PET OF THE WEEK: Brandon is a 2-year-old pitbull mix who has been busy melting hearts at PHS/SPCA. He has proven to be a well-behaved and energetic dog with excellent leash manners. This sweetheart will greet you with a wiggly tail and loving eyes. Hes always ready for playtime. A dog intro is required if you have resident pets. Ask for Brandon, ID# A826916. Adoptable pets are available at Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA’s Tom and Annette Lantos Center for Compassion, 1450 Rollins Road, Burlingame. For information, call 650-340-7022 or visit www.phs-spca.org. (Jen Mason / Peninsula Humane Society)
Dear Miss Behavin’: My cocker spaniel, “Polly,” is the sweetest dog, unless I try to get between her and food. If I accidentally drop a morsel on the floor when I’m cooking, she’ll growl at me if I try to snatch it away.
Reply: This common behavior is known as food guarding. As a safety precaution, I advise you not to try to grab food out of Polly’s mouth, or even lunge for it at the same time. Dogs are much quicker than humans, so odds are Polly will beat you in a speed contest. This is especially important advice if young children are around. Children should be instructed never to try to take food away from a dog.
You can start setting up training exercises to train Polly with the “leave it” command. To begin, get a treat that Polly likes but isn’t crazy about, such as a plain, dry, dog biscuit. Place the biscuit under your shoe, and allow Polly to try to paw it out, but don’t let her actually get the biscuit. Eventually Polly will give up and look up at you exasperated. At that moment, give her an extra special treat (such as a small piece of cheese) that was previously hidden in your hand.
Repeat this exercise until Polly is ignoring the biscuit under your shoe in favor for the treat in your hand, at which point you can start saying “leave it” firmly when Polly moves away from the biscuit. Then start gradually lifting your foot so she can see the biscuit (but still not eat it). Eventually you can work up to the point where Polly can see the biscuit in plain view but will still ignore it in favor of the treat if you say “leave it.”
The purpose of this training is to teach Polly that if she “leaves” something, she has a chance of getting something better. Once she knows the command, you can start dropping things on your kitchen floor (start with non-food items first) and telling her to “leave it.” Eventually, you will be able to work up to dropping actual food. In this way, you can safely control what Polly eats without physical confrontation.