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Instinct tells him to protect his food. However, it's important for you to have complete control over what goes into your dog's mouth. Part of this is for safety. If your dog starts to pick up something dangerous you need to be able to get it away from him without losing your fingers. If he needs medicine, you must be able to open his mouth safely. Access to food is also a dominance issue: when your dog responds by taking his food or dropping things out of his mouth on command, he is recognising you as the dominant dog. Food guarding is a frequent trigger for dog bites, too. Therefore, the sooner you can establish that you and other family members are the ultimate authority when it comes to meals, the better off you'll be.
If the dog is still young, tell him to sit or lie down before you feed him, and make him wait until you give the release word, such as okay or take it, before he starts to eat. If he comes up and nudges you for attention, use the same tactic to make it your initiation. He should also learn it's okay for you to touch him while he eats, so give him a pat when you put down his dish, and make it a habit to add a little food to his bowl while he's eating. This way, when you are near his food dish, it is always a happy occasion.
Location means everything when you feed your dog. If he's off in a corner, he may feel more possessive than if he were eating in a more spacious area with room to move around. Practice giving him food and taking it away. To do this, give your dog very small portions at a time. Each time he finishes a serving, take his dish away and refill it with another small amount until all his food is gone. As you take away and replace the dish, praise him for being a good dog. Once he's responding well to having his dish removed and replaced, move on to the next step: adding the food to his dish while it's still in front of him. Let him eat some of the food while you're off doing something else, then walk up and add something special to the dish. All this is so you have the ability to control what goes into your dog's mouth. Practice these techniques now and then so you can maintain your dominance relationship with your dog. The most important thing to remember is not to pester your dog while he's eating. Since most of the dog's meals should be in peace, teach all household members — especially children — that he is to be left alone at mealtime.
My dog sleeps most of the day. He is young, only two years old. Is this normal?
12-18 hours is normal. Generally, dogs sleep a lot when they do not have anything else to do. Those dogs that are tied up the whole day or are left alone a lot sleep their time away. If a dog has a comfortable bed, he sleeps longer.
I have five dogs. One of them does not want to sleep on the ground. He fusses until we let him climb on a chair...
Alpha dogs always choose a higher place to sleep on. It is a part of status building.
Do the different postures of a dog while sleeping mean anything?
Commonly, puppies sleep together. A dog trying to conserve body heat curls its body to sleep. A tightly curled body means that the dog is not sleeping, as to sleep the dog must be relaxed. A dog that sleeps on its back with the feet up is trying to cool the body since the stomach is not covered with dense hair. It is also a position of extreme relaxation where the dog feels safe enough to expose his stomach.
Why is a dog's nose always cold ?
Dogs do not sweat because their bodies do not have pores. Only the dog's paws have pores. Dogs regulate their body temperature though the mouth and through the nose. Inside the dog's nose are special glands that secrete fluids. This keeps the dog's nose moist and therefore cold. The evaporation of this watery substance helps in keeping the dog cool.
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