I was wondering what people thought about hand feeding a dog you know like giving them treats from your hand. People have told me before that it is a bad habit cause the dog learns to take food and other objects right out of your hand. However I've always hand fed my dog and made him used to me and others putting there hands in his dish, and because of this he is not even the least bit food aggressive. Do you think hand feeding a dog is a good thing or bad?

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Originally Posted by rex123

I was wondering what people thought about hand feeding a dog you know like giving them treats from your hand. People have told me before that it is a bad habit cause the dog learns to take food and other objects right out of your hand. However I've always hand fed my dog and made him used to me and others putting there hands in his dish, and because of this he is not even the least bit food aggressive. Do you think hand feeding a dog is a good thing or bad?

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I've always hand fed to some extent - but I say, It's OK, before they are "allowed" to take the treat or food. They also have to be in the sit position first.

If someone else offers food and doesn't say the magic words, they don't take it - at least in front of me. I have NO idea what's going on behind my back.:D

On a personal note - I was shocked when I read your age! You make more sense than a lot of adults on the board - including me at times.

I always used to feed my dog from my hand but I used the command 'gently' which I taught him to very carefully grasp the food, no snapping or rushing was allowed. Any deviation from the way I required resulted in no food. It seemed to work very well, although he looked very funny as he tentatively took food!

But I also taught my dog what food was mine was mine and what food was his was also mine. I would pick food straight out of his bowl and pretend to eat it. If he so much as sniffed at food in my hand, without it being offered to him, I sent him away.

So I would say I don't think it is a bad thing to feed a dog by your hand as long as it is done properly and they realise it is a treat not a right. I used to do it all the time when I was training my dog to do things.

But as a disclaimer I am not a professional dog trainer- this is just my random opinion!

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Originally Posted by templelane

I always used to feed my dog from my hand but I used the command 'gently' which I taught him to very carefully grasp the food, no snapping or rushing was allowed. Any deviation from the way I required resulted in no food. It seemed to work very well, although he looked very funny as he tentatively took food!

But I also taught my dog what food was mine was mine and what food was his was also mine. I would pick food straight out of his bowl and pretend to eat it. If he so much as sniffed at food in my hand, without it being offered to him, I sent him away.

So I would say I don't think it is a bad thing to feed a dog by your hand as long as it is done properly and they realise it is a treat not a right. I used to do it all the time when I was training my dog to do things.

But as a disclaimer I am not a professional dog trainer- this is just my random opinion!

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Oh, you brought back a memory - with my yellow Lab I always said, "Take it nice." (Bad grammar but it worked). I haven't thought of that in years.

I hand feed my dog all the time, and she's not food aggressive at all. She in fact gets really calm and sits down thinking that if she looks cute ill give her food (which I usually do lol). She never takes it from me or growls or barks at me for food

When I'm playing with rex I'll tell him ''gentle'' when he goes to take thje toy from my hand and in order to take it gently he curls his lips up and takes it with hi front teeth.

I just had another thought if your dog thinks it's getting a treat when you offer it something by hand it is so much easier to give it medicine! There is no way I could have gotten my dog to eat it's medicine if it was just mixed in with its food.

Unless it was those pink antibiotics- for some reason he loved those.

Aww I miss my doggie...

I bought a lot of training books before I got my puppy, and my favorite book of the bunch specifically recommends feeding all of the pup's meals by hand. It's meant in part to prevent problems with dogs being overly protective of their food. It's not the same thing as feeding scraps table side during meals. I don't think you have anything to worry about; on the contrary, I think it's a good thing. Just about all treat relating training comes from your hand, too.

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Originally Posted by templelane

I just had another thought if your dog thinks it's getting a treat when you offer it something by hand it is so much easier to give it medicine! There is no way I could have gotten my dog to eat it's medicine if it was just mixed in with its food.

Unless it was those pink antibiotics- for some reason he loved those.

Aww I miss my doggie...

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I put pills in peanut butter or cheese or ground beef and they take the little "lump" of something and then there's a lot of chewing while they look very, very deep in thought and then - pop! Out comes the pill and not one scrap of the peanut butter, cheese or beef.