Best/Worst liked Dog Breeds

[General_Failure]

Kennels are for giving the dog a space they know is their own, not for temporary storage.

[Tomahawk]

I got my dog Kali, named after her cauliflower ear and the Hindu "dark mother".

[General_Failure]

You named it Collie. Good job.

[Tomahawk]

Sorry to hear about your pup, Dio.

The home visit to verify I'm awesome enough to adopt my Chow is this afternoon. Instead of naming her Chowbacca (or Ms. Chowbacca the Woofie in formal situations), I'm going to call her Collie.

If Ewoks had names, I'd name her after one of them.

[General_Failure]

Star Wars had 8,000 hacks writing zesty novels for it. You can bet your ass Ewoks have names.

[Diomedes]

She's adorable.

Also, nice floor.

[Sgt PSN]

Also, nice floor.

Haha.  Was going to post the same.  Looks like it has a nice polish/shine to it. 

[Tomahawk]

Damn it Sarge, you sawed-off son of a bitch, how could you not comment on her awesome hat?

The floors are in amazing condition considering they were installed 75 years ago. Wow, 75th anniversary...I'm going to mop them with beer tonight.

[Sgt PSN]

Because the hat actually looks good on the dog.  On you, not so much. 

[hbionic]

She-hawk looks remarkable in an asshat though, you have to admit.

[Sgt PSN]

Food aggression is a bitch.  The stray pup we took in last year showed early signs of food agression, so we thought we worked it out of him by hand feeding at an early age and getting him comfortable with us putting our hand in his food dish while he was eating.  I'm guessing that we probably didn't reenforce that enough and abandoned that technique too quickly.  And since moving to PA, the dogs sort of have their own room since our patio is fully enclosed, so that's where their crates and food dishes are.  So we feed them and they get to eat in peace and are somewhat isolated from us.  The pup is about 18mo old now and started getting agressive towards me about 2 weeks ago because after I put food in his dish,  I decided to give him a little pat on the back as I walked away and he snarled and snapped at me. 

I'm thinking that since we weren't more consistent in putting our hands in/near his dish while he was younger, along with the fact that he's basically had his own secluded dinning area for the last 10 months, that he's gotten it in his head that he needs to remain protective of his food and maybe even the space around his food. 

So I started over from scratch again with some hand feeding and petting his back while he's eating and slowly making my way up to his head.  If he shows teeth or snarles or any other sign of agression, I take him away from his food for a few minutes before allowing him to continue eating.  Things were going pretty good and he was being less agressive and more comfortable with my petting him while he ate.  Friday night after we ate dinner I was getting ready to feed the dogs, but I also had to take a shtein, so I went to the bathroom.  Squaw yells in and asks if I want her to feed the dogs and I told her that'd be fine.  I can hear her talking to Apollo, telling him he's a good boy, etc, etc and then she screamed bloody murder.  I ran out there and saw blood flowing from her hand pretty good.  She has 4 or 5 punctures in her right index finger and she said that he didn't just snap at her, but that he latched at then shook his head back and forth like 3 or 4 times before letting go. 

It's partly (mostly, actually) her fault.  She must have thought she had some mystical injun animal whispering powers and decided to just stick one hand in the bowl and pet his face with the other hand.  Can't say I blame the dog nearly as much as her.  But that still doesn't make me wonder if this dog is "too far gone" with his aggression.  It's one thing to snarl or even snap, but to latch and shake the way he did is a bit unsettling.  When I fed him yesterday, he snarled a little when I started petting him, so I removed him from his food with no problem.  But then when I made him sit before allowing him to return to his food, he started growling at me.......at which point I took him outside and away from his food completely. 

I'm really at a loss here.  Last night he ate from my hand with no problems.  This morning's feeding went fairly well too, but I'm not entirely comfortable around him right now at feeding time......which might make things even worse.   First time I've ever truly been at a loss for what to do about a dog's behavior. 

Any other tips besides what I'm already doing? 

[Diomedes]

.. but I'm not entirely comfortable around him right now at feeding time......which might make things even worse.   First time I've ever truly been at a loss for what to do about a dog's behavior. 

Any other tips besides what I'm already doing?

The status quo obviously isn't working.  Two options I see, both tough:

1.)  If you're frightened of the dog, you're in trouble.  You'll have to get over it quick, and so will she.  Not easy stuff after the dog has just chewed her hand off.  Both you and Squaw have to train this dog hard, and not just at feeding time.  The dog needs to understand it's place and the only way that happens is if you spend a lot of time and effort.

2.)  Get rid of the dog.  Either in a home that knows its history or the pound (and you gotta tell them about the biting too).  Or put him down.

[Seabiscuit36]

Shock collar.  Dog will think its the hand of god smiting him

[Sgt PSN]

Not frightened, but "edgy" I think might describe it best.  Definitely not scared or afraid of him.  And he's a farging sweetheart when food isn't involved, and have no hesitation in putting my hands or face near him. 20 min after he bit, he was affectionate as can be, like nothing happened.

I think you're right though about harder, continuous training throughout the day though rather than just at feeding time.  Seems like he needs more constant reminders who the leader of the pack is. Good tip. Thanks.

Lol @ SB.

[ice grillin you]

if its only having to do with food...why cant you just put food in his bowl and let him eat...as long as hes not a fleshpop the rest of the time im not sure i see the big problem here?