Hi all. not sure if any of you remember me rescuing a pug from euthanasia whose mother had died the day after he was born and his siblings were born dead. he was hand reared by his breeder until at 5 weeks he had an injured eye and she did not want to treat so I stepped in and saved him. he has been with me since 5 weeks and is now 8 months old and a little star, apart from one thing, he turns into a monster when given treats or food puzzle type toys. I have posted about this before and have worked with him and he has improved greatly, or so I thought. This morning I gave him a kong with his breakfast in to make him eat it a little slower and for a bit of mental stimulation. However I think it was a mistake. I gave it to him in his crate and went about my normal morning routine. he began to growl whilst he was licking it even tho there was no one near him, he then started to scratch like mad at his cage, when I looked, he had it wedged down the side of the crate so could not get to it. i opened the cage door to get it for him and he lept at my hand drawing blood! I was so shocked, I shut the cage door and left him to it. A little later he had got it unstuck himself but was still seeming to get really frustrated and angry so I put a piece of chicken thru the bars and retrieved it while he was distracted.He was fine after, I scraped the food out of the kong and put it in his normal dish, what should I have done? Should I not give him things like kongs? Im a little confused and worried. thank you.

Has he had anything of such high-value before?

How did you work on the guarding issue before? You should always work on guarding issues with increasing degrees of values. Just because a dog will let you handle their normal kibble doesn't mean they are happy with you touching something like a stuffed Kong. Not many dog would to be honest with you, and those are without 'problems' per se.

Hi. thanks for your reply. this is the 3rd time I've given it to him but the first time I've had to put my hand in his crate to help him with it (obviously he wouldn't understand it as help) each time tho I have noticed he growls whilst licking it but I have not intervened. I do wonder tho if it is too frustrating for him as he can't get to the food quick enough and perhaps hasn't learnt frustration tolerance due to being hand reared.
The first time he ever guarded I handled it wrong and sat talking to him and stroking him while he ate to try get him used to me being around while he ate and I realise this was adding to his guarding so I backed off when he had a treat and worked on some structured training of 'leave it'. offering a higher reward treat or item for the one he had got. I can now ask him to leave objects that are a hazard to him or he should not have and he quite happily will. what do you think?

Will he play games like fetch? If so, I would start by playing retrieval games with an empty Kong (if he allows you to handle it, that is). Then, you can build that up to putting some small bits of food in it. You can also play search & retrieve games. You can slowly build up the value of food you place in the Kong. This will give him a different context to play with the Kong in, and may relax him and make him feel more comfortable with your presence. But if he's still growling, then you will need to go much slower.

I guess the rule at the moment is to never touch a full Kong! Perhaps make them easier for him for now, so don't pack as tightly or freeze them, if you are doing so. Allow him to get into the game. Growling isn't necessarily bad, many dogs do growl when getting their teeth stuck in to something they like.

I would continue working on your 'Leave' command with him, in the same positive manner that you have been before. Perhaps fill the Kong with some kibble, give it to him, then exhange for some chicken pieces from your hand. Don't put it in the crate when practising these exercises at first. Make all the exercises as easy as possible.