How to wean a dog to guard a bowl of food

Some dogs have not only an unpleasant, but sometimes dangerous habit: they guard their bowl, growling, and even throwing themselves at anyone who appears nearby. How to wean a dog to guard a bowl of food?

We note right away that if the protection of the resource in a dog is in a serious form (for example, there were cases of bites), then the best solution is to contact a specialist who works with humane methods. He will help you develop and implement a program to correct your dog’s behavior. If it’s still not so running, you can solve the problem yourself.

How to wean a dog to guard a bowl of food? The main principle is to make sure that the dog understands that it is beneficial for her when people are next to her bowl.

At first, you hold a bowl of food in one hand, and at this time, with the other hand, you take food out of it and feed it to the dog. This is how your dog is convinced that a human hand near a bowl of food is wonderful. And you get into the bowl not to take something away, but to feed the pet.

You then lower the bowl to floor level, but still hold it in your hands, and allow the dog to eat from the bowl at this time.

You keep some of the food with you, and when the dog finishes the food from the bowl, you add more pieces to it. That is, your presence nearby means that the dog will get more food – which means it is very beneficial for the pet.

Then, when the dog is eating, you no longer sit next to him, but periodically go to the bowl to add food to it. That is, your approach to a valuable resource for the dog becomes a pleasant signal that a supplement is about to come.

We emphasize once again: these exercises are suitable only for those cases where the protection of the resource is manifested only to a very small extent – in order to prevent the development and aggravation of the problem. If the dog is ALREADY guarding the bowl from you, such experiments can become dangerous. In this case, you should contact a specialist. There are effective and humane ways to wean a dog to guard his bowl, but in order to use them, you must have the appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities.

You can learn how to educate and train a dog humanely by using our video courses.