Bone aggression (growling)

Arana

Has anyone had success training out bone/treat aggression? Andre (12 weeks old) growls if I touch him around the head when he's chewing on a dried duck esophagus (i.e. a bougie bone).

I've had Andre for 4 weeks and in that time I've taught him sit, paw, down, stay and ok. He's such an amazing puppy! He doesn't display aggressive behavior otherwise (even when I hand feed raw chicken necks). He loves everyone he meets (people, cats, dogs). He is still learning not to nip when playing and greeting new people.

P.S. I'm so grateful for the guidance provided by this forum. While this is my first post, I have benefitted greatly from other posts by this community, so thank you! I did read a post about how bones can bring out 'the devil' in our sweet bullies and that providing privacy for bone-chewing is preferred but I wanted to see if other strategies have been successful.

BulliesofNC

I don't know what it is about raw bones but they can bring out the devil in some Bull Terriers. It's almost as if a natural instinct kicks in and they automatically go into a defense and protective mode. Certainly not all Bull Terriers are like this but I have seen a few that had wonderful personalities but when given a bone they switched into wolves. This wasn't something that was trained out of them either. They were the same way with raw meats.
My suggestion to you would be to treat your bullie a bone from an area of security which is something he's probably looking for anyway once he has that bone. Allow him to eat in the privacy of his crate which is like a dog den to him.

Brooklyn

Your pup is super cute! You need to train him out of this behavior as soon a possible. Growling 12 weeks puppy may look like a cutie pie but growling/guarding adult bully looks scary and potentially dangerous. It also can promote other unwanted behaviors if he learns that growling gets him whatever he wants or helps to avoid things he does not like.
Have you tried to hold the bone while he's chewing on it? The moment he starts growling, you take it away and hand it back when he stops.

Arana

Thanks for your responses. I have been holding the bone while he chews it and scratching/petting him around the head. When I pet under his neck he will start growling. Then I scruff him (lift him by the nape of the neck so that his front paws are off the floor) until he drops it. I put the bone aside and wait 2-3 mins until we try again. Maybe I should not wait the 2-3 mins in between?

Brooklyn

https://dogdiscoveries.com/petting-a-dog-while-eating/

Arana

I'm confused...you just suggested the opposite. I'm mostly wondering if anyone has had success training this out.