Need somehelp with food obsession

[leomom]

So, we have an ESRA foster who is an adorable little guy. I know, pictures, I'm sorry, I will post some after work today. Anyway, we don't have much background but I'm guessing he was not fed at some point in his life. He thinks anything that goes towards your mouth is food, he actually almost burned his nose going after Tom's cigarette. He's not food aggressive, but my three don't really care that much, so we have to feed him separately or he eats everyone's food. The other day I was eating a cookie and he nearly took my hand off jumping up and trying to grab it. He is really a love, typical Springer, his whole body wiggles when he wags his tail, which is most of the time. I'd like to see if we can begin to curtail the food issues before he finds his forever home, but I have no clue, I've never had to deal with this issue before. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them! Thanks!

[ALDOGMOM]

You have an ESRA foster????? Yippee!
The springer butt-wiggle is one of my favorite things about Birdie...

What about teaching him to sit and hand feeding him so he learns to relax - the food will come if he is calm and quiet.

[mezmerelda]

Oddly enough, we kind of had similar issues with Ozzy when we brought him home...just not as drastic as you describe. I think he was used to fighting/being assertive for his food. We did some hand feeding like Kim suggested. We also fed him in his crate a couple of times. What it just took for him was time and consistency. Once he got used to the food coming on a regular basis, having boundaries, and not having to push his way in, he relaxed a lot.

Good luck, and thanks for fostering!

[sam.i.am]

Delilah has similar issues due to not being fed a young puppy. She is not aggressive but would definitely eat Oliver's food if we did not feed her in her own room. I don't know how to change this lack of boundaries she has b/c we feed her separately from Oliver.
She is better now and knows food will always be delivered to her.
Morgen started her off by teaching her to sit quietly for her food, which we have continued. I did hand-feed her for a while (intermittently - not for every morsel or every meal).
I also keep meal-time very low-key (or as low-key as possible). She still races off to her room when she knows I am finished preparing food and sometimes she bounces on and off the futon in there in happy anticipation of eating. She is still very excited to eat, but I think time, consistency, and learning to trust us has made her less anxious about eating.

Thank you fostering! I'm sure he'll calm down a bit over time.

[bren]

I know Morgan has never gone without food, and you'd think the dog hadn't eaten in weeks whenever it's food time. She'll eat Tek's food in a heartbeat and also does a nice wiggle/dance move whenever there's food around.

I think like the others said, it'll just take a little time and some training/hand feeding and he'll calm down. Good luck!

[leomom]

Thanks everyone! We'll give the hand feeding a try. Hopefully, we will be left with some fingers! Kim, Tom got back involved with ESRA a couple of months ago. He's done a few transports and we had a little girl about a month ago we were fostering for a week. Her forever home came very quickly, really nice people. We had been involved a few years ago, but when the coordinator sent us to pick up a puppy that was the sole survivor of a litter with Parvo(we found out later), we backed away. All those crazies are gone now, so we thought we'd give it another shot. Scooter went to the groomer today, and he is very handsome. I just got home from work, will take some pix tomorrow. Thanks, again, for the advice!

[ShilohsGirlJen]

might also consider a leash and puting your foot on it and he will correct himeself. Might just take some setups. Maybe when he corrects and sits or is still then a treat. also add a leave it to the correction.

[ToBScholarly]

I have my own problems with food obsession, therefore I have no advice for your dog. Good luck though!

[leomom]

Yes, Jodi, but when you jumped up and tried to take the cookie out of my hand you were much more gentle!

[ALDOGMOM]

I have issues with food obsession myself....LOL..

So glad you all are involved with ESRA again...We have some fruitcakes in our area too but fortunately, they are in the minority.
Overall, it has been a good experience for me.

Oh, and where are those pictures you promised?????

[sam.i.am]

Oh, for the cookie giving part, my Mom always trained our family dogs to be gentle by only letting them have the cookie when they took it calmly. She'd keep the cookie well inside her hand and release it when the dog was gentle. If the dog wasn't gentle, she'd yelp or say "ouch" and then said, "gentle now" and usually the dog got it pretty quickly. I don't know if that would help, but my Mom reminded me of her doing that the other day and so I thought I'd pass it along.

[ALDOGMOM]

Our trainer had me work with Bogey on "nice".
He would about take my hand off in the beginning...I still have to remind him from time to time.

[ToBScholarly]

Yes, Jodi, but when you jumped up and tried to take the cookie out of my hand you were much more gentle!

That is only because you rubbed my ears.

[leomom]

Ok, as promised, I know, but better late than never.

Scooter and Huntley waiting for some banana - Huntley doesn't even like bananas

This was our previous foster, Sierra, who thought it necessary to sleep on Tom's head


They don't really do him justice, it's hard to get a moving target. He doesn't stay still much. Tom's going to try to get some better ones. If, so I'll post them.

[bren]

I love him

[leomom]

Bren, we can probably arrange transportation! Here's a couple more (Tom's a much better photog than I)

the one moment he stood still


and just because - we need a much bigger couch

[bren]

Oh my! You are so tempting me

Orion would kill me if I brought another dog home now. But ... I actually am leaning towards a Springer rescue when we are ready for another dog!

[ALDOGMOM]

He's a fieldie! And he is so handsome!...
What is his story?

[leomom]

He's an owner surrender. Apparently he demanded too much attention. Seriously? He's a Springer, and quite frankly, after the first few days of getting accustomed to his surroundings, he's learning to be lazy, just like the Leos. A good romp at the dog park, or some laps in the pool after a ball, and he's fine. He loves tennis balls, so even just sitting in a chair and throwing the ball waiting for him to bring it back and he's happy. I hate the human race!!

[leomom]

Oh my! You are so tempting me

Orion would kill me if I brought another dog home now. But ... I actually am leaning towards a Springer rescue when we are ready for another dog!

I certainly wouldn't want Orion to kill you, but if he sees the pix and just can't resist. He really is a love bug, and today, when giving treats, he didn't try to take everyone's. Baby steps!