during his meal, hand him a hunk of cheese, pick up his bowl, move it to the other side of the room and put it back down for him. Just do it once and leave him be. This way you're not overly frustrating him, bothering him too much during his meal, but he is getting a little practice in seeing that you are no threat to his food, that you provide it, that you even add extra good stuff to it and it doesn't matter if you pick up the bowl because he gets it right back again and then you go away.
But don't do this with the whole bowl thing until he's had ample practice with hand feeding....getting the idea that you control his food as well as toys, and other things he likes, not everything, but most things....and that he has to act a certain way in order to get handfuls of kibble or treats.

Answer:
It sounds to me that when she's playing with her ball, shaking her head and growling that this is a play growl. My dogs growl when they're playing. That's normal and fine. There's a difference between growling at you in a serious warning when you take her food and the growling that dogs do when they're playing, tearing up a toy, shaking their head, bouncing around. One of my dogs particularily likes to play tug and he growls with a pretend ferocity and hangs on, shakes his head, but his body language is all play. He's having fun. There is no aggression whatsoever. So, I'm wondering if you're mistaking the play growl for aggression.
I was thinking about that, too. Her growl is definitely different from the growl she had when she was eating. Still, I still think discouraging her growling would be better because of her food aggression problem? What do you think?
Now, if, when your dog is playing, chasing...whatever and he bites you, whether it's in play or not, you need to abruptly end ALL playtime. You can even cry out in terrible pain one time. That works with some dogs. The dog needs to be socially starved for a few minutes. He needs to see that when his teeth make contact with human skin that there will be NO payoff for it. Everything good goes away. Take away his toy and ignore him for five minutes. Then you can try again. If you are very consistant, reinforcing gentle play with praise and even a treat, if there are enough reinforcers for the wanted behavior, he will get it. Everyone who interacts with him MUST do the same. The rules cannot change.
Yup, we are currently doing this, and I would say we've made quite a lot of improvement since.
I would discourage really wild play with your dog with humans. Its just not a great idea. Dogs play rough and they can get really "into" it. It can go from play to a sort of prey thing. And they can get more serious. You need to draw a line somewhere with the rough housing.
Is making her run after us considered rough play? It does sound like we're making her chase, but we find that it is a good way of 'draining' her energy, too. What other alternatives can we try?
Before you start using the food bowl, I recommend hand feeding for a while still, having him earn his handfuls of kibble by performing some skill. Keep working on basic obedience every day a little. This will improve the partnership you have with your dog. Use motivation and reward methods. Never put your dog on the defensive by challenging him.
Ok, will change to hand-feed first. :)
Then down the road a little, use the bowl, but only put say about 1/4 of his ration in. Drop in a hunk of cheese or fresh meat, making sure he sees you doing this. Then try lowering your hand to put the goodies into his bowl. Then add another 1/4 of the food. Do this for a week or two.
I'm a little blur on this part. So, am I supposed to hold the bowl, drop cheese/meat so that she sees, and give her the bowl and let her eat? Or am I supposed to lower the bowl and give her a treaT?
Then what I would do, is not only have him sit/wait before you put his full bowl down and wait until you give a release word, "OK" or whatever you use, but one time during his meal, hand him a hunk of cheese, pick up his bowl, move it to the other side of the room and put it back down for him. Just do it once and leave him be. This way you're not overly frustrating him, bothering him too much during his meal, but he is getting a little practice in seeing that you are no threat to his food, that you provide it, that you even add extra good stuff to it and it doesn't matter if you pick up the bowl because he gets it right back again and then you go away.
But don't do this with the whole bowl thing until he's had ample practice with hand feeding....getting the idea that you control his food as well as toys, and other things he likes, not everything, but most things....and that he has to act a certain way in order to get handfuls of kibble or treats.
What's the best way to gage if she's ready? I know currently she's not ready because she does not eat very gently.
Thanks!

Answer:
She also sometimes growls when she becomes when playing with her ball, usually when she's into it. She'd shake her head (like trying to yank off something) and growl in the process. When this happens, I would remove the ball and leave her alone.
That sounds perfectly normal to me. My dog would growl when she tore up her rug (an old ratty rug we let her play with outside.) I think she was pretending it was prey. ;) Sometimes she'd growl when I played tug of war with her, too--a play-growl, not a real growl. (If your dog has dominance issues, I don't recommend tug of war; my dog was very comfortable being the lowest in the "pack" so it wasn't an issue with her.)
I wouldn't worry about her growling at her toys, but you do need to teach her not to nip.

Answer:
I was thinking about that, too. Her growl is definitely different from the growl she had when she was eating. Still, I still think discouraging her growling would be better because of her food aggression problem? What do you think?
My little Jose, a Chihuahua mix growls like crazy when we play tug, he shakes his whole head and body and really gets into it. He wags his tail, sticks his rear up in the air. I mean he has a wee of a time. I play growl right along with him. It's play and it's a healthy outlet. Sometimes he gets to "win." Sometimes I do. I say, "give" and he lets go. He "talks" to me too. He stares at me, sticks his rear up, wags, pounces and all the while I encourage this funny and cute "talking" he does. It's a combination of a growl and this human like, breathy, long drawn out vowell sounds. It's hilarious. He's playing. In fact, I'm trying to put it on cue...."talk to me." I use a very playful voice. So, do I think you should discourage growling? No way. Not in play and not if he's using it as a warning to stay away from his food. Never discourage a growl or punish it. It is communication. Don't sever the lines of communication.
Now the feelings he has about his food, this natural instinct to defend it can be modified. Never mind about the behavior or signs of his defending it. Let's get to the core problem of his worrying about you taking his food.
Hand feed for a while. Then putting handfuls of food in the bowl, having him sit/wait first and then putting the bowl on the floor. Or better yet, before you use the floor, hold the bowl for him for a few days then use the floor where you set it down. When he finishes that handful, give him a piece of cheese or hotdog while you pick up the bowl. Put another handful in it, asking for a sit/wait or down/wait (whatever) while you do this and while you set it down. (If he breaks the wait, pick it up fast, before he gets to it) Teach him a release word like "OK" which means he can leave his sit/wait and have his food. Do this handful by handful. When you take his bowl up, trade him for something extra special.
Later, after you do this for say a week or whatever it takes for him to look comfortable with this procedure, try putting the bowl on the floor with part of his ration in it. Walk around the kitchen a little, come by his bowl and drop an extra special yummy thing in (hot dog, cheese, last night's chicken, whatever) Do that for a few days. When he looks relaxed to you with your walking near his bowl, try bending down and letting him see the hunk of fresh meat in your hand, put that in his bowl. In other words, you're conditioning him to see you as his provider of resources. That's what makes him trust you and be comfortable with coming near his food.
After you've done this for a while and he isn't shifty eyed or growling or nervous/tense looking, when he doesn't pause while he's eating, stop chewing, look tense....when he just keeps eating and doesn't pay much attention to your presence, you can be pretty sure he's feeling relaxed about you coming near his food. When you can walk around doing your thing, walk past him, drop something in his bowl, you can start feeding him his whole meal in the bowl, asking for a sit/wait/OK before he goes for it. If he breaks the wait, pick the bowl up first before he gets to it. Replace him in a sit/wait. Teach him that only by sitting/waiting polietly and waiting for his release word, will the bowl remain on the floor. Do it as many times as it takes.
Now he's to the point where he's getting his whole meal in the bowl. He sits/waits/OK and he gets to go to it and eat. ONE time during his meal (let's stop harrassing him at this point) hand feed him a piece of meat or cheese and pick the bowl up, move it over a couple of feet and he can eat again. Show him that when you handle his bowl, not only does he get a super yummy treat, but he ends up getting his kibble back too. LOL. Then leave him to eat in peace.
Be all pleasant and relaxed through all of this. Do not be tense or nervous. Take it in stride, like this is no big deal at all. Don't let him sense any nervousness or worry in you. Be confident and matter of fact and praise him for good behavior.
One final thing: Don't get all bogged down with all of this. I mean read this stuff, get the gist of it, the point of it, why you're doing these things and then go gradually to condition her. It doesn't matter if one little thing is left out or not done exactly as written. This is not a test. LOL. The point is to get your dog comfortable with your coming around her food and for you to be relatively safe in doing so.....and to go slowly.
This procedure, if it is taken gradually....probably over the next two or three weeks will make your dog more trusting and comfortable with you coming around the food, will make her see you as her provider of good things and not one who is going to take away her food. This will make the warning growl go away. She'll stop growling at you because there will be nothing to worry about.
Just remember...never ever punish a growl. It teaches a dog not to growl. A growl is a good thing. It communicates to you to stop doing something. It gives you time then to work around it, counter condition whatever problem the dog is having, like we've been talking about. When you supress a growl, say "NO!" or any other punishment, the dog is likely to bite without warning. YOu don't want this, right? In play, a growl is not a warning, unless your dog is not playing. But you should be able to learn to observe their body language and expressions and know. Look online for something which shows you body language. I don't know how to explain it because I've just grown up with dogs for 47 years. It's like any language. When you grow up with it from a very young child, you just know.
I keep mixing up he and she. OK...so this is a she. Good heavens!
Oh, your question about running. If you think she's just having fun and chasing, that's fine. If she is getting too riled up and getting into that prey drive thing, sinking her teeth into you or snapping, no, don't let her chase you. I would never let her chase little kids. They see kids differently sometimes. As long as she keeps her teeth off of people and doesn't get carried away, it's fine. Teaching a retrieve is a good thing. You can play fetch with her, frisbee too.

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I don't see this food guarding as dominance. This is natural in wild canines too. With wolves, a younger wolf will defend his food from an alpha wolf and it is perfectly acceptable. If it weren't, if the other wolves said, "go ahead and take my rabbit. I'm not as important," the wolf would die, be unable to reproduce and the specie would become extint. This is not a dominance issue. It occurs among canines regardless of rank.
I believe that tug is not a dominance issue either. It is a joint, cooperative "killing" effort. The two of you playing together. Dogs play tug with eachother too. However, there MUST be rules in place first.
First rule: The dog must learn to "give" on cue and immediately. There can be NO exceptions. You teach the "give and take" game first by trading a higher value treat for the rope toy (or whatever you're playing with). Use various toys to teach give and take. Do it back and forth. "give" (trade a treat) and "take" (dog gets the toy back). Make it a game, fun, praising. Toss the toy and encourage her to bring it back. Trade for a treat. Later you can vary the times she gets a treat. But do it like this for quite some time for now.
Once she learns "give" and you're playing tug, if she doesn't give immediately upon the first cue "give," You walk away and abruptly end all playtime. Practice the give and take game more.
Next rule: Dog must never ever set teeth on your skin. Again, if it happens once, game over. Try again after a little while. Be consistant.
Next rule: Dog must never jump up or grab the toy from your hand. She must wait until you start the game.
Tug can be a fun, interactive game as long as your dog knows the rules. It even OK to let her "win" sometimes. This develops confidence in a dog. A confident dog is less apt to be defensive and aggressive as a result of defensiveness.

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Hi Baineteo... I've only skimmed thru posts, so my apologies if I give advice you've already received. Concerned you're creating a lot of anxiety over food for a puppy this young and "second" the advice you've been given by Dr2 about desensitizing pup to this. This should be followed for 30 days to truly be effective and if you can not be there during mealtimes to do this, reccommend you have her fed in crate and let her relax while eating, verses having brother feed her. Never pet her while she's growling, this re-enforces the behavior. She sounds very anxious about food, this is why she's "talking" while eating verses being relaxed. It's was "frantic" behavior, which you want to redirect. So, again stay on feeding program Dr2 reccommended, start getting pup to engage her brain and you should see marked improvement in a month. This is a Corgi! No chase games. Instinctively, when setting her up to chase you, she's going to want ot use her mouth, give you a nip on leg or pant, encouraging you to continue moving and to move faster. It'll be difficult for her to determine that this game is o.K. to play with you, but not neighbor kids or someone in the park when she sees humans running and since she already has a problem with her bite inhibition, I would not encourage this game, at this age, with this particular breed. Best to set her up to be successful in everything she does right now, verses her making possible 'mistakes" and mouthing too hard or nipping. Reccommend getting a book on canine behavior and a breed book on Corgis'. It will help you better understand food guarding, and some breed specific behaviors. "Dogs Behaving Badly" by Dr Dodman, DVM and anything by Jean Donaldson from info I've gathered on this site. All novice pet owners and trainers alike, seem to agree she has some very good training books on the market! Good luck.

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@doberluv: Thank you once again for the help. I understand things even better now.
@otch1. Hi! Well, while your reply seemed to be echoing the rest, it does has things that weren't mentioned before.
I will continue to stick to the feeding method mentioned by dr2little/doberluv, and read up more about Corgis. Thanks for telling me that chasing is not a good game for corgis, too!
We did try another new 'game,' though. 3 of us stood in a corner of the house and called her to 'come' one by one. I think she enjoyed it. It was both play and teaching the 'come' command.

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That game is a great one for practicing "come." Glad it worked out to be a fun time.
I'm sorry if I steered you wrong about the Corgi breed. I sort of forgot they were a herding breed. I know that I can't get my Doberman too worked up. Once when he did a super job on some agility runs in my yard, I was so thrilled and made such a fuss and he was all revved up from the jumping and running and so forth that when I played too exciteably with him, running, praising...he leaped up and grabbed my arm and it rather hurt. He was playing but forgot himself for a moment, forgot that his teeth aren't suppose to touch my skin like that. I sort of yelped and walked away. So, I too have to remember to draw the line where getting too exciteable with him is concerned. So, the herding breeds tend to run after moving things even more, although I've had GSDs and I never had that problem with them being overly interested in chasing the kids or me.

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Cookie now no longer nibs (so quickly) when she's excited. When we first got her, she would nib the moment we run a bit. But the other day, we were in my brother's room and I ran out to get something. I wasn't expecting her to follow, but she came running after me. To my surprise, she stopped behind me and waited to see if I was going to do anything fun with her! lol.
But sometimes when she got over excited, she would start nibbing, and that's when we stop play.
We're still working on the food thing - we're now dropping kibbles into her bowl. :) I found that meal times were the best time to "train" - there wasn't a command she didn't follow! lol.