Floyd finds bones distressing. I firmly believe he was baited with food or abused around food as a pup. His early days were so full of trauma. He has gotten over a lot of his issues since I adopted him. He takes treats from people. He doesn't run away cowering if food is combined with a command. He doesn't eat so fast he chokes.
One thing he hasn't lost is the stress a really good dog treat can bring him. Early on, the few times I tried to give him a bone, he'd just walk around whining. He'd put it down. pant, pick it back up and look around fearfully. I'd end up the bone away because he couldn't relax enough to actually enjoy it.
We went a long time with no bones, then I tried again. It was a similar experience, but with a little less angst. I'd take the bone away give it a day for him to calm, reintroduce it, and eventually the bone would be ok. Having it come back, even though it had been taken seemed to bring the fear level down.
Then a new problem happened. He'd go into super protective mode. I could walk near him and even take the bone but if the cats or Cora-pup walked into the same room, he'd growl, bark and lunge. We did some training to tone down his resource guarding. Most of the time, he'd only get the bone at night, when he was locked in the bedroom with me alone.
I decided to try again, since he's been chewing up my kindling, because he's not getting enough exercise. He started off doing the growl and lunge, first at Fezz and then at Cora. I kept moving the bone into the Kennel so he could have a safe zone to eat it. Then he did something really interesting. He dug a very old bone out of his toy box. An old one I've pondered throwing away or giving to another dog because he never touches it. It's the same type of bone, with all the good (meaty) stuff already gone. Since then, he's been completely relaxed. Has spent some time, here and there, chewing on the new tasty bone, spent some time napping and some time bringing me toys for play time. I'd love to peek inside his brain and understand the thought process.
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