Sometimes bandit is scared when eating. I've been practicing taking thw bowl then returning it since I got her to show her if the food is taken away it always returns. She gets really possessive obviously if she's really hungry or I give her rice. I get close and she looks and growls. Once she actually showed teeth and tried to bite. This is the only aggression I've ever seen from her. I know it's probably somewhat normal but I don't want this to become a habit when she gets big. She's almost 4 months old

Well, I've been waiting to see if anyone else was going to reply and since I don't see any, I'll put my two cents worth in.
I have a sibe who has a bad case of food possessiveness. To the thune of having bitten me five times now, most weren't bad, but one sent me in for some stitches.
I've been working with her on this flat out aggression when someone does anything with her food and I think we're getting to the point I can take it away without an issue.  I'm still concerned that at some point she'll still "lock in" on her food (which she has done in the past) but with what I've been doing - much of it suggested by the good folks here - she's getting better.

I did this in steps, things I knew she was okay with, working up to the ones that left both of us a bit nervous.

• I hand fed her, literally I had her bowl with it's normal amount of food in it, but *I* took it out of the bowl and had her eat from my hand.  I know from past experience that this isn't a problem, she'll eat from my hands without trying to grab or bite, so this step was okay.  Success here is her waiting patiently between each handful of food, no patience, no food.
  
• She gets a cup of food in the morning and a cup in the evening, so what I started doing next was to put a little food in her bowl and let her eat from it while I was holding it. When it was empty, I had her move back and set / stay and I'd put more food in her bowl and release her to get it (literally, "get it")  Obviously if she got excited and didn't want to stay the food went on the counter till later.  Success here, to me, was two things: me being able to move my hands around the bowl while she was eating, touching her and the food without complain and having her back up and wait for more food, staying where she was until I told her it was okay.
  
• Where we are now ... she gets part of her food in the bowl, on the floor - seldom in the same place and never in her "normal" feeding spot. I've been able to add food to her bowl while she's eating and can pick the bowl up, move it from one spot to another without any problems.  (btw, I normally call her name so it's not a hand reaching in surprising her.) Success will be when I can pick it up without a problem, move it around without her getting nervous.
  
• Next to last will be putting her bowl back in it's normal spot and getting her to accept me adding food to it there (in "her" spot) and being able to do things with her and the bowl without a hassle.
  
• Last thing to work on will be to find a "prize" object, something she would not normally surrender and pretty much go through the same set of steps ...
  

It's probably been three to four weeks since she last bit me, when I started this. I didn't expect an immediate turnaround (of course she's older than your pup is too) and am satisfied that we're gradually working this out.  But it is time consuming and you're going to have the patience of Job.

Al Great advice, I veered away a little in my descriptions on hand feeding, many people do it a little differently. I used it as a bonding/gentle eating/trust building technique, since Miya was maybe 2-3 months old when she showed signs of food guarding. Me personally I sat with her at almost her level, with her in a sit and stay, like Al said, but I would talk to her, i.e. hand open with food in my palm "Miya be gentle" if she was I would tell her good girl and so on. Like Al said it's very time consuming, but I wanted to build these loving blocks with her, I also would gently rub her neck, all of these steps will build trust with her, be gentle with you, allow occasional pats. I also would sit with her while holding a bone for her, this also builds trust and allowing you to be next to her while eating. She still will bring a bone and eat it in my lap, when I feed her I can pat her on her back while she eats. a few other things to work on is while she is sitting close your hand in a fist with food, hold hand out but still closed and tell her to wait, when she waits a second or two then open your hand and tell her to get it. This also teaches her you are the food person, better be nice.

Forgot to add, you must do this through the whole feeding every time you feed and may take several days to weeks to master. Miya can sit and wait forever, we forgot to tell her one night and she laid by her bowl for almost a half hour, but never ate, i gave her an extra treat that night. I always talk to her, I use her name for everything, a typical husky will do things sometimes and then other times they think you're talking to the husky behind them, use her name. Miya can take a piece of meat from my mouth with the gentleness of a human baby. It's a fun trick. Wouldn't recommend Al doing this with his girl, lol.

MiyasMomma wrote:

I use her name for everything, a typical husky will do things sometimes and then other times they think you're talking to the husky behind them,

Isn't that the truth!? Some days they completely forget what you're asking them to do until I'm like "Excuse me?!" then they straighten up quick Well, at least Kody and Asia do.

Mya...well...ha. She started showing food agression from very very early on and I didn't know any better at the time and paid no mind to it. Big mistake. Once we got Kody (Mya was then 4) I realized that her food aggression was a problem. I too sat with her for WEEKS hand feeding her, then putting some food in the bowl (while still holding it) and hand feeding her the rest, etc. She does "sit and wait" until I tell her it's OK to eat. We're still not where I can take the bowl from her, but I can put more food it, move it with my foot, and if I grab a treat I can take it from her ( I know that doesn't count), but she's much better about it. Thankfully you caught it early enough. I wish I would have. Good luck!

Mel, you're on late tonight. So glad you chimed in. Thank you for giving our newer member some extra advice.

I love explaining the name calling to people, funny but true, lol.

Okay so when I grab her bowl to fill it she gets excited. Jumping around and sometimes makes whimpers in excitement. I've taught her to sit before I put the bowl down too! It's usually when I first approach het after putting the bowl down. Once she gets past that first growl and I pet her a bit I can do anything. Face in the bowl, take food out, take the bowl. It's just when I first approach the trail tucks and she gets mad

Tony, do the hand feeding for a while, like I said it's a multi problem solver, it builds trust between the two of you, you form a better bond with her, you also build a gentle dog with her, Are there ever small children around? or the potential of small children? I'm not saying when she's older you have to sit with her during feeding, but doing this now will encourage her to be gentle just in case.

Now if you are confident she is gentle, and she is just hungry then teach her to sit, wait, and honestly sit her food down make her wait, maybe 10 seconds and build up from there, then release her with a command, for us it's "Miya Get It" and be there until you release her, see if she can control herself. The growl may also be more of a hurry up I'm hungry thing, but teaching her patience is important.

Tony, if she's just impatient then I'd do the same thing I suggest to people who have an excitable dog when they get the leash to go for a walk. Pick her bowl up at random times and move it around. Set it on the stove, the counter, the coffee table - but leave it empty. Then when it's meal time put some food in it and set it on the counter till she's calm. If she gets excited when you pick it up to give to her just put it back down. She may miss a meal, but if you keep moving it around - full or empty - and don't give it to her till she's "setting pretty" she'll get the idea quickly.