Training Your Dog To eat Away From Home
Besides putting your hand into the food bowl often to train away food aggression, you should also feed your puppy in many different places. Feeding at will is NEVER recommended, you need to feed at regular times and regular amounts, if for no other reason than to keep a close track of what and how much your dog is eating and to watch when or if he goes “off feed”. Feeding in different places and in different circumstances will mean that you will have a dog that will travel easily and settle in quickly at dog shows. Feed outdoors, feed in the living room, etc. This is yeat another reason for you to feed at specific times, and to feed when it is YOUR choice. Feeding "on demand" or simply leaving out food for the dog is very hard on his digestive system and makes it doubly difficult for you to keep track of what he is eating, or if he goes off feed, and furthermore makes it difficult for you to train him.
No dog should EVER be excused for growling when you bring your hand near his food. Training him from the beginning is absolutely vital. Also, do take the time once or twice a week to run your hands all over his body, and especially to open his mouth and inspect his teeth and gums. Brushing his teeeth can be part of this process and helps to keep his teeth pearly white and make a good impression on the judge.
When you travel it is always a good idea to take along something to add in to the dog's regular food just to encourage him to go ahead and eat. Yogurt is always fine, as is a dab of cottage cheese. Otherwise cooked rice. And do keep extra rice handy, it can always be cooked in the microwave at a gas station or motel, but cooked rice is what you should give a dog when they get diarhea from stress while they are traveling. However that is the ONLY time you should deviate from the food that you normally feed at home. And be careful not to overdo on liver "treats", since eating too much liver can also cause diarhea.
There are recipes at the end for some great easy to make treats that are not messy.