The journey of Cash - my Hovawart Photos

Have you tried removing Cash dinner why he's eating (use a broom handle not hand) if he goes for handle then its one of 2 things : he's hungry & dont want his food removed or he's got food aggression,
You could try sitting next to him on floor when its his dinner time & keep putting small amounts of food into his dish, this will tell him you are in charge of his dish & you will put food in/out as you wish.

Im sorry, but I cant let this go by without commenting on it. please do not try the above, this is a sure way to encourage resource guarding, why on earth would you want to stick a broom handle into a pup`s food bowl and hope he does not bite it.

If a dog develops food aggression its because he does not know when he is going to get another meal and he has constantly had to fight of others stealing his food, by putting a broom handle or taking his food away while he is eating is only going to enforce that belief.

A hungry pup (a normal pup) should not be food aggressive , if he is hungry he is hungry , so you need to look as to why, how much are you feeding him, are you feeding the required amount, he looks healthy and a good weight so I doubt he has been starved, are the other dogs around his food bowl, this may make he woof his food down and start to be protective over it, I would find a quiet spot for him to have his food in peace without any disturbances..


He should be on 4 small meals a day, weight out the daily food guide and split it into 4 small meals, don`t be tempted to feed more food because you think he is hungry, he may just be a greedy pup , if he is growing nicely and not looking skinny , then he is getting enough food, the guidelines are just that guide lines, so you may have to tweak them a little to suit his needs.


I think the sooner you speak to other owners of this breed the better, but from what you are saying I think you just have a full on pup, that has not had to many manners taught to him,

Puppies throw tantrums, just like toddlers do,(they can sound and act like demonsat times ) they want to do what they are doing and protest when they are told no.... he needs to learn what is acceptable and what is not, you don`t have to be heavy handed or resort to some of the antiquated theories to achieve this, just firm constant rules he will learn so much easier this way... he is going to be one big dog, so set your rules now, before he gets to big for his boots.

He could have been the boldest most outgoing pup of the litter, the one who was the bully and got his own way with his litter mates, he may still think he can do that now, all he needs is to be set right , what he may or may not have got away with with his siblings, he does not get away with it here.

It is a tried & tested method we use at the rescue home, dogs that are food aggression soon realise that we control their food & they soon quickly learn food aggressive behavior is not accepted & by allowing us to remove their dish with food still in, they get the dish back with more food in, these poor dogs would of been put to sleep in some rescue home because of being food aggressive, but by sitting next to them & by putting hand in dish leaving food, makes them less aggressive & will allow their dish to be removed or another dog to walk pass them why they are eating, lot of new owners wanting to adopt already have a dog, so they must accept other dogs being in same room or walking pass them, without snarling growling or showing any form of attack mode.

Sounds like Cesar Millan's "cure" for food aggression to me. When I put Pereg's food down for her it is her food in her bowl for her to eat.

Not for me to take away from her.

I know it is, sadly many rescues and trainers still act this practice out, it might be tried and tested, but many dogs lose their life due to it being diagnosed with food aggression because someone sticks a false hand it into its food bowl, and surprise surprise the dog bites.

I cringe every time I see this put into practice on some rescue programme or other.

Let's not forget we are talking a 16 ish week old pup here, not an unknown adult dog that you don't know the history off.


Let's say for arguments sake, you stick a broom handle into a pups bowl the pup decides it's a toy and grabs it wanting to play.......game over pup has been labelled food aggressive and then what, in some cases the pup/ dog is PTS..because it's a danger.

I just wish those who practice and believe in this method would open there minds to other views...maybe then the dogs they have made food aggressive might have a better chance.

I really can't understand how people don't get it, you keep taking a dogs food away and it's going to get fed up with having its food stolen the only option is to defend.

I would never remove the food bowl if the dog was eating and especially if it was food aggressive this logic is not only counterproductive in that you're reinforcing their fears ,if one takes the bowl away, the dog’s action was justified as In their mind, you were trying to take his food.

Dogloveriou didn't say the pup went for her but for one of her other dogs, I don't know the set up he came from but 15/16 weeks is an impressionable age for a pup and if he was raised in a kennel environment might not have had the socialising and taught manners, he’s not long arrived into new home, people and dogs it is all different for him, and he could be trying his luck but im sure with proper guidance he will be fine.

I have never removed ANY of my dogs food bowls while they're eating or otherwise bothered with their food. It's not something I agree with, and in most cases I think it can create resource guarding issues. I know you meant well with the advice Tina, but not advice I'm about to follow. To me when I put their bowls down to eat, it's theirs and they can eat in peace without the threat of me hovering around ready to remove it at any point.

Well Jackie, you can feel every bone in his body. He's very lean. However the vet said he was in perfect health yesterday, and he weighs 17.6kg at 16 weeks. I have however increased his meals because I was under feeding him. I've got him on three meals a day now. That might help with his general greediness. I've also started feeding him in the hallway.

He was raised in the house with his breeders but lived with a number of other adult Hovawarts, and his sister. I don't know the set up of feeding times however.

Ialso contacted the breed club today for general advice and to ask whether any club members might want to meet up for a playdate.

Thanks Vee. He seems better today already, more compliant. Aside from this morning when he had a real crazy barking attack at a neighbour....

But we attended a local dog show too and he did amazing. Got LOTS of attention and fuss, just what he needs, and I was feeding him treats randomly throughout to reinforce good behaviour. He won his first rosette in a basic training exercise demo and he entered a fun scurry hunt and showed some natural tracking ability. He was unfazed by everything really, although slightly aloof with other dogs. However that's not necessarily a bad thing. I do like aloof traits in my dogs anyway.

My 6 JRT's each have their own dish, however the hooligans will all start off eating out of their dish, but will all move onto one dish once food eaten from that dish, they will then move on to next dish, there's no aggression no fighting & sometimes Skye will go eat out same dish as the hooligans & move on to next dish with them, I will never stop them from eating out same dish, has it as taught them not to be aggressive around food.

When you are out with him you need to stop this behaviour before it starts and he gets worked up, take a favourite toy or titbit and as soon as you see someone or whatever you think he reacts to’ start distracting him and get him to focus on toy or treats.(mine have a separate toy only used for outside) Or just quickly turn other way for few mins to distract him,.

We were always taught that ‘Prevention is better than Cure’ x

I always taught mine from puppies to ‘Watch Me’ (mainly for working in obedience )but find it very useful in other situations.

I would say a better way of getting the dog used to anyone messing with his food is not to remove it while he's eating but to give him a bowl with very little in and gradually add more, that way he knows the food comes from you and he knows you being around his bowl is a good thing.
As for getting them used to eating in a group all you have to do is give them a reasonable amount of space and stand between the snappy one and the others and keep your beady eye on the snappy one. If he starts to bristle correct him with Oi and carry on adding the food to his bowl until he's finished it all.

NEWS FLASH - Missy is home and has been playing with her toys...even tugging at one end of a toy with Cash!

A-MAZ-ING.

Cash seems pretty startled that a dog within the home actually plays with toys lol. Ty is still not interested, and when he does grab a toy, Cash comes and steals it and Ty just mopes back to his bed. It's incredible that this is a dog that LOVES other dogs outside, will leg it after them if you're not careful and which I've worked on continually to tackle and manage, but yet here he is NOT enjoying another dog in his home much. Missy has never not reacted at a dog on first meeting, but yet she seems pretty undaunted by Cash's presence, if a little avoidant maybe.

As for Cash, I'm using treats to distract him as best I can when we see other people/dogs, which does work as he's so food motivated. Asked my dad to come sit with him outside Sainsbury's today while I did my shopping. Took treats and randomly rewarded him throughout, much the same as I did Saturday during the show. Even asked other people to give him the treats so he associates people with good things. He's incredibly suspicious of people and aloof, and didn't much want to interact with anyone. One lady got on the floor to greet him and he seemed more interested. One guy tried the same and he was reluctant. Asked him to feed him a treat, which Cash took, but he didn't want any fuss from the guy and went back to laying under the bench. We just let him take it all in at his own pace and left him under the bench.

Took him to Pets @ Home on the way home where he did better and received some fuss from the staff and a lady customer.

He starts training classes this Thursday so hopefully he will find a pal to play with as my two are not interested.

The only other pictures I have right now are ones that were taken by my sister on his first day home. Hoping to take some more tomorrow.

Oh oh oh - he is absolutely adorable

So pleased Cash has settled in so quickly..he gets more beautiful by the day!

Sounds like Cash might of been isolated from people, with just the breeder seeing him every day, am glad he's coming round & is interacting little more with strangers.

He attended training classes with the breeder's other adult dogs weekly, and just before he arrived here the breeders had a "litter camp" day with all Cash's siblings in attendance and some other adult dogs from previous litters. He's definitely been around people, but I wonder now whether that was the only interactions he had and he wasn't getting out meeting new people on a regular basis.

I thought he did better this morning on sight of two works men getting out of their van as we passed them by. He was eyeing them up, let out a small grumble, but better then he has been.

He's also putting on weight nicely since increasing his meals. Seriously, before he was skin and bones and now he feels fuller and looks better IMO.

He is still a baby who has gone through a lot of changes recently so has a lot to get used to.

I think he is doing brilliantly in such a short time, but as they say, Rome was not built in a day.

Please give him, and your other two gorgeous wubbles, big hugs from me!

Thanks Malka.

I think the grumbly behaviour at people probably is insecurity, so it's just something I have to give time.

Inquired about further training today too.