# guarding issues...



## 1plus2havs (Jan 29, 2010)

Hi everyone! I just have a quick question regarding guarding issue... my 7 yr old rescue dog (lily) is starting to show aggression towards my 1 yr and 9 months old dog (liam) both havanese. It started with the food bowl, they have a separate bowl but lily will growl at liam to the point that he can't get any food even from his own bowl. Then this weekend I started to notice that lily will start growling whenever Liam tries to come to me or even just to sit on the couch. Lily has been really sweet to me and even to my friends, no sign of aggression towards human except with liam. We encountered other dogs during our walks and she was fine with them. I know that it may be dominance thing, trying to establish her place in the family but i just don't want it to get worst. I want to be able to stop it as early as possible. Any advise is really appreciated. 
Oh btw, regarding the food, she is doing better with it. I have to make sure there is a lot of distance between their bowls. Been touching lily and even dipping my finger in her bowl while she eats. Can I gradually shorten the distance of their bowls? or should I just keep them away forever? And they do play together so it's not like lily is always aggressive towards liam. Thanks in advance of any response that I will get. Have a nice day everyone!


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

For peace I would not consider having the food close, I have to keep my guys all apart at dinner time and I stay close by until they are through, this way things go smoothly. My Yogi has guarding issues, Misty just finds away to go around him but my older blind dog is at risk so I spent over a year redirecting his behavior, now when Boo Boo comes to the couch Yogi still starts to grr grr but jumps down and walks away until Boo Boo settles, on occasion I must reinforce this with Yogi by reminding him no and to get down, it is so much better.


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## 1plus2havs (Jan 29, 2010)

Thank you laughing magpie, i will just keep them separated during meal time and I will surely keep an eye on them just to maintain peace just like you said. Thanks again!


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## Atticus (May 17, 2011)

Yes for peace I would keep the bowls apart. It helps them to be calmer when eating and not gulping/guarding their food. I had a food guarding dog (border collie) I started feeding her less in her bowl and then would approach her bowl several times to add more. At first I had to toss it but after a while she was begging me to come over!


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