Food Bowl Desensitization

Each adult in the home should work through these steps below:

Step 1
Start with the dog in a sit position.
Give the dog an empty bowl.
Put a handful of food in bowl.
Walk away.
Wait for food bowl to be empty.
Approach again and put in more food.
Repeat 3 times, and then wait for a sit before putting in more food.
Once the dog sits, put food in dish.
Continue to do this for every meal until dog is consistent in sitting when you approach with food.

Step 2
Warm up with Step 1, but use smaller amounts of food.
Before the dog is finished eating the food, approach and add more food to bowl.
Progress to requesting a sit before adding more food, dog must sit/back away before food is added.

Step 3
Start in a sit position.
Put a more valuable type of food in the bowl (e.g. canned)
Approach, touch the bowl and add more food.
(Remember, the dog must sit/back away before more food is added).
Continue this step until food is finished.

Step 4
Warm up with step 3, using smaller amounts of food.
Pick up the food bowl, add more food and put it back down for dog.
(Remember the dog must sit/back away before you pick up bowl.
If the dog tenses at this point go back to step 3 and continue until dog is ready for step 4.

Step 5
Warm up with step 4.
Dog should learn to back away from bowl when you approach.
Continue with step 4 if dog is not automatically backing away.

Do not have a child do these steps!

Remember, each step can take a few days, even a week before you see progress.  Make sure your dog is responding consistently to each step before moving on to the next one.

These steps do not guarantee that your dog will never growl or guard his dish again.  If you find that you have done all the steps and your dog still growls or threatens you when you approach the dish, seek professional help.