Sam the man Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We are caring for a little foster dog Charlie from RSPCA (which we will probably adopt once that option is available). Our own dog Sam has bones for breakfast out in his pen 4 mornings a week. A turkey neck one morning, chicken frame another and brisket bones the other 2 mornings. ATM I am giving Charlie his breakfast inside where he sleeps and then let him go outside later on. I've actually bought Sam some lamb rib bones ?? hoping he won't want to bury them as he sometimes does with the brisket bones. On the nights that Sam has chicken necks for tea I've started giving Charlie a few wing tips along with the dry food supplied by RSPCA. Both dogs are kept separated while they're having their tea. So how do I get around the bone situation??? If Charlie stays here he'll be getting bones outside as well. ;) I've also been burying a dental bone and a pigs ear in Sam's sandpit once a week. I guess I'll have to stop doing that ;) or what could I bury for both dogs to find and still have harmony in the home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have a pen for each dog , and that is where they get high value treats like pigs' ears or bones. Nobody gets to bury anything. Whatever you put in the sandpit, if it's worth digging for it may be worth fighting over. Maybe just have some low value toys like rope tugs lying around for them to pick up if they want to play. I wouldn't encourage digging in the sandpit unless the dog already has a serious digging problem that needs to be redirected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Good luck on this one. My dogs are so good. I can feed them all in the same room. They will all sit, wait & eat their own & may try to get the slow eaters food last but move away the minute I say leave it. They will all sit nicely in a line & wait for a treat & be polite. Give them a bone, pigs ear or chicken wing & some how with one or another the fight is always on. Have to seperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rastus_froggy Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 With the 2 of my big dogs I would NEVER do it. Frog only gets bones in her pen. Chevy and Stimpy can have bones while in the yard together but as Chevy is about 4 times the size of Stimpy I usually leave 2 big bones out for him and one smaller one for her so when he is finished with his first one he can start on his second one without bothering Stimp for hers. Although she has been seen many times preventing him from getting into the kennel while she has a bone in there, I would not want to put her in any danger. That is my way of handling my current situation, but honestly until you really know both dogs and how they interact I would not risk it, and even when you do have it figured you really still cant predict everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Supervision. I feed them bones everyday, and go sit outside while they eat them. I've never had a problem with doing this, and have never had a food related fight. They all know each others boundaries and how close they are allowed to get without being warned off by either myself or the other dog. No bones last enough enough to be buried either. Certainly I wouldn't do this unless I knew them all very well though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Supervision.I feed them bones everyday, and go sit outside while they eat them. I've never had a problem with doing this, and have never had a food related fight. They all know each others boundaries and how close they are allowed to get without being warned off by either myself or the other dog. No bones last enough enough to be buried either. Certainly I wouldn't do this unless I knew them all very well though. I have always done this as well and never had a problem but all my dogs have been raised here from babies, so know the pack rules. Don't know how I would get on though with bringing an adult dog into the situation. I think it also depends on the breed as well. My BCs are a pretty biddable breed where most of us run several of them together. They are not really prone to fighting and when they do it is mostly noise and spit until one gives in. With more tenacious breeds that have more serious fights, feeding together could be a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartok Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have 3 large males and 1 female and they all eat bones outside My dominant male if he wanted would make the others drop their bone for him, but I try to at least supervise bone eating to a degree, but generally they are all happy to lay down and have their treat and know not to go near each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have to confess that for me, feeding of bones is one of the trickiest things about owning two dogs. For normal meals, OH and I feed the dogs separately - he takes one and I take the other. We alternate so that we both take turns at feeding each dog. The dogs are totally fine eating kibble/treats pretty much anything near each other and show no signs of resource-guarding or being thingy about their food. The exception is lamb flaps and bones. These are messy so must be eaten outside and not in their crates/in the house. We would never leave the dogs unattended with bones and lamb flaps so what we do is OH stands at one end of the yard with one dog and the bone/lamb flap and I'm at the other end of the yard with the other dog and a bone/lamb flap. This can be very time-consuming because sometimes they take ages ... :rolleyes: Both are fine with us taking the bone away from them (to check if it's still safe for them eat) and we give them the bone straight back but Elbie has a habit of grabbing his bone and bolting away out of reach. I'm not sure if this is normal or if it's something we should be worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I feed all my dogs separately and that includes bones. They always eat the whole bone (beef brisket), but if they didn't I would never allow them to bury any part of a bone in the yard, it's just too risky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Before we got Trixie and before we had runs Ivan, Angel and Chopper would be left with bones or kongs unsupervised during the day. Who knows what they got up to while we were at work. There were plenty of cuts and scratches on Chopper and Angel when we'd get home, but there were no major fights and no one ever needed a vet visit. I would still trust Chopper and Angel unsupervised with high value treats and toys. They don't fight. I wouldn't do it with Trixie around though. She doesn't share. I guess it depends on the dogs. Maybe see how they behave when you're home but out of sight and make a judgment call based on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I don't do it too often, it's too much of a hassle with Marrow Bones, things that can be eaten quickly are okay. I feed one in the run (for his own protection) and one on a chain, or one in the crate and one in the run. Minty is food obsessed and doesn't tolerate another animal near her food, she has attacked Charlie over it (more so with bones) so I have to be very vigilant with any this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) I guess it depends what you are prepared to manage long term. mine are all fed together in the yard, mostly b/c I don't want to have to manage them. As with DBc's, they are not breeds that traditionally fight over food. When I bring a new dog in, I give them their bone a few metres away from the others & stand in between them & my existing dogs. I block any move they make towards the other dogs. Over time the distance is decreased & my proximity is decreased too to the point where I can keep a general eye on them from either outside or inside while they eat in case someone gets something stuck etc. I am very confident in my ability to manage my existing dogs & they all know the rules. This helps as I only have to concentrate on the new dog. I also have zero tolerance for any guarding behaviour. Anyone who decides to guard their food/bone misses out & gets another chance to eat the following day! Sounds tough I know, but am yet to have a problem using this strategy with multiple fosters as well as my own 4/5 Edited February 1, 2011 by Vickie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I always physically separate mine when eating bones - this is where the crates come in. I don't even feed them under supervision because a fight can happen in a millisecond and you being there to watch it doesn't really do much. It is worth remembering that some of the people on DOL who feed dogs together are very experienced owners who can read their dogs very well - most dog owners can't do this (I include myself in this category). A friend of a friend had a staffy and ACD that had lived together for 8 years and had bones every day in the backyard with no incidence. Until recently that is - the ACD is now dead. Not worth the risk IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) A friend of a friend had a staffy and ACD that had lived together for 8 years and had bones every day in the backyard with no incidence. Until recently that is - the ACD is now dead. Not worth the risk IMO. Sorry for the owners, but I agree it's not worth the risk with such reactive dominant breeds. I would never allow them to eat together......but then again I would never own those two breeds :shrugs: Depends on the breed and then the dogs when assessing the risk. Edited February 1, 2011 by tollersowned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vehs Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I was looking after a friends dog for a month and my boy gets bones in the mornings as I head off to work - to stop any issues I gave them both a couple drumsticks as they could finish those off before I even got to the car ;) I then would give them tougher bones like lamb flaps and soup bones on the weekend while I was home. I gave them their bowl dinners in different corners of the kitchen while I did the dishes - after each meal they'd check out what the other had eaten but neither tried to take the others food while they were eating I also tried to clear anyway any old bones in the garden, but the guest dog still found some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam the man Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thanks for all the replies. ;) I will keep the dogs separated(both on a long rope) while they are having their bones. It seems the best thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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