Dear John,

We have 2, two year old Labrador retrievers that provide us with great affection, humour, entertainment and exercise! One has an issue that is food related. He has always been a picky eater but now will often refuse to eat at mealtimes which are twice a day. He will eat some now and maybe some later, maybe not at all. He is a big, strong and beautiful dog, full of energy and mischief. There are no health issues as checked by the vet. Leaving the bag available for him to pick at is not an option as the other one would just consume everything in the bag! Is there something we could do to encourage proper eating habits?

Thanks, Joyce

Dear Joyce,

He may just have a different metabolism and be missing the Labrador Retriever “eat-everything-in-sight” gene recently discovered in the mapping of the canine genome.

If he's healthy, stop worrying about it. I feed adult dogs on a schedule. Once a day for some, twice for others. The food is down for five or ten minutes and then nothing else is offered until the next scheduled feeding. For dogs that are being house trained or are really finicky eaters; not even a treat in between meals. I don't ever waver. You'll find that by the 4th day your dog will be into a meal time rhythm. There are a few reasons for feeding this way.

I believe mother nature does everything for a reason. We don't always know what the reason is but there is always a reason. Here's my theory. It has to do with saliva. When food's about, hungry dogs salivate, some drool. Why is that? Human saliva contains an enzyme which mixes with the food as we chew it. Dogs don't chew and there is no enzyme in their saliva. So why the spit? The answer is lubrication. Free fed dogs lubricate less and hack/cough more. Eating dry food without the saliva to smooth the way must be like swallowing crackers on a dry day without soup. 

I've wondered as well if dogs that were allowed to free feed had more dental issues as well. One of the things that cause the most suffering later in life, often leading to death are issues stemming from dental problems. It would be interesting to see if dogs that salivated naturally around meal time benefited from more teeth flushing and had fewer dental issues.

Another reason I like schedule feedings is it's easier to tell if the dog is skipping meals which is sometimes due to illness.

Sometimes dog owners with finicky eaters fall into the “S/he doesn't like this, S/he only likes this.” trap. I like chocolate cake. That doesn't mean I should be eating it 3 square meals a day. Same goes for dogs; what a dog likes shouldn't be the primary consideration, what is good for your dog should be. Good food is usually more palatable anyway. But what the heck is good for a dog? We could go on the basis of just buying foods that are “veterinarian approved” but they're all veterinarian approved. I'd like to meet this veterinarian, because he or she sure approves a lot of different foods. Some with grain content so shamefully high that I should think they're really popular in goose circles rather then for a species that is predominantly carnivorous.  Besides, “veterinary approved” to what? Thrive, sustain life, barely keep their hair from falling out? Dog owners should do their own research. If you want to write me I'll send you some information where you can learn enough to make an informed opinion.

So just as your mother told you, tell your dog, “Don't you know their are starving dogs in . . .” and stick to your guns.

Hi John,

I would like to ask a question about my 2.5 year old chocolate lab. He is considerably calmer than his puppy days and very sociable and friendly with humans and other animals. Unfortunately he has developed a strange behavior when being fed. When his bowl of food is routinely given to him, he immediately starts to growl and become physically protective of the bowl. He will not eat the food unless you stand beside him and get him to lay down. If you try to ignore this behavior his barking escalates. If you put the bowl out in the garage he will bark but will not eat the food. In case you're wondering, I don't believe anyone has ever teased him or withheld his food from him. Can you tell me why he is doing this behavior and what we can try to eliminate it?

Thanks, Nancy

Dear Nancy,

Odd that he is protective but still wants you close by while he eats. I don't know what to make of that. Usually proximity results in an escalation with this sort of aggression. Aggression around food can stem from several sources. Some dogs were low puppy on the totem pole while with the rest of the litter and often went hungry. Coming from that sort of background they bring to their new homes an attitude of competitiveness. Some lose it after a bit once they realize that food is no longer in short supply and yet others seem to believe they're being satiated because they are finally being aggressive enough to get their share and only by maintaining that attitude will they have their needs met.

Another related cause is when the dog's owner only provides one or two feedings a day when they're little. Their bodies are growing too rapidly for this to suffice and by the time meal time arrives they find themselves in an agitated state that can turn into aggression depending on their personalities. The larger the breed the greater the number of feedings required during their major growth phase.

You can go about this in a few ways. First tune up his training. Sometimes when a dog is easy to get along with, it's not very well trained. A well trained dog, knows who's the teacher and who's the student and therefore is less likely to be confused as to whose food they're eating.

If you're feeding him once a day, try twice a day. Some dogs, by the time dinner time rolls around are besides themselves with hunger and their blood sugar is off making them susceptible to irritability and this may be behind his anxiety. Also, instead of putting all his portion in his bowl put ¼ and once he's finished put another ¼ etc. so he sees your approach and proximity as a signal of more of a good thing. I'd also try starting to feed him in a new area and with a new bowl to distance him from any other attachments that may be associative triggers.

If that doesn't work and he isn't the sort of Labrador Retriever that eats everything in sight, keep a bunch of bowls of food throughout the house at all times and see if demand is less of an issue when supply is unlimited.

I'm hoping this is solely food bowl related and has nothing to do with treats, toys, bones etc. When the aggression is wide spread there is significant risk to family and guests and sooner or later someone gets nailed. If this is the case get professional help.

Either way, leave his leash on during feeding time and pick it up whenever you have to approach the bowl so you have some leverage if he decides to pull a Cujo.

Hi

Wondered if you had any tips on dealing with a dog that dribbles when he's exited he's only 5 months old but its starting to become a real problem as its happening 5-10 times a day eve right after he was out for a long pee break. Thanks for your time. P.S. your column is awesome!

- MIKE

Hi Mike,

The problem you're describing is called submissive urination but could easily be called, “I'm so happy I could just pee -urination.” There's a heightened version that happens when fear is overwhelming and a terrified dog (or human) may void as well but in a much more impressive manner. I've read that it happens in order to make one lighter for escape which I always thought was odd as I figured if I was so scared that I lost control of my bodily functions my legs would be just a wobble and drop behind.

Your dog's version though is a “Howdy-Do, pleased to meet you, please don't eat/beat me.” It's given to the elders in a canine social group particularly the upper echelon. In our world it happens more often when strangers are met but can happen in the home when the owner is a type AAA personality or the dog is just a really submissive personality.

The traditional dog trainer advice is to advise people to “ignore the puppy” which as anyone that has ever owned a puppy other then the dog trainers giving the advice know; getting the average person to “ignore” a puppy is as likely as my getting those trainers to ignore the smack in the head I'd give  them for letting a dog training book do their thinking for them. I have much better advice. Tell everyone your puppy has incurable worms easily transmitted and in humans they tend to settle into the reproductive organs. 

Alternatively, I find it best to have the pup drag a leash around and to always approach the handle of the leash rather then the puppy. Otherwise, when someone comes to the door you either let the pup go to the person – and pee, or you go to the pup to prevent it from approaching in its excited state – and it pees. With the leash you can take the pressure off the pup and hold it back from a leash length away until it starts to get more confident. Same thing if the peeing is happening around you. Go for the handle not the pup. Try faking a little submissiveness yourself (without the peeing part), slow your approaches, calm your voice, relax your body.

Lastly start giving your pup something to focus on, like staying on a mat, particularly at the door where your guests come in. Just don't start when guests are actually coming in. That would be too much too soon and might exacerbate your problem. Instead, every trip out and back begins and ends on the mat sitting far enough away to get people in and out but still keeping the pup in on the action. If you're not seeing an improvement in a couple of weeks get someone in to assess the situation.

Hi John.

I have a 6 year old Labradoodle, probably the alpha male. He was quite difficult to train at doggie school, wanting his own way even when a pup. He recently became more protective of our front door and backyard gate, to the point of snapping at friends, workmen or kids. When someone approaches the gate or door, I direct him, and he does sit and lay down and I give him a reward. This is working well, but I feel like I cannot trust him again after snapping at a couple of arms. I really have to be in charge of him all day, or else he slips back into the leader mode, which I have to get him out of quite often. This may be his personality now, and will the positive treats and rewards be enough to control his aggression at the 2 doors? Any pointers will help very much.

Joanne A.

Hi Joanne,

Probably the only people that should be tossing him cookies are the people that come through the door. I take it you've been misled into embracing the Purely Positive (PP) “treats and rewards” utopia world of dog training. In my experience, the PP mindset is succeeding in actually isolating and even killing dogs rather then helping them.  There aren't just strays in the local shelter. Too few make it past the treat stage and you can forget it if there's any real behaviour problem and for enough it's the shelter or the needle. Look at your case, you say it's working well but instead of a dog that exerts self control and knows something well enough that it doesn't have to be tossed a biscuit over and over you have a middle-aged dog you still have to isolate, is still described as “Alpha” and has shown every sign of a willingness to bite which will have a less then PP ending for him.

The PP mantra goes like this; ignore bad behavior and reward good behaviour and “poof” bad behaviour goes away. Also, any discipline/negative as in even a stern look on up makes bad behaviour worse.  That's the same as saying if you let someone down that you really care for and there is a negative consequence for that behaviour you won't be able to wait to do it again.

Mindless confrontation can make things worse, but not measured consequence for inappropriate behaviour balanced with positive reinforcement for good behaviour. If that little formulae sounds familiar it's because it forms the basis for every natural relationship on the planet for the parent/child relationship of dogs, wolves, apes or humans. Any one that has raised a child knows it would literally only be sheer luck for a child to survive to adulthood if their parents were fettered by PP parenting. Hershey's own mother wouldn't think that her response to her youngster's inappropriate aggression should be, “Use your indoor voice dear and I'll give you a cookie.”

As far as I'm concerned, PP is to dog training what the Jim Jones People's Temple was to religion so don't drink the Kool-aid. You need to find a balanced trainer. That doesn't mean someone that is into mindless confrontation anymore then it means someone interested in dancing in the daisies with the unicorns. He or she is going to be interested in why this is a recent development and I'll bet interested as well in if Hershey is spending time looking out the windows which is a common thread in territorial aggression. The factors that influence diagnosis and prognosis are breed, bloodlines, socialization period, environment, physical condition, nutrition, prior training methodology, handling ability and life style. Some you can tweak, some you cannot. You've  been lucky so far so hit the yellow pages and start off with, “Are you a balanced trainer?” and go from there.

John Wade

www.johnwade.ca