our rotties can eat and eat and eat there food cost me a bomb more then we spend on our food but they are worth every penny

You need to find a good dog trainer / obedience class. If your dog ignores you telling him to not eat, you are not in control of the dog.

My dog was crazy for food when I first rescued him (at 11 months old). It took me 3 weeks to get him to sit outside the kitchen door while I prepared his food and put his bowl down and wait for 'permission' to come in and eat it.

If your dog snaps at you for ANY reason, you need to put a stop to it. Fair enough, you know it was just a snap, and you understand why..... But a child won't. It is not difficult to correct food possesiveness, but go and get a good trainer.

What do you mean by that? If a dog is food possessive you are teaching him that hand around a bowl is good thing and you are never taking away things from a dog, you are always giving. Trade is an answer. You want to take a bone away from a dog, offer him something more tasty dry triple for example.

I understand, but disagree.

I don't need a dog to think that hands around his bowl is a good thing, and not to snap at me because he thinks I won't take food away from him. I need a dog to think I'm near his food and I'm his pack leader so he'll let me take food away if I choose to!

A dog that snaps when you go near his food (whether you're giving him something, or taking something away) needs trainingand needs to understand his position in the household.

A child may not know to be careful around a dog's food, so the dog needs to know that it is not allowed to snap - even if food is being taken away. Or, how about if the dog gets hold of something dangerous for him to eat - you can't be risking a bits if you need to get it away from him.

That remains me two things. Why to bother to teach kids how to behave around a dog, better is blame the dog. Why to teach the dog few simply commands if we can punish him, because the dog should now how to behave!
Later on people are surprise why kids and dogs rude and don't know how to behave.

ps. I'm not going AGAIN the same old road, and I won't argue or try to explain why pack leader theory died very long time, I can't be bothered...

I would never, ever blame the dog. I would blame the owner EVERY time a child is bitten.

And no, the dog should not know how to behave - humans decided to bring them into their houses, and if they expect the dog to live in / behave in a certain way, they have to put in the time and effort to train the dog.

I have a supposedly strong willed, physically strong breed of dog. He was rescued and needed a huge amount of care and time to calm him down and train him - but I put that effort in.

He now does not touch his food until I tell him to. If I shout him or say 'stop', he stops eating, and if I take his bowl away he lets me, and waits for me to put it back down.

I don't like your assumption that I don't teach commands, or that I would suggest a dog needs to be punished. I train my dog by reward, not punishment. There is a huge difference between training a dog and punishing a dog, and I have not once suggested punishment.

Pack Leader theory did not die a long time ago - some great dog trainers agree with it, others don't. It doesn't really matter as long as the results are there.