Occasional aggression when I'm eating

[smithy]

We've come so far with our grey, and when we eat at the table he goes straight to bed with or without a treat/chew. He doesn't beg for scraps or anything like that!

However, when I eat something on the sofa like a sandwich that smells particularly appetizing, he'll often approach me and linger. Most times he goes to bed, but 5 or 6 times he's let out quite a firm growl at me and sometimes we lock eyes (if I'm telling him 'bed'). Today, he did quite a big one having not done it for a while so I stood up immediately (which startled him a bit) and led him out the room, shutting the door. I gave him a few minutes and let him back in and he went straight to bed.

I'd like to know why this happens and what I should do in this situation?

[greysmom]

You should do exactly what you did - calmly stand and remove him from the situation (though I would leave him outside the room until I was done eating).  Then let him back in and go about your business.

It's difficult to say why, but I would suspect he's pushing boundaries to try and find out exactly where your line is - much like a toddler or teenager.  Firm and consistent rules and boundaries, calmly and consistently applied for him, will help him figure things out.

He's not really being "aggressive" but he is pushing.  If this is happening around other behaviors you might look into doing some NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) positive reinforcement-only training for him.  This helps establish the human's place in the leadership structure of the home so he doesn't feel the need to fill the position.   

[HeyRunDog]

14 hours ago, greysmom said:

You should do exactly what you did - calmly stand and remove him from the situation (though I would leave him outside the room until I was done eating).  Then let him back in and go about your business.

It's difficult to say why, but I would suspect he's pushing boundaries to try and find out exactly where your line is - much like a toddler or teenager.  Firm and consistent rules and boundaries, calmly and consistently applied for him, will help him figure things out.

He's not really being "aggressive" but he is pushing.  If this is happening around other behaviours you might look into doing some NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) positive reinforcement-only training for him.  This helps establish the human's place in the leadership structure of the home so he doesn't feel the need to fill the position.   

I agree you did the right thing.

On a lighter note, at least you now know what he considers a high value treat and you can use it for training purposes.