How do you correct food guarding with other dogs?  My 9 month old Lab mix has started to be aggressive around his food dish when the other dogs go passed the dish. The dish could be completely empty and he'll go after the other two.  Does anyone have any ideas or tricks on how to fix this?  Dunkin gets fed near the garage door while the other two dogs get fed in the dinning room.

My dad's dogs did this, he fed them in separate rooms with a baby gate in between. But he made sure they could still see each other while they ate or they would refuse to eat. It worked really well until one of them got bigger and learned to jump the baby gate.

Mine are slightly food aggressive with eachother (never with us, and it's usually just a warning "get lost" growl), but I let them be. I allow them to defend themselves while they're eating. I've never had any problems with it escalating, but I also stand there and wait for them all to finish eating (they get 15 minutes to eat or it's taken away until next meal time), and I take away their food dishes when they're done, so there's nothing to argue over. They've all learned eachother's boundaries and nobody really goes near anyone else while they're eating. Whiskey learned from the couple of growlings he's received and he doesn't bother the big dogs while they eat now.

All I can really suggest is keep him separated and wait with him while he eats, and pick up his food dish when he's done.

I think Shae's plan of removing the bowls so theres nothing to guard is brilliant. 

Idk we always feed completely seperately coz I've always had really gutzy dogs haha but I think that would help to solve your issue with him guarding an empty bowl. Or even changing up where he eats (so pick 3 or so spots and alternate) to prevent him from cracking it :) 

How does he go if you walk up and remove it while he's eating? We've always taught ours that if we take their food they sit quietly and we give it back.. it sounds mean but it stoped a lot of isuses when my brother and I were little and we'd walk up and take the dogs bone or something dumb so she would just chill coz she knew there was always more :)

My mother was attacked my a food-bowl aggressive dog when she was 2 years old. She was just thinking that she would go pet the cute and fluffy puppy, and the dog latched onto her face. To this day, she has scars above her eye brows, under her chin, and on the side of her jaw. Because of what happened to her, we ALWAYS make sure our dogs know who is boss when it comes to food. -end random side story-

I have gone so far as to get on my hands and knees and move my dog out of the way with my face. (obviously i didn't just do it from the start, but i worked up to it). Dogs will again, obviously, be different because they are communicating with eachother. And just like how we as humans HAVE to be at the top of the list, dogs will also have a pecking order. Try to see if they are simply figuring out who is alpha, or if it is a serious aggressivness. If your dog has absolutely no aggression towards you, and you know that they respect you, you could literally stand in the middle while they eat. If your lab mix goes out of his 'food bowl area' to growl, you put him in his place. If your lab mix only growls when the other dogs approach, then that is something that he is going to do. Like Shae said, "get lost". It is defintely a situation where you have to be watching and pay attention. I wish I could help more.

Please keep us updated on their progress and how it goes!

I'm starting to think this is more of a pecking order situation.  Dunkin went after both of the dogs today, had nothing to do with the food.  We have a 9 year old Beagle; Toby, and a 7 year old Beagle; Bo.  Bo has always been the dominant one in the household, ever since Dunkin's nuetering in May, he's been going after the other two.  Is there anyway to correct this, or do I just let them figure out the pecking order?  Bo & Toby already have battle scars, and my parents are not happy.  This is the first time we brought a young dog into the house with 2 other dogs.

I've never really had to deal with food guarding all that much.. When I first got Daisy, my puppy mill rescue, she would growl over food. She growled a couple different times and got an earful from me and never did it again.. I guess they know I'm the boss and they better not do anything I don't like mwahaha xD

Now all 3 of them will share from one bowl, they even wait and take turns so everyone can grab a few pieces of kibble at a time haha

I do feed them their actual meals in separate dishes just so I know everyone is getting the correct amount that they need, but I leave a bit of dry kibble out during the day for them to snack on and there are never any issues.

It is a pecking order thing, multiple dogs in a household will always have a heirarchy. And I don't really see growling at one another to be necessarily bad, as long as it does not escalate to growling and snapping, bullying over food or any other serious form of aggression. I however do not tolerate any growling over food - either towards me or the other dogs. I always monitor my dogs when they're eating their set meals or if I'm giving treats. If one dog decides they want to be sneaky and steal someone else's food, I intervene and send them packing myself.

If you did want to bring an end to the growling, I'd say any time it happens, take the food away from the dog that's growling and send the other one away. Get the dog that growled to relax and focus on you before returning the food. This will eventually teach him that YOU don't want him to growl, but it won't have any impact on  the heirarchy among the dogs. You can also try feeding the dogs in their pack order. Feed the most dominant guy first so he doesn't feel 'threatened' by those ranked below him.

On a random side note uni, My parents rescued a beagle from a puppy mill & we named her by saying random things till she came over.. so now her name is Daisy haha so we both have ex-puppy mill Daisy's. Mine has come so far out of her shell its wonderful. I came home on crutches expecting her to flip (She hates long poles ect) and she was finneee so snaps for daisy! haha 

Awd - I've done that too xD you have to be boss.. always. It also equals out the packing order a bit coz you're top so they're not arguing for top. 

And if you think that your dog is being aggressive over the food and/or bowl, you can also try elevating the dish. When dogs stand over something it can give them the idea that they own it, which can lead to aggressive behavior to protect it. When you feed them higher up so they can't stand over it and claim it, it can help with keeping them from becoming protective and aggressive over it. Remember, it's not their food; it's your food, and you've chosen to share it with them. An alpha dog always eats first and permits the lower ranking dogs to feed when he/she is done. And even then, it's only as long as the alpha allows it.

Sydney (my mutt) can be really food aggressive. I feed the two dogs about 4-5 ft away from each other, and turned the opposite ways so they can't watch each other, and thus don't compete.  Syd gets fed high up, but when she is having moments of aggressive behavior, I kneel down, hold the food dish and when she's calm I offer her a few bites, taking the bowl away afterwards. Doing that works like a charm every time.

Hope that helps!

Dunkin doesn't have food aggression towards people thankfully.  It's more so towards the other 2,  Dunkin eats in the kitchen near the garage door while Toby and Bo eat in the dining room.. which is the backroom.  Toby eats in his kennel and Bo sits next to a window and eats his food.  Bo and Toby eat first, and then Dunkin.  Bo does have food aggression only to dogs, he started this because of Toby.  Toby is the first one to finish and so he likes to walk near Bo's food dish, and then Dunkin's food dish, which causes tension during feeding time.  Unfortunately I'm not there during most of the feeding times because I'm at work, and so my parents do the feedings.

We've never had any issues with Dunkin until he got nuetered in May, that's when we noticed some tension in the house, but most of the summer has been good with no fighting until just this week.  Last night Dunkin went after Toby, nothing to do with food this time.  Toby was just walking passed me, and Dunkin was on top of him.. I kinda pulled him off and tossed him in the hallway, and didn't pay attention to him the rest of the night.  I'll be away this weekend (cow show!) , so I'm hoping there are no fights in the house while I'm away, I know my parents are getting tired! 

We separate them when no one is home, babygate the hallway where Dunkin stays and the other two get the rest of the house!

I know I'm several months late to this party, but I thought I'd give my two cents in case this is still any issue for the poster or if it's an issue for anybody else. This is what I've found to be best with dogs that get snippy and crazy over food with other dogs. First of all the dog must understand that you're the leader but even if he doesn't yet, this will help reinforce that concept. Each of my dog has his/her own crate (even the cat has one) that only he/she is allowed to go near. It's their personal space that is safe from the other members of the pack, except for the leaders of course, and it occasionally serves as a place to safely remove them to when they get too crazy or they're being flat-out rude.

At feeding time, my dogs are put into their kennels and the doors are shut. They wait in there while I prepare their bowls of food and water (I always put water with food when feeding dry kibble) to prevent begging at me ordisputes between them. My adult dog eats first since she's higher than him in the ranks; my puppy is likely going to put himself above her in the pecking order when he's an adult but until he's 3 years old and I allow them to sort all that out, he's still a puppy and puppies do not outrank anybody but each other. She's already learned to lie quietly and wait for me to give her the okay to eat. My little one has to sit and lie down and then wait quietly and patiently for me to give the ok to eat. This is how they earn the right to be given my permission to eat what they know is my food. All space, food, and toys are mine, and they must earn permission for all of it. After all food is eaten (mine aren't laggy eaters with what I feed), all bowls are put away and they are given 15-20 minutes in their kennels to settle and forget about food before a potty trip and the resuming of their normal activities.

I have pretty few hard rules but if any of those rules are broken, the offender is removed from the pack; if he's out and about, he is confined to his kennel with a blanket over it and without stimulation from us or any food/toys for several minutes. If he's in the kennel, any food/toys are removed and a blanket is thrown over him while the rest of the pack leaves the room for several minutes/until he is calm and quiet. I make is clear that I am the leader, I reinforce all rules and boundaries, I will protect you from anything/one as needed, and you cannot be with the pack if you're going to break rules and/or be rude/mean.