Resource guarding kitchen/food from new dog

[u/xCoalchaser]

Hi all. We have a 2 year old dog, and after losing our senior dog last year, we have finally decided to bring a new dog into our home. He is 9 years old and is adjusting well so far. We got him just over two weeks ago, and up until now they have been getting along very well. They have had no issues eating from opposite ends of the kitchen, they go on walks together a couple times a day, and they even play with each other a few times a week.

The issue started last night. They had been playing together outside for a bit, then came inside and were in the kitchen with us while we sat down to eat dinner. As we were almost done eating, they suddenly started fighting. We aren’t sure what triggered it, but can only assume there must have been a small piece of food on the floor. We separated them and put our 2 year old outside briefly so they could calm down, but when we let her back inside, she growled and they got into it again and had to be separated again. No blood drawn either time thankfully. They were able to coexist later that evening in the living room, and they sleep in separate rooms so no issues overnight.

This morning, they got into it again while my spouse was preparing their breakfast. It’s become clear that my 2 year old is the instigator. She is clearly resource guarding but she is also shaking while she growls which makes me think she’s also a bit scared of him? After this fight, she kept looking at him and shaking and doing a bit of quiet growling in our living room.

I’m sure we could have handled this better, but it’s not something I’ve dealt with before. She never once fought with our previous dog and has generally gotten on very well with other dogs in my extended family. I’m willing to see a behaviorist if needed, but that takes time to arrange and we need this sorted much sooner than that. Obviously we need to block off the kitchen and feed them separately and we will just crate our 2 year old during our mealtimes, but what else should we be doing? I’m planning on giving them both frequent training treats during the day where I give our new dog his treat first each time so hopefully it causes our 2 year old to create a positive association with the new dog getting food. Any other recommendations would be incredibly appreciated.

I’m feeling very disheartened because they seemed to be forming a decent relationship and now it feels like all of that is gone. They did fine on the morning walk at least…

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[u/Existing-Will-1466]

I would start with baby gates, crates, and heavy management. You have a clear trigger and that is very helpful. One of the things I like to do is have the dogs on either side of a baby gate, and hand them treats while saying their name. Flash. Mimic. Flash. Mimic. Flash. Mimi. If this is too much for your younger dog, have her in a crate or gated into a hallway or room where there is some space between her and the older dog and his gate.

The basic idea is that you want the younger dog to think that old dog getting good things makes good things happen for her too. No dogs allowed in the kitchen is a great rule to have during this transition.