Feeding Time With Older Dog

[nabira]

My husband and I are getting a new puppy in January. We already have one dog (she will be a year old when we get the puppy) and I have a question about meal times.

We know to separate the puppy and adult dog at meal times - it's not fair on either of them. This is fine for the evening as our dog gets a mix of kibble and raw in her bowl. We will simply feed both dogs in different rooms. However, in the morning, our dog gets her breakfast kibble in a treat ball before we go to work to keep her occupied through the morning. We'd like to continue doing this when the puppy gets here, however it would mean that both would get their breakfasts together in the same area. How is the best way to go about this?

Our puppy will have someone home with her for the first two weeks that we have her, and then we'll be slowly going back to work.

Thanks in advance.

[giraffez]

My husband and I are getting a new puppy in January. We already have one dog (she will be a year old when we get the puppy) and I have a question about meal times.

We know to separate the puppy and adult dog at meal times - it's not fair on either of them. This is fine for the evening as our dog gets a mix of kibble and raw in her bowl. We will simply feed both dogs in different rooms. However, in the morning, our dog gets her breakfast kibble in a treat ball before we go to work to keep her occupied through the morning. We'd like to continue doing this when the puppy gets here, however it would mean that both would get their breakfasts together in the same area. How is the best way to go about this?

Our puppy will have someone home with her for the first two weeks that we have her, and then we'll be slowly going back to work.

Thanks in advance.

I got a puppy last week and I may not be able to answer your question but I'll share with you my experience.

Before I got the puppy, I feared that it was going to be a nightmare during feeding time as I have read and experienced for myself that dogs can be very protective of food. So i had it all planned out to minimise any negative experience as possible. I fed my older dog where he usually eats and the puppy about 8 metres away behind the speakers so he is not distracted and the older dog cannot see. The older dog gets the signal to eat first and then the little one.

To my surprise, the older dog isn't protective of the food at all. Being the puppy, he was nosy and at one stage ran right to my older dog's bowl and started munching and the older dog just let him. Not a growl. Now he constantly goes and see what his big brother is eating or drinks from his water bowl. Big brother does the same. They don't seem to care but i still keep a close out on it and move them away quickly.

So i think you won't really be able to tell until you see them together eating for the first time and only can you determine whether they will be ok in the same room. If you dog is not possessive of his food, then chances are they will probably be ok but i will still keep an eye out on them for the first couple of days/weeks. Being a kong, it will probably keep them occupied enough to care what the other is doing anyways.

Good luck and congrats on the new puppy... it is very exciting.

[misscoco13]

We have an 18 month old female Shih Tzu and the new puppy is a Beagle who is now almost 4 months old, also female. There is no way I can feed them together because the Beagle will immediately leave her bowl and go to eat the Shih Tzu's food. Same thing happens with bones - the Shih Tzu will get protective and snap at the Beagle if she tries to take the bone. However, when I feed the Beagle her midday meal, the Shih Tzu just sits by and watches (she's a very good girl ) but puppy is naughty

So we feed separate to avoid fights. Puppy goes in her pen for every meal except the midday one. Even when puppy finishes and comes out, she runs to the older dogs bowl to see if anything is left

I would just feed separately until you can trust both dogs to eat nicely near each other. I don't think our Beagle will ever be able to eat near anyone - she's a pig in Beagles clothing! :D

[Sandra777]

It really shouldn't be an issue as there's no way a small puppy and a 13 month old should be left alone together all day anyway. The pup needs to be protected from any over zealous play of the older dog and the older dog needs to be protected from the constant hassling of a pup (some pups never figure out when enough is enough. Figure out a way the pup can be confined separately from the older dog then problem gone, feed them separately.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Sandra777

[WreckitWhippet]

It really shouldn't be an issue as there's no way a small puppy and a 13 month old should be left alone together all day anyway. The pup needs to be protected from any over zealous play of the older dog and the older dog needs to be protected from the constant hassling of a pup (some pups never figure out when enough is enough. Figure out a way the pup can be confined separately from the older dog then problem gone, feed them separately.

No way on earth I'd leave a baby puppy or even a bigger puppy alone with an older dog that has a treat ball or any food left down.

Pups also need to be fed seperate from adults and under supervision, so you can ensure that your puppy is eating and the food is not being consumed by the other dogs.

Puppies can become ill in an instant and you need to know exaclty what it's eaten and when. A pup going off it's food can be an indicator that something is not quite right.

[Guest]

Nabira maybe you could seperat them with a baby safety gate so that they are in seperate rooms and can have a kong each.

lablove

[Nushie]

It really shouldn't be an issue as there's no way a small puppy and a 13 month old should be left alone together all day anyway. The pup needs to be protected from any over zealous play of the older dog and the older dog needs to be protected from the constant hassling of a pup (some pups never figure out when enough is enough. Figure out a way the pup can be confined separately from the older dog then problem gone, feed them separately.

Agreed. I would not be leaving them together unsupervised (even without food). Too many things can go wrong.

I would find a way to seperate them, either by putting the pup in a play pen or seperating two rooms using a baby gate. Keep them seperate at all times when you cant be there to keep an eye on them both.

Good luck

[wuffles]

Agree with separating at first, but I presume that eventually there will come a time when they are left together.

We know that our older dog is very stable and will give warnings to the younger if she comes too close to his food but will not overreact. We did lots of supervising, supervising, supervising before we left them together with any toys or food. We started off just feeding their dinner a few metres apart. We made sure the younger one understands that stealing food is not on, and she learned very quickly to stick to her own meal.

Ours get their Kongs together when we leave in the morning, and kibble scattered across the yard, and we have no problems. Both are low value items to the dogs. We do separate when feeding bones or raw meat. We once fostered a dog that was food aggressive and we did all feeding completely separately including treat balls.

[becks]

My husband and I are getting a new puppy in January. We already have one dog (she will be a year old when we get the puppy) and I have a question about meal times.

We know to separate the puppy and adult dog at meal times - it's not fair on either of them. This is fine for the evening as our dog gets a mix of kibble and raw in her bowl. We will simply feed both dogs in different rooms. However, in the morning, our dog gets her breakfast kibble in a treat ball before we go to work to keep her occupied through the morning. We'd like to continue doing this when the puppy gets here, however it would mean that both would get their breakfasts together in the same area. How is the best way to go about this?

Our puppy will have someone home with her for the first two weeks that we have her, and then we'll be slowly going back to work.

Thanks in advance.

I got a puppy last week and I may not be able to answer your question but I'll share with you my experience.

Before I got the puppy, I feared that it was going to be a nightmare during feeding time as I have read and experienced for myself that dogs can be very protective of food. So i had it all planned out to minimise any negative experience as possible. I fed my older dog where he usually eats and the puppy about 8 metres away behind the speakers so he is not distracted and the older dog cannot see. The older dog gets the signal to eat first and then the little one.

To my surprise, the older dog isn't protective of the food at all. Being the puppy, he was nosy and at one stage ran right to my older dog's bowl and started munching and the older dog just let him. Not a growl. Now he constantly goes and see what his big brother is eating or drinks from his water bowl. Big brother does the same. They don't seem to care but i still keep a close out on it and move them away quickly.

So i think you won't really be able to tell until you see them together eating for the first time and only can you determine whether they will be ok in the same room. If you dog is not possessive of his food, then chances are they will probably be ok but i will still keep an eye out on them for the first couple of days/weeks. Being a kong, it will probably keep them occupied enough to care what the other is doing anyways.

Good luck and congrats on the new puppy... it is very exciting.

Don't expect this to continue, the new pup is still under the 'puppy license' ie. pups get away with a lot more then a dog will allow an older pup/adult to get away with. You may find one day your older boy suddenly decides it is no longer acceptable.

[giraffez]

Don't expect this to continue, the new pup is still under the 'puppy license' ie. pups get away with a lot more then a dog will allow an older pup/adult to get away with. You may find one day your older boy suddenly decides it is no longer acceptable.

Yep i feared this as well, thats why i moved them away very quickly. I feed them in the same room supervised and i think a little exposure of each other while eating is not necessarily a bad thing. They need to learn to be able to eat in each others presence - so long as its not dominating then should be okay.

[Odin-Genie]

When I got my second puppy (my goldy), my first dog was about 6 months old. I never fed them in separate rooms. Each time I got a puppy, I asked their trainer to come home and do a few one-on-one sessions at home before puppy class. She showed me how to train them to sit side by side and receive treats or eat side by side without going for each others' food. Worked like a wonder. Now I can leave my dogs eating with their bowls a few inches apart and they won't touch each others' bowl. They can sit next to each other and chew their bones. In three years I haven't had a single instance of food aggression except at the very beginning when I brought home my goldy puppy. However, even though they have no food aggression, I will never leave them alone at home with food around.

Now my sister has a new puppy and I'm getting all three dogs to eat in the same room. I will reiterate what my dogs' trainer said, that the dogs need to be trained to see the owners as food providers and not feel any need to sort out food allocation among themselves.

[megan_]

Mine both eat their treat balls in their (large) crates.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I have a couple of food aggressive dogs, there's no way I ever leave any food lying around if I'm going out. Hopefully you won't have an issue with that but every time a new dog comes into the household (I foster dogs for rescue orgs), it is an adjustment and sometimes you have to do things you hadn't planned on. Providing you are flexible and experienced enough to recognise any issues, all should be well.

[W Sibs]

I do ToT with my 2. Charlie first and when Emmy came, it wasn't an issue feeding them in the same room.

[2staffys]

I agree, definitely don't leave them alone together when feeding of any sort. My 8 month old staffy pup used to eat out of the same bowl as my almost 4 year old staffy when we first got him. Although it was cute we stopped this early on. They are now food aggressive towards each other and don't get their dinner, treats or bones without supervision and they are ALWAYS separated. It's just not worth the risk.

[nabira]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like we'll have to stop feeding with a kong in the mornings. Our older girl can probably be transitioned to one feed a day now, so I might just feed her at night and feed the puppy before we go to work. As I said in my first post, we'll definitely be feeding them separate.

My older girl does Triangle of Temptation and has from when we first got her, and that is something we'll start with the puppy straight away too. We know how food crazy our older girl was when we got her though so they'll be fed in different rooms until the puppy learns exactly when she's allowed to eat. After that we'll transition to eating in the same room supervised.

It's unfortunately impractical to separate them completely forever. Our older girl stays outside during the day as she's not allowed inside because she'll destroy something, and I don't like crating her all day because we only have a soft crate and she'll destroy that if she gets too bored. Obviously we won't be leaving them alone together until we know we can trust them to be alone together.

[monique.c]

Hi there,

I have a 4 month old Golden and we have a friend staying with us who has a 10 month old Lab, the labbie is great with eating, he is really well trained and doesn't try to eat the puppies food at all or get angry when the pup tries to get his food but our little golden just doesn't seem interested in his food unless it is a competition, he eats a little but then stops and when the lab tries to eat his food he gets interested in it again and will then eat it. Also he tries to eat the labs food instead of his own. Would this just be because it is something different? He did this at my mum's place with her dogs food as well, wasn't interested in his food but wanted my mum's dog's food. How do I fix this? just by feeding completely seperately? And how do I get my pup to just eat his food without it having to be a competition?

[poodlefan]

Hi there,

I have a 4 month old Golden and we have a friend staying with us who has a 10 month old Lab, the labbie is great with eating, he is really well trained and doesn't try to eat the puppies food at all or get angry when the pup tries to get his food but our little golden just doesn't seem interested in his food unless it is a competition, he eats a little but then stops and when the lab tries to eat his food he gets interested in it again and will then eat it. Also he tries to eat the labs food instead of his own. Would this just be because it is something different? He did this at my mum's place with her dogs food as well, wasn't interested in his food but wanted my mum's dog's food. How do I fix this? just by feeding completely seperately? And how do I get my pup to just eat his food without it having to be a competition?

Separate the pup.

What are you feeding?

[luvsdogs]

I have food aggressive dogs here, the older dog who was 7.5 yrs when I got Tilba. Sooty, now 10 yrs, has taught Tilba to be the same way, another animal only has to go to Sooty's empty dish to sometimes get a snap. they are fed separately but Tilba will chase the cat away when I'm getting her dinner ready so I have to make sure she's not there.

As to leaving them alone in the yard, I don't do this until the pup has grown to a comparable size to the older dog & is used to the yard.

[monique.c]

Separate the pup.

What are you feeding?

If we separate them the pup doesn't eat much, it is only when it looks like another dog wants his food that he seems to want it, we don't really want this to be his attitude but we also don't want him to not eat.

We were feeding him Advance Puppy Large Breed Growth but he really wasn't interested so we swapped him over to Proplan Puppy Large Breed and he is on a mix of about 90% proplan and 10% advance at the moment because we mixed the new one with the old one. We usually mix his dry biscuits with some kangaroo or chicken mince on an egg at night....