# Growling



## rugby (Oct 31, 2014)

We have a very beautiful and happy 5 month old female Vizsla.
I’m not sure if it is just her or if other Vizsla’s are food driven, but she is very food driven. That makes it great for training but not so much for everything else. Even when I have her wait for her food, she will start to shake while waiting. 
So here is my problem. Right from 8 weeks old when we got her I started training her that when she was getting feed that I could put my hand in her dish and she would have to move back and sit. At that time she would scarf her food down like she was not going to get anymore. She sometimes slows down now. But now when I put my hand in she will move back and sit, but then when I go and praise and pet her she will growl sometimes. Sometimes when she is eating I will walk over to her and she starts to eat faster and then when I pet her she will growl.
I started to sit on the floor and feed her a few kibbles at a time from my hand and talk to her. Not sure if this is going to work, but would be willing to try anything as she just started doing this in the last couple of 3 weeks. 
We have an 8 year old boy who loves her and I would hate for anything to happen, although I do not feel that she would do anything, to anyone, but it is a chance.
I have owned dogs in the past and never had this problem.
Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
Ted


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

At 5 months, she's still quite young, but you're right, it is something you need to address.

I would start hand feeding her more. I would also start putting more (and better) food into her bowl when you go near it, not just sticking your hand in it! I started doing this with my male as soon as we got him so that he would see us coming near his food as a good thing. But other than dropping more "treats" into his bowl as he eats, we respect his feeding time, and leave him be when he is eating.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

You might want to look into NILF training, or Premack Principle of dog training.
The latter might be a better choice, as its not quite as strict but relies on the same principles.
There are times that after months of working with a dog, you just learn what they can, and can't handle. If being petted while eating turns into one of those things she is unable to handle. Then its just one of those things, and doesn't mean that away from that, she can be a wonderful member of the family.

I would supervise her eating, so that your son does not have a chance to bother her at that time. If your busy and can't supervise a meal, feed her that meal in her crate. Your trying to set her up to succeed, and unsupervised with a child in the house could go wrong quickly.


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