I think it may depend on the character of the dogs you are dealing with, we always take things away from pups from day one giving them a treat as a swap, sit with them as they eat and put hand in the bowl etc showing them if we are there they are safe and can eat, that when we take something away they get a treat, Have ended up with lovely dogs that you can take anything away from. All my dogs have had the same treatment and all happily hand over things when asked. But I cannot guarantee that would work for everyone or every dog, especially as you have to do it in conjunction with other training that teaches them to be comfortable with being handled. And a general gentle approach that not everyone will use. I wrote above about a rescue we had he was very different approach to food which was caused before we got him, we cured many of his problems with training but his food aggression was just too important to him.

I agree it does depend on the dog, a small few might be placid natured enough to allow it, but most would go pretty nuts and the instinct to not loose their food would kick in. Iit is a useful thing to teach, as if the dog ever picks up something that could actually be dangerous, i.e a dropped chocolate bar, it will let it go. My dog will give up toys easily and even treats if I say 'leave it' sternly enough, but I wouldn't like to try and take her food bowl away from under her!

Puppies don't got on the attack when food is taken away IME they may get a bit over excited but not nasty, which is why I start when they are tiny. By the time they are of an age to be annoyed they are so used to it they don't worry as they know they will get something better or the same thing back.

Dogs should eat on command? They are not robots, they are animals with emotions, personalities and different temperaments. And I swear if you mentions wolves or pack theory I will scream.

I 'dispair' with people like you that think dogs are machines to be taught to be good.


How should they be trained to understand hey can have things taken off them? They shouldn't, they should learn to trust you so they know your not going to take thier food off them every 5 mins. Your process is a sure fire way to introduce food guarding tendencies. Go watch cesar Milan videos of him with food guarded, doing exactly that and see the dogs reactions- they are never good.


^^^this, it's like going to a restaurant! starving. The dinner is put down you go to take a bite, the waiter takes it a way, he's very nice about it, he returns if, you go for a bite, he whisks it away again, this happens three, four times, by the fifth or sixth you are going to snap, verbally or with your fork, depending on your personality. Same for dogs.


The difference here mollie is your offering the a choice - 'give me xx and you get this nice treat" I presume you don't just take something off the pup and offer nothing in return?

First time a treat, then after we sometimes offer treat sometime give back what they give up to us. I have never had any problem doing it they have all been fine and we have had dogs for 30 years now all sorts of breeds. Only dog that had a problem with it came to us starved and as a rescue so we couldn't start from the early age we like to do.

I have to know I can take things where we live if they pick up something outdoors I have to get it off them with minimum fuss it could be life and death for them or us.

Yep I agree there, if you want them to give up something as high rewarding and important to them as their food, you have to offer something in return, and starting it with a puppy you would most likely get a dog that will willingly give things up on command. Just grabbing the bowl away without giving anything else though is a different matter, all that is going to do is teach the dog that you nick his food off him so he needs to guard it, possibly by growling, snapping or even biting whoever goes near the bowl, even someone just walking past into another room, because he doesn't know they aren't going to take his dinner like someone else keeps doing. Of course, if the dog was eating something dangerous, you definitely would snatch it away without hesitating, but doing it once like that isn't really going to have the same effect on a dog as doing it regularly.

Our old dog Affie used to go and bury any bones she was given straight away , Our other old dog max used to walk around with them in his mouth showing it off

Our cats on the other hand got quite nasty if they had any bones etc and you went near them, they would stop what they were doing look up and make a growling noise

Town Foxes leave the Cooked Chicken bones they find from your BBQ and only eat the uncooked ones I've noticedAnd of course they leave the Chicken carcass that they find in the Black Bin Bag also the Chicken and chip debris from KFC as they know its not good for them

Talking about animal stereotypes. My dog has a need to bury bones, pigs ears etc. down the side of the sofa , in plant pots , if she is unable to get to the garden.
With cats she likes too kiss them and she loves to sniff flowers. Dogs eh