Meal Aggression?

[godiscomingmyway]

I have a dog I adopted (C) and another who I am fostering. (B).

The first day I introduced them seemed great. They played for quite a while, were friendly with each other, etc. Both are from multi-dog environments and shelter situations, so I figure this is promising and they will probably be alright.

I fed them dinner and handed them both their bowls at the same time. They attended to their own bowls, C finished first and walked off. But when B was done, C came back and went rooting around in B’s bowl for crumbs. This led to a pretty fierce tussle - VERY not playing - which I was able to split up. Once I get a lock on Cs harness, B backs off immediately - it seems like C is the one who wants to fight.

I let them cool off apart for a few minutes, then let them outside for potty. About thirty seconds in, they’re at it again, waking the dead with their growling and scaring the crap out of me besides. Got them apart again, again C is the one who wants to fight.

Any way to salvage this situation or do I need to keep them separated for a while? (I can it’s just annoying.) Days? Weeks? Forever? Should I feed them separately? How long do dogs hold a grudge?

 

[eyes4grandpa]

@godiscomingmyway It’s called Resource guarding. You can read a lot about it in the reactive dog sub. You will want to separate them till they cool down emotionally. Hopefully just a day or two and then reintroduce in an open area away from food and with lots of room to escape. I would make sure they have leashes on and carefully watch body language. Small steps. They are more likely to get in a fight again after an incident for a couple of weeks so you will need to watch them. Going forward feed them separately with no chance to get to each others food. You do not want to interact with them when they are eating either as this will aggravate it and how people get bite. I personally would not touch C’s food bowl til they left the room until you built up trust and even than it’s better to just not. A dog will bite a human when RG even if they are never likely to at any other time. It’s not something they can control, it’s very much just instinct to protect a resource.

I recommend the book “Mine!”. It goes into it well. RG is very manageable. If you manage the dogs now they can back to being completely fine with each other given time and enough positive experiences. Right now the fight was too close and they have more bad experiences than good. Also, keep in mind the 333 rule. It takes a long time to acclimate and this would cause RG to become a bigger issue. Some dog’s who RG during this period may never RG again once they settle in.

 

[godiscomingmyway]

@eyes4grandpa Thanks for the book recommendation. I’ve had C for a while but he’s been pretty chill before this. Gets along with cats and everything. I guess other dogs are different for him.

 

[thewingsoftruth]

@godiscomingmyway Sounds like resource guarding. You need to feed them separately. They could severely injure each other if they continue to have the opportunity to resource guard. Make sure they cannot access each other’s food to guard it.

 

[godiscomingmyway]

@thewingsoftruth Will do.

 

[andyb7777777]

@godiscomingmyway I would separate them while feeding.

Adopted pupper doesn't know the difference between needing to guard their food, and now there's competition for the food with foster pup. Adopted pup is resource guarding, and needs to learn that food will never stop, regardless of whether or not they are sharing.

Keep them seperate for all food/treats/stimulation toys/nibblers etc. They need to learn, SEPARATELY, how to manage their resources, and get to know that they will both always be fed.

 

[godiscomingmyway]

Fwiw I fed them separately this morning and they’ve been getting along well. No food out. Thanks for the advice.