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i need help with this dog that i rescued?

i heard and saw the most horrific animal cruelty i could ever have imaged. altho to some it might not sound as cruel as it seems but to me it was AWFUL. i was sittin at my computer today and heard a dog yelp, me bein a animal rescuer my instinct is to run see whats wrong. well there was this beautiful pitbull outside and a jeep speeding away. the poor baby was limpin while trying to catch this jeep. well i run in the house grabbed the leash and took off. i was determined to save this dog. i got him here. looked him over, feed him watered him and allowed him to interact with my other 2 pits. he does good with my other 2 pits as long as theres no food around. so my boyfriend and i have decided to keep this pit. we have named him diablo. i found a vet that has offered to run test, bathe, give him his shots, microchip him and xray him all for free. when i ask why she said i was kind enough to take him in and she wants to help me by doin a complete check up and update on this cute lil guy. we have determined hes about 15 months old. ill get pics of him this weekend. question...how can i break the food aggression?

Public Comments

1. put his bowl of food on the other side of the room from your other pits and train him to feed only at his bowl. make sure the bowls are bright colours, and designate each colour to the pits. that way, the new pit will associate that colour with their food.
2. every time he growls flick him and also its just that hes not used to getting food
3. Make sure there is food out all the time and when he's eating don't let the others around him for a while. He'll learn in a while that food is always there no matter how many are there to eat it. I would put two bowls out one for him and one for the other dogs or two. I've had many dogs mostly strays we would put out a 50 lb bag of food tear it open at the front lay it down like a giant bowl and all the dogs would eat from it. We had a few that would get aggressive when they first came I would pull the others away and let him eat once he discovered no one was going to take it away and it was always there the aggression went away. It only took a couple days. Oh and that is awlful if you can discribe the jeep or had a number you could call and report them it is against the law to drop off animals like that.
4. i think its really good of you to rescue this dogs , i love pitt bulls they are gorgeous and people treat em so badly because of their streotypical views/images of this dog food aggression is a fairly common problem and can be resolved so dont worry..... heres a website to give u some advice with the food aggression : http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/dog-food-aggression.html
5. sometimes you can't break them of a behavior. I have 2 rescue dogs. one is super over protective. cute at first but every body in the house has been nipped at least once for walking past another person or trying to put a blanket on a sleeping child. the other one would rather choke to death on a bit of food he can't chew rather than letting it go to the other dog. (he's older and is missing teeth) we've done training with both of them to no avail. you may just have to separate them at feeding time.
6. The food aggression is probably natural. He was probably raised in an environment where he was the only dog, or was allowed to have that behavior from lack of getting a meal every day. For awhile, until he gets used to everyone, feed him separately. It is much more difficult to deal with this if the dog has attacked or been attacked while eating. Once he realizes he will be getting fed every day, he may relax his guard and start to calm down. Then you can start training. In my home, when we take in a new rescue, that dog is taught to sit and wait for the food dish, along with all the other dogs in the house. When we give the release command, they are allowed to eat. Right now we have 10 in the house and no food aggression. It takes some time, and your other dogs need to be able to respond to a wait command, but it is well worth the effort. You are a good person for taking that poor guy in. I am sure he appreciates you!
7. you may need to consult a trainer for that
8. Well this a as fear based reaction....fear of losing his food.....so he needs to know he won't lose it...at the begining you need to 'set him up to win' by not having the other dogs around when he is eating, so he doesn't have to be fearful and protect his food....and they are also safe from attack. He then needs to learn you are the provider of ALL resources, not a taker so needs to build up trust in you, this is done away from food doing walking and training....... eventually he will then realise he doesn't have to guard..or bite to keep his food. You don't know if he has had to fight in the past for his food, so although this is natural behaviour in a dog it is also encouraged by humans who starve dogs or don't supervise young pack siblings or/ andmixed aged packs or young/old dogs eating together to achieve good food manners. Voilence breeds violence, so hitting, forcing him, dragging him away is only going to make him feel worse and God forbid someone comes on and says use a shock collar........they are cruel, teach nothing but anxiety and with an already anxious/fearful dog that would be stupid. You can use a basket muzzle as a proactive training tool to teach him manners....I have used this several times with food aggressive dogs and it works well. Feed him part of his meal first,..(and feed your other dogs so they are not hungry), then away from the other dogs give him the rest of his meal by hand and /or put some on the floor(he can eat with a basket muzzle but it just protects you from bites and gives you some confidence) then while he is eating offer him some treat of a higher value, like a tiny piece of cheese, if he lifts his head and takes it then he has taken one step towards what you want and this way he learns you will not steal the food on the floor....are prepared to make a swop, but for something better, of higher value......so in his head you are the provider. It may be it is more serious than I am thinking, so just by sitting on the chair next to him eating will be only what he can tolerate at this time, if that is the case then do that at the start. Fear is an emotional pain and pain shuts down part of the brain, which is why some fearful dogs bite, it is not their intention to hurt you, it is just a reaction to pain, so by reducing his fear, you reduce his pain, so you improve his trust and it is always better to work with a dog than against a dog espeically a fearful dog, you need him to 'learn' and he can't learn when part of his brain is shut down. I would also buy him a kong....fill it with part of his dinner, pop it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer, give it to him, he will take time working for his dinner, the chewing will relieve some of his anxiety, it will make him tired and it will last longer than 30 seconds meal....I would crate him doing this, even cover the crate so he feel safe, but in time the other dogs could wander around but not get hurt by him and not lose his kong, but if he is stressed don't let them wander near him. Hope this helps