I feel like a lot of chihuahuas have that same thing going on. Maybe it is hereditary or typical with that breed. I remember when we used to dog sit my brother in laws pit mix. He was huge compared to Jo, but they got along well. Feeding time was always interesting. No matter how well they got along, you always had to keep them separate when they ate.
yeah eating is a special time for dogs. I met few dogs that are better behaved than Nadi, but she will still go mad if she is messed with while eating.
I don't blame them really. It's probably pretty inherent in them as part of their survival instinct. We can domesticate them as much as we want, but they still have that DNA. When Jovi was alone we would test her by putting our hand down in her food dish and she was always great, but add another dog to the mix and she would actually growl a bit.
It's very interesting that this is built in, Nature not nurture and Nadi is proof. In her near 11 years on this planet she has had food taken away from her only ONE time that I am aware of. yet every time she gets a hold of anything to eat she defends it as if it will be taken away and will actually get aggressive even towards me, the magic food giver, if i put a hand near it.
Yes, it's like that old parable about the scorpion or whatever it was. I remember times playing with Jovi and she could have probably ripped my arm clean off if she wanted to, but she always had that restraint that as soon as she felt skin between her teeth she would back off. I'm lucky she loved me so much! :)