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Old June 16th, 2012, 03:17 PM
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LavenderRott LavenderRott is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Michigan
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You teach a dog to give you what it has in it's mouth by teaching it to "give"! By constantly putting you hands in your dogs bowl and taking things that you have given, you are teaching your puppy that it NEEDS to protect it's food! I tell you what - if one of my kids ever put a hand on my plate, they would pull back a stump! I expect no less of my dog!

Having said that, I can take anything I want from my 100 pound dog with absolutely no issues what so ever because I taught him, from the time he was a puppy, that his food is his, what I ask for is mine, and he ALWAYS gets something when he gives me what I want.

If you are dealing with a lovely, placid, lab you might be able to get away with the old "hand in the food dish" method. But I tend to like dogs with a bit more spunk. I would think that a dog with some husky and some pit just might be inclined to protect those things it deems important - like dinner. It is much easier to teach a puppy to give than to unteach a puppy that has learned to protect it's food bowl.
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