weird thing (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2015-12-07 21:02:31 by ursusem
Why do animals express all this anger and aggression towards humans if you are to come near their food dish when they are eating but then when you, as a human, are sitting at your table minding your own business eating your food, there usually comes an animal near to you and this animal stares at you and basically begs for you to give them your food or some of what you are eating? Why do they expect you to give them some when it is apparent that they would never share their own food with you??
Well,
They set boundaries.
You don't set boundaries.
But aggression is basically poor manners. They shouldn't get aggressive over it and ideally your relationship with them should be such that they accept you taking away all the food while they are eating without getting aggressive.
That's also important so that you can take stuff away from them that they shouldn't eat because it's poisonous to them.
I bet you saw a dog begging for food, correct?
Come to think of it that's probably the main kind of creature that does these things... huh.
Oh look, Ursusem is on his anti-dog mission again.
No, it's every animal that has a survival instinct. Your beloved cats even have food aggression issues on occasion, just like dogs have food aggression issues on occasion.
Hell, I've even known rabbits to have this problem. It's something that can be trained out easily enough. Except with the rabbits. There's no getting through to them.
Sorry that I react to dogs a certain way. I've never seen a cat display food aggression. I mention cats because they are a similar kind of "cuddly companion." I ain't no 'he.' Dogs are way too aggressive in general to be trusted. I don't have an anti-dog mission. I'm not trying to convert people. I wish I could like dogs but I don't.
Hm, I don't care, but TIL.
Not to be overly sexist, but that helps explain your delicate attitude toward dogs.
My gender does not explain my attitude towards dogs. If there were humans that acted like dogs I wouldn't like them either. I can never tell if a dog is friend or foe and they usually have a look on their faces which makes it appear that they are not friendly. They are weird. There's nothing to like about them IN MY OPINION.
The anger you are describing is most likely food aggression. As mentioned, it can be boundary setting. A lot of times it is based in insecurity which can be caused by anything from simply not being used to having their food messed with to having a bad experience where a person or another animal took away their food. Solving it is a matter of patience and reassurance, you can read an article on that here: http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/treatment_of_food_possessive_dogs_is_about_finesse_not_force
Begging is a behavior that gets reinforced. They are expecting you to give them food because people in the past have given them food, often intentionally, sometimes accidentally when food gets dropped. It's very, very similar to standard dog training, only accidental. There's a cue (the sound of the refrigerator, the sight of a plate, etc.), there's a conditioned response (begging, but you can change how it specifically manifests), and then there's the payoff (FOOD!).
It's my opinion that an animal's food aggression is simply instinctive and territorial and should be be trained out like any bad instinctive behavior. They see food they are given as their own property and defend it because of millions of years of survival instinct. And as everyone said, begging is a learned behavior because it worked a few times in the past. It may never be trained out, but can be reduced by sticking to rules and boundaries.
If you get a dog used to having their food taken away mid meal, and then returned, and they show no aggression, that's a well-trained and properly domesticated animal. If a dog growls or acts snappish, defensive and aggressive if a hand gets near their bowl, I consider that a serious problem and would train that out as a top priority or if it can't be broken, make sure that the dog does not go to a home with children or other animals.