Work with him now as this will become a problem if you do not fix it. I would not take the bone away as you are reinforcing his aggressive behavior. A growl is a warning, "hey don't come near my food", by taking it away you are showing him that he does need to protect it. You need to retrain him and soon. Try the following (be patient and diligent and always reinforce good behavior):

1) Literally feed him his food out of your hand, have everyone in the household do this. Do not put the bowl down, but feed him the food manually.

2) When he is eating out of his bowl, get something out of the fridge that is WAY better than dog food (chicken, ham, beef, etc.). Walk near him and just throw the treat down for him to leave his food and eat it. Do this repeatedly. Also do this when he is lying on the ground sleeping, or eating a bone. When you do this, don't speak to him, just be close to him. Gradually, if he is improving, move closer to him. Eventually, you should be able to put your hand in his bowl while he is eating, but watch his cue and make sure he is ready for the closeness.

3) hand feed him treats, and when his teeth touch your fingers, scream ouch and pull your hand away. You are teaching him bite inhibition and to be careful with his teeth. This can mean the difference between a mauling and a nip later. Crucial step.

The idea of #2 above is to get the dog to connect human proximity with good stuff! It's the "hey, here comes Mama and she is bringing something yummy" idea. This takes time and diligence, but will help with food aggression.

If you are diligent, this should work. Food aggression is often the result of an environment where the dog had to fight for his food. You need to teach him that he does not have to fight for his food anymore.

Please work with him as even a lab (contrary to what many people think) can be mean and aggressive. You do not want a dog to suddenly go after someone as they inadvertently got to close to him while eating or chewing a bone.

Good luck!

Please stop worrying so much about dominance. It's an old theory even if Caesar Milan loves it.

+!--this is old thinking in the dog training world. Reward-based training is in. If you really want your dog to feel that the food is coming from you, then hand feed, or just make him sit before you put his bowl done. Don't cause a problem that doesn't exist, otherwise!

Please stop worrying so much about dominance. It's an old theory even if Caesar Milan loves it. A lab is not really likely to have dominance issues. Resource guarding is a better word for food aggression anyway, since they are worried that it will go away. Once your pup is used to you putting things in the bowl, feed him a little bit in his bowl, take the bowl and quickly add a bit more and give the bowl back.

OP once again. Just wanted to add, he's only 6 months and has never been in a four scarcity situation. However, I had always learned its good to occasionally remove and replace your puppy's food, as it establishes the people as dominant. I've never had another dog have stress responses from this, but it makes sense that it could happen. He shows no dominant behavior in other circumstances, so I think we are on the right track to correct.

Wow, this thread is informative. We rescued an 11 year old pug that was neglected. He only has 4 teeth but was growling when eating. I actually spoon or fork feed him and he is fine. It makes total sense

OP here. Came to us as a puppy from a home.

Where did the dog come from OP? We have a rescued Jack Russel mix and we hand feed him a bit at a time. He sees the food comes from us, there will always be more, and his food is for him no one is trying to take it. He came from a hoarding situation where food was very very scarce so he will scarf anything down and overeat till he's ready to explode.

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Ok, just doing some reading that growling over food may be more stress related than dominance behavior. There were many recommendations for a totally opposite approach. Just tried sitting next to dog while I gave him a cup of food and handing him additional treats as he tolerated my presence. No growling! I think we will try this approach for a while.

I agree this is the way to go. Let the dog associate you with getting food not having it taken away. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Ok, just doing some reading that growling over food may be more stress related than dominance behavior. There were many recommendations for a totally opposite approach. Just tried sitting next to dog while I gave him a cup of food and handing him additional treats as he tolerated my presence. No growling! I think we will try this approach for a while.

When I was at Washington Animal Rescue League looking at dogs for adoption, this is exactly what they were doing with dogs that had signs of "food aggression." There was a little cup of free "kibble" by the door of the dog's den and passers-by were encouraged to give the dog the treats so that the dog saw that food was coming in more or less regularly and was not a competitive thing or something to be aggressed over, and was associated with humans.

Anonymous wrote:Bad sign I think. On those rescue dog shows, they do the test to see if the dog growls/attacks the fake hand when it bothers the dog while it is eating. Those dogs that fail that test usually don't get placed with families.

This idiot needs to get out of the pet section.

Too bad there is not an idiot section for them.

OP again. Ok, just doing some reading that growling over food may be more stress related than dominance behavior. There were many recommendations for a totally opposite approach. Just tried sitting next to dog while I gave him a cup of food and handing him additional treats as he tolerated my presence. No growling! I think we will try this approach for a while.

Bad sign I think. On those rescue dog shows, they do the test to see if the dog growls/attacks the fake hand when it bothers the dog while it is eating. Those dogs that fail that test usually don't get placed with families.

I've had several dogs in the past, but never had this problem.

Our 6 month old male, neutered, lab has become very growly. It's always when he has food. We work with obedience training almost daily. We remove the food when he growls and frequently when he is not.. He's never shown any other signs of aggression, not to adults, kids, or other dogs. Hes great with the kids, and has never snapped. But I'm nervous at having a dog that will soon be 80 lbs who is showing aggressive signs. After the summer, I'm signing him up for a second round of obedience classes, but I'm not sure what else to do.