Problems At Feeding Time

[espinay2]

All mine are fed separately. Separate crates and pens. No hassling each other over food and I can see exactly how much each has eaten. They stay separated till all are finished so no harassing or intimidating each other. I teach them good manners with food, but separation makes feeding time much less stressful. And is one more good association with the crate. Love my crates.

[Homeriver]

Think we have sorted it out. Pup has learnt his manners and the older dog has learnt that she will not starve and there is enough food for both of them. I even scatter feed them this morning together and they were fine . I'm still supervising meal times to make sure everyone gets their share but both dogs seemed to have settled into the new routine fine. The older dog is and always has been very well behaved and friendly with other dogs and i often take her food away halfway through eating so she understands who really is the boss. I think she's happy with being in charge of the pup but knowing that I say he gets to eat/play with whatever I give him.

[sheena]

I am just wondering why you would take her food away while she is still eating I would be pretty cranky if someone took my plate away before I had finished.

[Mystiqview]

I am just wondering why you would take her food away while she is still eating I would be pretty cranky if someone took my plate away before I had finished.

Old one or maybe even belief to reinforce you are top dog and that you are the food provider. Also supposed to teach them that they do not have to fight for food.

Mine are taught wait and free at dinner time. I used to have dobes and mine were always taught manners. Never had a food resource guarder. My ex used to have one husky bitch who used to resource guard. He never tried to correct it, just dealt and fed them separately. In that, he took the easy way out. Makes it harder to feed when out camping unless you pack crates and put one here and one there. (More crap to pack)

However just by feeding separately, it only treats the symptoms, not fixes the issue. Yes, feeding in crates and in other rooms or out of sight is a sure way of stopping food resource. However also constantly feeding in crate can also create or lead into crate guarding. The crate is become a higher value to the dog and if already showing protective signs, it can add the craters to food. The amount of times where I have seen dogs at shows being overalls possessive of their crate or trolley is just incredible. As soon as a dog goes any where near or walks past (and not just closely) and the dog goes berserk and bites and snaps at the bars is not a good look to see at a dog show.

If put in a situation where they can't be fed separately ( use kennel situation where a family of dogs are often kennelled together - and right next to another kennel of dogs, you want them to not have the risk of food fighting. My old dobe was like that. Hand a long haired shepherd in the run next to him that used to go berserk at food time, and since then, he hated long haired shepherds.

My current four Bcs are fed separately and often in the same room. They are supervised, and there is no resource guarding. When I have pups in the house and they may go near an oldies bowl, it is carefully supervised. I will allow some growling by the oldie to the pup, as it is teaching dog manners, if it starts to get more serious, I remove pup. Tell the oldie enough if growling is getting more serious and then reward it with some other treat.

[cavNrott]

Think we have sorted it out. Pup has learnt his manners and the older dog has learnt that she will not starve and there is enough food for both of them. I even scatter feed them this morning together and they were fine . I'm still supervising meal times to make sure everyone gets their share but both dogs seemed to have settled into the new routine fine. The older dog is and always has been very well behaved and friendly with other dogs and i often take her food away halfway through eating so she understands who really is the boss. I think she's happy with being in charge of the pup but knowing that I say he gets to eat/play with whatever I give him.

Ermm no. What she does learn by you taking her food away half way through eating is that you can't be trusted not to steal her food.

I can't see any good reason why dogs should not be allowed to eat their meal in peace without a human interfering with their food bowl.

If you want to ensure your dog knows the food belongs to you, you put the bowl on the floor and have her sit and wait until you tell her she may eat. Then you let her eat without interference. This way she knows the food belongs to you until you allow her to eat.

[sandgrubber]

Glad you've worked it through. They sound like typical Labradors . . . super keen on food, but not prone to aggression.

[OSoSwift]

If you wish to "take" her food during eating, have super value treats, gain her attention, get her to sit and wait while you put super value treats in the bowl and then release her to eat again.

I do not take my dogs food while eating and have had no issues on the very rare occassion I have had to interrupt their eating or someone has needed to brush past them they have had no issues

[SeeGee]

I know everyone has answered this really, but I want to stress the brilliance of the special bowls you can get.

I bought my 2 beagles a "scoff stopper" each. My female beagle came to us gulping her food so quickly that she reguritated it immediatly, then ate it again. She also had a good dose of food aggression, resource guarding. Because of this, my boy started gulping, trying to eat as much as he could before she was finished, he was scared she would go at him.

The bowls changed so much. I do feed separatly occasionally, other times I just stand with them whilst they eat, or, as they have a raw diet, if its a bone I'll toss one to each and they go their separate ways. Feed time in generally pretty calm now. We worked with a brilliant behaviorist (Jane Harper), who recommended the bowls, and some other techniques.

Its just important to stay on top of things. No matter how calm things are, I never take it for granted. Anything can happen, even now.

[juice]

what cav said

my BT is fed in the garage, she has to wait by doing as I ask, then I give the release.

[wuffles]

Edit: Oops sorry I see you've sorted the issue. Will leave my reply anyway in case it helps anyone :)

I started off feeding the puppy in their crate and the older dog outside. Then I gradually moved them closer ie. crate and same room, both outside at different ends of the yard, both outside a few metres apart. I always supervise at first but from a distance as I found watching them makes them more paranoid. I only step in if one goes to eat the other's food and redirect them back to their own bowl. I've done this with two sets of dogs now and find it works well. I work up to them eating about 2 metres apart, I never expect them to share food. They never get fed bones together.

My younger dog eats from one of the special bowls as I found he was forgetting to breathe while eating. They do help.

Edited April 10, 2014 by wuffles

[Mystiqview]

those stop gulp bowls are good if a dog gulps their food. Also putting 1/4 - 1/2 (depending on dog size) of a brick or two in the bowl does the same thing.

[Homeriver]

I think it is very important that you can take food, bones or treats etc away from your dog at anytime. They always get it back and I only do it occasionally. My dogs and kids are supervised but if my toddler happened to touch my dogs food I would expect the dog to move away and show no signs of aggression. Also if the dogs were to pick up a bait or other poisonous or dangerous object I would be able to go straight in and take it from them with no arguments. I have done this with all my dogs and none ever gets distressed. They know if they wait calmly for a minute they will get back their dinner.

[raineth]

I think it is very important that you can take food, bones or treats etc away from your dog at anytime. They always get it back and I only do it occasionally. My dogs and kids are supervised but if my toddler happened to touch my dogs food I would expect the dog to move away and show no signs of aggression. Also if the dogs were to pick up a bait or other poisonous or dangerous object I would be able to go straight in and take it from them with no arguments. I have done this with all my dogs and none ever gets distressed. They know if they wait calmly for a minute they will get back their dinner.

I can do all that too without taking away my dogs' dinner.

What triggers food guarding? The belief that someone might take their food. So therefore actually taking their food might not be a great idea, you might be confirming for them that they need to guard their food, even if you do give it back to them :)

[Homeriver]

Why should you not be able to take your dogs food? I believe they should be accepting of everything I throw at them (but they also need to be conditioned to this). If I am the "leader" and they trust me they should be calm and willing to follow my lead. I think that food guarding, while beginning with the belief that someone may take their food, is made worse if by getting upset or aggressive they are left alone. When the dog realises the only way to get their food is to stay calm and submit the guarding issues are dealt with not ignored.

[cavNrott]

I have never messed with my dogs or my rescue dogs food once they have been given permission to eat. I have never had a resource guarder. My dogs eat in the same room at the same time.

Remember Firm but FAIR. I don't believe it's fair to take away a dog's food before it has finished eating once you have given it permission to eat.

I need my dogs to respect me, cooperate with me and trust my decisions. They're obedient and well behaved. They will spit out whatever they have in their mouths ifI give them a short 'out' command. There is no resource guarding issue.

[OSoSwift]

My dogs are taught leave it. If they have something in their mouth and they are told leave it, they spit it out.

I can take anything from my dogs at any time and have never taken their food off them half way thorugh. I could also do whatever I wished with my Dobes and had never taken their food off them

[sandgrubber]

My dogs, and almost all the Labradors I've met, are obsessed with food, but paradoxically, not the least inclined to resource guarding. I don't regularly take their food off them, but I do periodically need to take something out of their mouths -- they pick up all sorts of crap, and a lot of it is literally crap, on their walks -- and sometimes I need to take it away from them -- like if it's a cooked bone. I get zero resistance, even if I put my fingers down the throat a bit. [A few weeks ago I went to remove something and it was well fermented cat poo, which I got all over myself and the smell was hard to wash out].

Point being, I suspect resource guarding is pretty rare in some breeds and if you're sensible with management of food, you won't have problems.

[persephone]

I think it is very important that you can take food, bones or treats etc away from your dog at anytime.

yes!

this is why all my dogs are taught "YUCK" , and "Gimme" So I can stop them picking something up ..and /or get them to give up what is in their grip :) This is taught from day dot..and never involves taking away a food bowl during meals. ....the puppies enjoy it :)

[Homeriver]

This is not something I do regularly, maybe once every couple of months, so I really don't think they find it annoying. I haven't had a problem with resource guarding and I know plenty of people that don't and have never touched their dogs food. I feel it just adds another level to the relationship. Everyone has their own theories I guess :)

Edited April 11, 2014 by newbie1

[Rebanne]

This is not something I do regularly, maybe once every couple of months, so I really don't think they find it annoying. I haven't had a problem with resource guarding and I know plenty of people that don't and have never touched their dogs food. I feel it just adds another level to the relationship. Everyone has their own theories I guess :)

yet you have a problem now