I have a four year old rottweiler/lab mixed (Roxy) and she's twice the size of her mother and father. My problem with her is that she guards her food bowls. I also have three other dogs that need to eat. If one of them even comes near the bowls, empty or full, Roxy will growl, run over to them and lay in front of them so that no other dog can get to them. She also gets upset when one of her bowls is getting empty and will throw it around the kitchen. Roxy will even eat when she's not hungry just so that that dogs will have nothing to eat!
I've tried to make four different bowls of food for each of my dogs and put them in different rooms, but Roxy makes sure she gets done first so that she can steal the others' food. Most of the time, the only way all of the other dogs can eat is if I feed them myself....kind of like how you would feed a baby. Roxy's mom (Gypsy) will wait until Roxy is playing or outside to eat, but my youngest dog (Molly) will just except that Roxy doesn't want her to eat and walks away. I don't want her think she has to do whatever Roxy wants her to do.
I know dogs that have been in previous situations where their owners have starved them so they get very protective of their food, but we've always had Roxy and she's always been well fed.
I worry when nobody's home that the dogs will get into a fight over their food and someone will end up hurt.
Any suggestions?
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