Giving 2 Dogs A Bone

[The Spotted Devil]

I'm lucky that I work from home quite a bit and when I am out it's either for 4-5 hours or Mr TSD arrives home in the meantime.

My pup is always crated when I go out - it's a reasonably large crate - she gets food (kongs, raw meaty bones) and learns that it is then sleep time. I do a lot of training with her and she is very happy to curl up and rest when I go out. My Dally has run of the house with the cats but he had to earn that trust. Em is crated so she doesn't get up to mischief but also so she doesn't annoy Ziggy all day. Zig eats his chicken frames outside and has his dry food in a boredom buster in the laundry and Em eats in her crate. They both get quite a bit of food through training. The only thing they eat in the same room are carrots - which is a favourite treat in the evening. Em gets a bigger one to keep her occupied for longer because she is a cheeky pup (and he lets her get away with it!) but Zig is very good and never tries to take hers. I also have to separate one of my cats from the living area when the dogs are eating as he is a dreadful food stealer!

[dandybrush]

sounds like a bit of juggling the spotted devil

gosh having 2 dogs sure is complicated :/

[megan_]

oh gosh thats sad

megan what do u do about marrow bones etc? do you crate them for hours to eat bones? do they ever get bones instead of dinner?

I only give them bones to eat - they polish off chicken wings in minutes. For long lasting chews I use deer antlers from Sway's shop.

[Dracdog]

My 2 get a Marrow bone each once a week. I give the bones to them at the same time(within a couple of seconds of each other). The older one takes his one way and the younger one goes the other. I tried Chicken & Turkey necks but the Lab just inhailed them and started choking.

[wuffles]

I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, but I do leave treat toys and small marrow bones for mine when we go to work. My youngest in particular is a busybody and does not just sleep when we leave her alone. She needs something to do.

My dogs have an extremely clear hierarchy with my older boy having lots of (passive) power over my girl. They don't really share food, but if there are two bones for example, they might swap a few times... my boy always dictates when the swap occurs Ava learned very early on not to go near his food (from both him and us). If she wanders absently into his path while he is eating something of medium to high value, a look is all it takes and she is either outta there or on her back grovelling. He has never overreacted. We've watched their interactions so many times that we are comfortable leaving low to medium value food with them.

I separate them for high value items such as chicken frames, raw meat, etc.

Edit: dandybrush has met my two dogs so hopefully this makes sense and helps.

Edited May 6, 2011 by wuffles

[dandybrush]

thanx wuffles

[Sayreovi]

I give my three bones and they usually end up only a few metres from each other even though they have a huge yard to move around.

I only give them bones though when I am able to see and hear them, the two adults stay away from each other and the puppy usually does but when younger she got close sniffing around and some how managed to get one of them to share theirs a few times. I have discouraged this fiercly especially as she is getting older now and her puppy licence will be up soon.

Personally and I know some will disagree but I don't mind my lot warning one of the others when they get to close, the older two very rarely do it now as I tell them off if they get close to the others boundary or sometimes they get a look and move away but Jovi does and the boys are learning how close they can get. Nova for instance is not allowed within three metres but Darcy is allowed to brush past her.

[bedazzledx2]

Same here...I feed goat bones that they can entirely consume. Puppy in the crate and the two older dogs on their mat until finished. I also supervise and would never leave them alone with unconsumed bones.

Another one who does not like marrow bones.

My 3 bullies are fed lamb necks and have been taught to stay on their special 'bone matts' until they've finished.

Bones have very high value, so I also supervise the proceedings to make sure no one attempts to 'share'

[koalathebear]

Because of the mess we feed them outside not in their crates - we tether them a short distance apart and feed them their bones that way. We supervise to make sure there's no choking but we find it works better than feeding one at a time or OH taking one to one part of the yard and me the other to another part of the yard.

We usually scatter kibble in the grass for their breakfast in the morning. These days we only use the Kong Wobbler/treat ball for if one is left behind while the other is being taken out e.g. for Hoover when Elbie's taken to agility training.

[dandybrush]

ok so it looks like my new plan is to do up boredom busters when im taking one and not the other, and as for when i leave home, maybe i could do as you do and scatter their dog biscuits that would keep them busy and i cant imagine that would cause for fights and ill just leave them with toys, and give them bones when i am home regularly

[shelby-001]

We don't give marrow bones intentionally if we are going out. Occasionally I have given them one, forgotten, gone out and then come home to find them happily gnawing away on them, another time they were asleep and the bones not even a consideration.

My favourite for giving them something to occupy them if I am heading out for a while is a Buffalo Pizzle. They get one each and they provide a good 20 odd minutes of chewing, after they have had their 'game' first. They like to run around and tease n chase each other, frantically waving their Pizzle at each other, once they've shown off enough they lay down n chew.

They have about 4 cow hooves floating around the yard that stay out there permanently and they just grab one and chew away when they feel like it. Our two have been known to share a bone though.

Their meals are not to be shared.... breakfast and dinner are strictly their own (or Lilly would end up the size of a house, she doesn't know how to stop eating).

Very rarely do they bother each other over a bone, they are always given one together, at exactly the same instant and they head off in opposite directions. The only item Boof gets possessive of is a pig trotter, but he is normally finished before Lilly and leaves her in peace. If by chance she finishes first and heads in his direction, one growl and she disappears.

[dandybrush]

hmm thanx shelby what you said is very promising

your 2 are very cute sharing the bone there

Edited May 8, 2011 by dandybrush

[corvus]

I think every pack has different dynamics. My boys are physically separated when they get bones usually, and I supervise. If it's a recreational bone like a marrowbone that's meant to keep them busy for a few hours, they eat together and I watch them until Kivi has had enough and leaves his. He always gives up on it first. I put all chews and boredom busters up if I'm going out, but leave them with a dried cow's ear or something similar to distract them from me leaving.

I used to leave the dogs with bones to eat while I was out, but no longer do so. A couple of times I've had to pull a bone out that has got wedged along the top of the dog's mouth. They get quite distressed when it happens and I'd hate to think how painful it would be if it happened while I was out and they had to put up with it for several hours! I have no idea what would happen. Even marrow bones can be splintered so a piece is the right size for that to happen.