Question for all the dog lovers, especially Labs. We have a yellow AKC male that is fairly well behaved, except when it comes to feeding time. He (Jasper) isn't the friendliest to strangers but thats not what concerns me, don't come into our back yard. When eating he's is constantly growling, ect, and can be fairly ferocius, but has never bit.

How is the best way to get past this, and I don't need any whip his butt comments.

When we purchased Jasper at 6 weeks, we also inherited a 1-10? year old stray Aussi Shepherd (Buddy). He was at our house and we just couldn't take him to the pound. Buddy at times can dictate what he wants, but Jasper is large enough to be able to settle the situation. I would imagine that Buddy did some bullying during the first few months.

Long story short, we recently bought a black female lab thinking of breeding in a couple of years. There hasn't been any problems yet, I just want to make sure there aren't. And yes, I'm aware of the first "heat" cycle in the next several months.

Let me know your thoughts of the approach to take.

you really have a problem, the growling is a red flag. question? why are you thinking of breeding? Is both dogs really quality dogs to be breeding?

first off, your dog's problem doesn't necessarily relate to him being a male.

sounds like he is exhibiting "possession aggression". This can be a concern, especially if you have kids around. I read an article once that dealt with all types of dominance and agression issues and they discussed this type. They suggested taking his food bowl away and feeding the dog out of your hand for about a week, then, reintroducing the bowl with only a small amout of food in it, and while the dog is eating... add more to the bowl by hand. Gradually working back to letting the dog have all of his food back.

The reasoning was that the dog see you as a "taker" instead of a "giver" and you are trying to change that. just like a dog will see other dogs as "takers".

This is a touchy deal. your dog sounds like he has other dominance agression issues also, as in the territorial thing. most dogs have this because it is an instict that is carried from the wolf, but in most dogs, after they bark to tell you that you are on the turf, they will allow you (or a stranger that is freindly or with you) to enter their domain.

be careful with this dog, not only around your other dogs, but ESPECIALLY PEOPLE (read: KIDS!)

I would question the breeding also.

good luck

YOUR DOG IS SHOWING THAT HE IS THE LEADER (even over you)

Put that dog on it's back when he growls.

i tend to disagree here with the suggestions to treat this as an "alpha" issue. This is more of a behavioral "aggression" issue in that he will not allow anyone near his food. Even a true alpha will tolerate food sharing. I have two male dogs now and one is obviously an alpha over the other, but they share the same bowl, same toys, same beds, everything.

So you slam this dog and teach him who's boss... what happens when a kid gets near him, or another dog. It's the behavoir itself that needs to be addressed.

Sure, you can say that you are busting his a$$ whenever he does it to ANYONE to teach him not to do it at all, but i don't believe that is the right approach. you would be trying to knock a dog back down the pack to be the most submissive of the bunch and it won't work without ruining the dog.

you may want to try a bark collar. this could teach the dog that when he growls or barks while feeding, it's his own doing.

my $.02

You go Dog Whisperer!

yeah... i've thrown that disclaimer out before "not to sound like..."! That's almost as bad as hearing yourself say something to your kids that your dad used to say to you... kinda gives you that uncomfortable "wet fart" feeling.

I hate that fricken show!!

...but, you gotta admit, there is a certain psychology to "the dog" that we've all tried to exploit at one time or another!

this is not a male issue, nor is it an alpha issue. the other dog, buddy, has 'taught' jasper to behave this way. i imagine when jasper was a pup and buddy was already bigger and stronger, the pup got his food stolen at times and developed a way to deter buddy from stealing. once the behavior worked on buddy, he transferred it to others to deter them. this is not only bad around others, esp kids as mentioned, but it will likely ruin the personality of your new female as well. it needs to be corrected to avoid several of these issues. harsh discipline will not fix this, and the feeding out of the hand thing sort of goes along the lines of my suggestion. you need to get up close and personal (safely) with this dog while he is eating. start by sitting next to his bowl, then move to touching the bowl, then to touching him. when he growls take his bowl away and tell him no. eventually, he should let you eat out of the bowl with him, but thats up to you.