Bad Habits - Snarling & Biting
These bad habits can usually be traced to bad upbringing, or to the
dog that has to fend for himself against all comers. If you have your
dog as a baby puppy handle his food whilst he is eating it and get him
used to the idea. Turn the dish around a couple of times so that some
tasty morsel is nearer to him, or even hand him a small piece of food
from the dish. Be careful not to make the mistake of hand feeding him,
but just pick him out a bit from time to time, providing he is not a
finicky eater. This lets him know that you are not taking anything from
him, and that your hand is always helping him and never hurting him.
If you have more than one dog make sure that they each have their own
feeding dish, and do not allow the greedy eater to gobble from the dish
of the slower one.
Should you get your pet when he is an adult dog the best way to cure
a 'dog in the manger' attitude is to give him his meals when no one else
is present. Put his meal down with a cheery, 'Spot, dinner', step back,
and let him eat it if he will. Finished or not, pick up the dish in
about fifteen to twenty minutes and throw the remainder away. Do not
give him any more to eat until the next normal mealtime. If he goes
hungry his manners will improve rapidly, and believe me, there is no
recorded case of a dog starving himself to death when there is good food
about. He may prefer chicken to complete dog food, but he will eat the
dog food happily if that is what he is given.
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