Wondering About Food Aggression in Shelter Dogs? Amy Marder, VMD, CAAB Adjunct Assistant Professor Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine At Tufts University

Food Aggression in Shelter Dogs

Food-related Aggression Dogs that show teeth, growl, snap or bite when they or their food is approached, touched or taken away by a person or animal Also called food guarding MAY occur with guarding of resting area, favorite person, toys, stolen objects

Sources of Behavioral Information Behavioral history from previous home, foster home or previous shelter (intake questionnaire or interview) Behavior evaluation Behavior in shelter

Why Are Dogs Food Aggressive? Normal canine behavior May appear when dog is subjected to stress (self-protective behavior) May appear when dog is in competition with other individuals (dog, people) May appear when dog’s food is unfamiliar or limited (as in shelter)

Food Aggressive Dogs Restrict adoptions to homes with no children, experienced dog owners Consider dangerous and unadoptable Conduct behavior modification programs and adopt Pre-adoption counseling and adopt What do you do?

ASPCA Online Survey (Mohan-Gibbons et al, 2012) 77 shelters Aggression over food or non-food items was the most common reason given for considering a dog unadoptable On average, 14% of dogs exhibited food aggression during the behavior evaluation Only 1/3 (25) of the shelters surveyed made any attempt to modify the food aggressive behaviors and place the dog 51% (39) made no attempt to place any dogs that showed food aggression

What HAS been done? ARL Boston ( ) Behavior modification (based on Jean Donaldson), restricted placement and follow-up at 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months. No problems Humane Society of Boulder Valley (Lindsay Wood, 2012) Behavior modification and placement. 89% did not show food aggression when retested on the behavior evaluation Very few instances of food aggression resurfacing in the adoptive home

And MORE? Mohan-Gibbons et al, dogs (other than pit bulls and Rottweilers) Displayed food aggression on the SAFER evaluation Were also treated with ASPCA behavior modification program for food aggression After adoption followed with questionnaire at 3 days, 3 weeks and 3 months Of the 60 adopters who were reached at least once, only 6 reported food aggression at 3 weeks By 3 months, 0 reported food aggression

Behavior Modification Programs for Food Aggression MINE (Jean Donaldson) Dogwise Counterconditioning and desensitization of approach and touching dog and food Emily Weiss ( SAFER® manual) Free-feeding dry food Counterconditioning while dog is in shelter by adding delicious food to bowl while dog is eating dry food Reward lifting head Pre-adoption counseling and program for adopters Follow-up

Behavior modification programs for food aggression Center for Shelter Dogs ( Counterconditioning and desensitization while dog in shelter Reward moving away from food Restricted placement Follow up 1 week, 1 month, 2 months Lindsay Wood (2011) Counterconditioning and desensitization while dog in shelter Reward lifting head Restricted placement Pre-adoption counseling Follow up 2 weeks, 2 months, 1 year

What if You Do Not Have Resources to do Behavior Modification? Is it possible to safely adopt food aggressive dog with only pre- adoption counseling and follow-up?

148 (2013) Food-related aggression in shelter dogs: A comparison of behavior identified by a behavior evaluation in the shelter and owner reports after adoption Amy R. Marder ∗, Anastasia Shabelansky, Gary J. Patronek, Seana Dowling-Guyer, Sheila Segurson D’Arpino

Van der Borg (1991) – 72 dogs – Aggression over food and bones was the most poorly predictive behavior 1-2 months after adoption – 25% of adoptive owners never interacted with their dog while eating – Even when food aggression was present it was of little concern to the owner Background

To determine the relationship of both the presence and absence of FA identified by MU II Shelter dog Rehoming Program in the shelter and the presence or absence of FA in the new home after adoption Adopters perception of food aggression was also gauged Objectives

Subjects 97 dogs Adopted between January 2009 and November 2010 Over 4 months of age at time of evaluation Having resided in the shelter, not foster home In their new adoptive home for at least 3 months

Between March and April 2011, adopters were contacted by a professional survey company Delivered by or telephone Pilot tested Questionnaire contained 4 sections – Dog demographic information – Dog behavior related to food (dog food, delicious items) – Adopters’ perception of food aggression – FA management techniques Adopter survey

Growl and/or show teeth Snap and/or lunge Bite Never, rarely, sometimes, frequently, always Owners who never approached or touched dogs food while eating were excluded Adopter survey

Adopters’ perception of food aggression – Do you consider your dog to be FA? – If yes, how challenging (Not at all –great challenge) – If no, how challenging would it be if yes How likely is it that you would adopt your dog again? 43% response rate No difference in response between on line or telephone surveys, or between FA+ and FA- Adopter survey

97 dogs – 28 intact females – 19 spayed females – 29 intact males – 21 neutered males – Most were mixed breeds – “breeds” identified Pit bull type, Labrador Retriever, Chihuahua, Beagle – Mean weight 20 kg – Mean age 5 years – Most owners had dogs months Results

20 (21%) of 97 dogs were identified as FA+ over dog food, chew items or both 77 (79%) of 97 were identified as FA - 10 (50%) bit the rubber hand, 3 (15%) snapped or lunged and 7 (35%) growled or showed teeth Results

Food Aggressive (FA+) vs. Non-Food Aggressive (FA-)

28 (29%) adopted dogs were identified as FA+ either over a meal or delicious food item or both 11/20 (55%) of dogs identified as FA+ on the behavior evaluation showed FA+ after adoption but 9/20 (45%) did not 17/77 (22%) of dogs identified as FA- on the behavior evaluation showed FA+ after adoption 60/77 (78%) of dogs identified as FA- on the behavior evaluation did NOT show FA+ after adoption Results

Presentation of Food Aggression in the Home with FA+ Dogs

Of the 77 dogs that did not show food aggression on the evaluation, 78% (60) DID NOT show food aggression in the home But 22% (17) DID show food aggression in the home FA- Dogs in the Home

PPV=55 % (likelihood for dog that was FA+ in the shelter would also be FA+ in the home) NPV=78% (likelihood for a dog that was FA- om the shelter would also be FA- in the home) PPV was weaker then the NPV Predictive Value

26/28 (93%) of the dogs that were FA+ after adoption exhibited the behaviors rarely and only exhibited less severe behaviors of growling or showing teeth. 5/28 (18%) showed more severe behaviors of snap, lunge or bite. Results

What About the Adopters? Marked disparity between dogs’ actual behavior and adopters perception Of 97 adopters 93 (96%) did not consider their dog to be FA + and 4 were unsure Even owners that had observed their dog to show aggressive behaviors did not consider their dog to be FA+ 26/28 (93%) and 2 were unsure When asked about potential FA+ behaviors, 27/97 (28%) rated Not a challenge at all, 5/97 (5%) a great challenge Owners who actually observed aggressive behavior rated FA+ behavior as less of a challenge

What About the Adopters? Most of the respondents, whether their dog was food aggressive or not, would adopt the same dog again 59/69 (86%) of owners of dogs that displayed aggressive behavior 25/28 (89%) of owners of dogs that did not

Conclusions The detection of food aggression via a behavior evaluation should be interpreted with caution A positive finding does not consistently indicate that the behavior will occur in the home or that the dog is unsuitable for adoption Each dog should be considered as an individual, and all behavioral and owner-related factors considered when making adoption decisions

Conclusions Continued Viewing dogs and their potential owners as individuals Choosing compatible owners Training owners to safely manage food aggressive behavior Can save the lives of many dogs

Recommendations Implement one of the behavior modification programs before adoption. Adopt with restrictions and provide follow-up If not possible, implement program of pre- adoption counseling, adoption with restrictions and follow-up CSD “Special Adoption Program” Start with dogs with mild food aggression (show teeth, growl)

Thank you for your attention!