Puppy Food Dominance

[Reddii]

Hi All,

Wondering if someone can give me some direction or thoughts on this one. I've got two BC pups - one nine months, one 4 months. They get on famously and she is very protective of him and loves him etc etc. They walk well on a dual lead and play all morning and evening without incident.

At this point she is definitely top dog although there is not a lot of size difference between them. They wrestle a lot and mouth a bit and I leave them to it for the most part (unless they are in the house). When they eat I feed them seperately and have to make sure that she doesn't lord over him and not let him have his food, but if I do happen to get distracted all that happens is that she eats the 'good stuff' and leaves the rest for him when she is finished - no noise, no fuss.

The only problem I have arises when I give them each a bone, or frozen chicken wings (freeze them in a block of water - they love it!) or pigs ears. Unless I supervise them all hell breaks loose. It is the one time that CK (little guy) will stand up to Xena (still little, but older girl), she won't stand for his petulant nonsense and a lot of noise and wrestling ensues. (Nothing really serious, but still enough to be unpleasant.)

Should I:

Refrain from giving them treats altogether? (not preferred)

Only treat them when they are in their individual crates and cannot get at each other (not preferred either as I want to be able to give them their treats on my way out the door).

Only treat them when I have a spare hour or so to supervise - because I have so much spare time that is not spent training or walking the dogs.

Is there another way I can manage/shape their behaviour?

Oh, by treat I'm only talking about bones etc. they are fine with training treats and are working well side by side on the simple stuff that CK has learned.

thanks to anyone who has any ideas.

Tony

[Miranda]

I always feed bones, pigs ears etc. separately, it's just not worth the hassle. I certainly wouldn't leave my dogs with bones when I go out, that would be asking for trouble.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Miranda

[Reddii]

I always feed bones, pigs ears etc. separately, it's just not worth the hassle. I certainly wouldn't leave my dogs with bones when I go out, that would be asking for trouble.

Yeah, leaning towards this - you know when you want someone to tell you it's all OK, just do it and it will be all right, but really you know it won't be.....that's where I'm at unless someone can come up with a really good reason not to go there.

[Miranda]

The trouble is if you leave bones or long lasting treats like pigs ears when you go out there could be a fight and you won't be there to break it up. Although they're unlikely to seriously damage each other it's still a possibility and my motto is 'better safe than sorry'. I won't even leave bones with my three older dogs who have lived together happily all their lives, you just never know

[Sammykins]

Hi All,

Wondering if someone can give me some direction or thoughts on this one. I've got two BC pups - one nine months, one 4 months. They get on famously and she is very protective of him and loves him etc etc. They walk well on a dual lead and play all morning and evening without incident.

At this point she is definitely top dog although there is not a lot of size difference between them. They wrestle a lot and mouth a bit and I leave them to it for the most part (unless they are in the house). When they eat I feed them seperately and have to make sure that she doesn't lord over him and not let him have his food, but if I do happen to get distracted all that happens is that she eats the 'good stuff' and leaves the rest for him when she is finished - no noise, no fuss.

The only problem I have arises when I give them each a bone, or frozen chicken wings (freeze them in a block of water - they love it!) or pigs ears. Unless I supervise them all hell breaks loose. It is the one time that CK (little guy) will stand up to Xena (still little, but older girl), she won't stand for his petulant nonsense and a lot of noise and wrestling ensues. (Nothing really serious, but still enough to be unpleasant.)

Should I:

Refrain from giving them treats altogether? (not preferred)

Only treat them when they are in their individual crates and cannot get at each other (not preferred either as I want to be able to give them their treats on my way out the door).

Only treat them when I have a spare hour or so to supervise - because I have so much spare time that is not spent training or walking the dogs.

Is there another way I can manage/shape their behaviour?

Oh, by treat I'm only talking about bones etc. they are fine with training treats and are working well side by side on the simple stuff that CK has learned.

thanks to anyone who has any ideas.

Tony

I agree with the other comments. I have two dogs and I have learnt from experience not to leave them treats or bones when I go out. When you have more than one dog it leads to aggression and even fights. I only give them treats when I'm home. If you can separate them to some extent when you are home (e.g. one in house and one outside) then it should be okay for them to have treats when you are home but not able to supervise).

[Staff'n'Toller]

Yep raw foods and high value stuff fed separately in my house.

A lot of dogs can share without incident, but I have seen a situation that went very very very bad....not worth the risk.

Mel.

[Reddii]

Thanks for your thoughts - that's the new rule. As I type this thought I'm looking at them and they've found a pigs ear from the back yard and are rolling around playing - she's actually encouraging him to take it. Oh well, better go and take it from them. I will never fully understand the psyche of these wonderful animals!