Snappy dog

Einhard

We got our first dog back in the early 00s. He's a lovely little fellow, and friendly to everyone. However, he was always very snappy when it came to food, or a ball, or anything that he had in, or near his mouth. Even when we play catch, the game is basically over when he gets the ball, because one would need safety gloves and a distraction to retrieve the ball. The strange thing is, that although he won't release the ball, he'll look at us expecting, perhaps even wanting, us to try it.

As we never had a dog before, we didn't think that much of it. Indeed, if someone tried to take my food from off my plate I'd probably snap too! I only really thought it might be unusual behaviour when watching shows like US Dog Rescue and the like, where they'd perform a test using a fake hand to take something from a dog, and if he reacted aggressively, that'd be it for him. I always thought that was a bit extreme, because surely all dogs (animals!) reacted in the same way.

We got another dog a year ago. He's a pub, and crazy out, but very friendly. From the start, we had no problem taking anything away from him. I'd probably be able to reach into his stomach and he wouldn't react! He's the complete opposite of our first dog.

It got me to wondering, just how unusual, and extreme, the behaviour of our first dog is. I have a feeling that it's not the norm, but because he's relatively old, I don't think there's much that can be done now. Any suggestions or advice would be welcome.

DBB

It's natural behaviour and fairly common to some degree, in that any animal or human who defends what to them is a prized resource, it will probably get to keep it if it uses aggression.
However, this doesn't mean it's acceptable, and the problem you face with resource guarding dogs is the unexpected, unguarded moment where a visitor reaches out to take something they don't realise the dog is going to become aggressive over. You live with him, and know what buttons not to press, but visitors don't.
It is, however, a reasonably straightforward issue to deal with, as long as some safety protocols are followed. Jean Donaldson has a fab little book called "Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs"
Strongly recommend it!
A dog's behaviour can be changed up to the point of senility, as long as he's healthy. However, the longer he's been doing it, the more habitual it is, and can take longer to get a result with.

Chris_Heilong

These kind of behaviors can develope in puppy-hood and if allowed in to Adult hood. I have experience of seeing other peoples dogs like that with the owner telling their kids "now dont go near Oscar while he is eating you know he will bite you" which I always found alarming, so when I got my dogs as pups I would make sure to play games where I would take an object from the pup and then give it back to show that he need not get defensive and when he ate I would sit near him with my hand close to or on top of his bowl. I done this with all my dogs over the years and have never had a problem with my dogs guarding food or possessions. With an Adult dog that has already developed this behavior then I really have no idea, separation from others at meals times and no toys around Children or other dogs would be my first step.

DBB

To add to what CH has posted about getting pups used to people being around them while they eat, and toy-exchange games, I'd suggest really upping the ante by not just putting your hand near the pup's bowl, but actually introducing food to the bowl every time your hand reaches the bowl: with kids, the pup doesn't get kibble, but something really extra-tasty.
The idea is not that your pup learns to just tolerate you approaching him while he eats, he positively invites you, and particularly children, up to his bowl:)
Same idea with object-exchanges: offer him a treat, when he drops the toy to get the treat, pick up the toy, and give it back to him, starting the game all over again. This way, pup learns to love giving you stuff, and is not remotely threatened by anyone taking stuff off him.

As for the adult dog, serious caution. Whilst OP seems to have managed the situation for a long time, and might be quite happy to continue to do so without doing any work to change the dog's behaviour, in some situations the owner has to take action. In such cases, there are a lot of factors to consider, and safety precautions to take. To be honest, for anyone whose dog is doing some serious resource guarding, it would be well worthwhile getting a behaviourist (accredited) in to help.