Just Curious...Feeding question for multi-dog homes

[Ginger's Mom]

I have always had just one dog, except for the occasional foster or weekend dogsitting for a neighbor. When we have company the dogs always have their own set of bowls. It has always worked out well for us. But at the same time, I thought it may be a nuisance cleaning and filling several bowls on a regular basis. So I was just curious. Those of you with more than one dog, do they all share the same bowl, or do they get their own bowls? And why? Thanks. :)

[cloverfdx]

Definitely seperate bowls. All 4 dogs get their own food in their own bowl every night. Seperate feeding reduces the risk of food aggression, and i will not risk my dogs getting into fights over food.

Also alot of multi dog familys have dogs with different nutritional (Sp? thats not right) needs and dogs who eat more or less. In my case Elvis is a much smaller dog than Clover but he get about half a cup more food than Clover, his metabolism is a lot higer than hers and he burns off his food quicker.

[LorraineO]

Seperate bowls,,,, we do this so each dog can be monitered as to how much they are eating,,,, besides, they would fight over the food if we didnt.... just works better for us this way.

[finn's mom]

I had multiple cats, and, never left food down for them. I would do the same with dogs. We fed our cats in seperate bowls, with a measured amount of food. I think it's the best way to do it with cats and with dogs, it cuts back on the agression, as stated, and, also helps if they need different food (already stated), but, it also helps avoid having overweight pets.

[k9krazee]

Mine all have their own bowls and their own spaces to eat. We feed them 2x a day and it is just easier to moniter their food intake and reduce the risk of food aggression.

[Ginger's Mom]

:) Thanks guys. I must admit, that I am surprised. I didn't expect the answer to be so overwhelming in favor of two bowls. I will have to remember this.

[Kfamr]

It's really easy filling and cleaning 3 bowls.

We HAVE to have 3 bowls or else only 1 dog would get fed, as whoever got to it first would eat ALL of the food. Plus they all eat different amounts (Simba gets 1 cup, Nala gets almost 2 cups, and Ki gets about a cup and a half.)


Nala and Simba eat side by side - Kiara either eats in the middle of the kitchen or in her crate, wherever I feel like putting her.

[cali]

I have got 5 bowls, all the dogs eat differnt amounts, they dont eat kibble and they would kill each other over the food lol Ripley must not, under any circumstances eat very much as he gets fat VERY easy, perky gets a litle more then Ripley and Ripley always gets jelous and tries to steal perkys so we have to stand between them, Happy and Blair get the same amount of food even though Happy is a LOT bigger then Blair, Misty gets the most amount of food even though she is barely bigger then Blair, she has a very high metabolism. it is not hard, I just collect all the bowls wash them, place them on the counter, pour the veggie slop and add some meat or organs to each bowl and hand out, they dont eat suppers out of bowls as its just bones, it is really not hard to walk around and hand each dog a bone lol

[ParNone]

When I just had Murph and Maddie, I had one food bowl and one water bowl and I never had any issue. Maddie ate first and would just eat until full, then Murph would eat. I had a big water bowl and a lot of times they'd drink from that at the same time. No aggression at all. Maddie did have aggression issues with Murph over attention from me, but never over food or water. Nice to know I rated higher then food in her mind. ;)

When I got Oz though, I started feeding in separate bowls, because he needed to eat different food then them. Small problems did start to arise then. Murph and Maddie would just pick a bowl and eat. They never cared. Oz, however, would just stand there continually barking at them. He always wanted whatever bowl they had. Never got aggressive about it, but all the barking was quite annoying.

I continued with separate bowls, when I got Gull too and the food issues grew a lil' worse. Murph thinks you oughta just be able to eat from whatever bowl. He doesn't get what the problem is. Gull, however, doesn't want either Murph or Oz, touching his food and has air snapped at both of them. So I have to be careful about making sure Murph is up on the bed or outside, before I give Gull his food. If I'm giving out treats or chewies to all 3, I make sure to feed Gull first and for the chewies to keep all 3 separate. Never had those worries with Murph and Maddie.

And I also have to contend with barking at mealtime, cuz both Gull and Oz bark over wanting what the other guy's got. Mealtime is not the most enjoyable part of the day. I almost wish I'd socialized both Oz and Gull to eating from the same bowl as puppies, like I did with Murph and Maddie.

Par...

[IRescue452]

Mine get different bowls. They get fed at different times, Pepper only eats at night by her own preference, and they both get different food. Auumn would eat everything if they ate together and Pepper wouldn't get a bite. Since they only get dry food, I don't clean their bowls every single day, but its not hard to clean two bowls as compared to cleaning up after the dishes from our family of six.

[Ginger's Mom]

Originally posted by Kfamr
We HAVE to have 3 bowls or else only 1 dog would get fed,

This made me smile, I really like the way you phrased it.

ParNone, my sister has had two dogs for years and she has fed them from the same bowl with dry food, and there has never been any problem. But then she has a Cairn ;). I was also curious if there would be food aggression even if they did have seperate bowls.

Also, one of the people who adopted one of our fosters indicated that he intended to feed dry food from the same bowl. So I guess I just thought it may be more common. I guess it depends on the dogs. But I can see from the responses that seperate bowls are definitely the best idea.

:) You are right IRescue, I would much rather clean up after two or three dogs than a family of six. :)

[anna_66]

Well it looks like I'm the only one who says "The same bowl".
Bon and Huney eat out of the same bowl. We tried seperate ones, but it just never worked. She would eat his, he would eat hers didn't matter so now they have a double feeder with 2 bowls and that way they can eat together from the same bowl..sort of;)

Roxey she gets her food ball, she doesn't eat out of a bowl...or should I say Won't eat out of a bowl:p

[petslover]

We have a few bowls but ours pretty much eat from the same bowl.

We let ours free eat though! We been doing that forever and its always worked for us.

[lizbud]

I've always used two different bowls for Smokey & Maggie. It
just seemed logical to do that. They sometimes will switch bowls
on their own or if Smokey walks away from his, Maggie finishes it.

They do share one water bowl.:D

[Toby's my baby]

Our dogs all have seperate food dishes. Boo boo goes absolutly bizerk (sp) if Maggie or Autumn even goes close to his diner (his food is in his diner, which is hooked to his dog house). Maggie doesnt like Autumn or Boo boo by her food either, Maggie lets Autumn in her diner and dog house, but wont let her eat her food. Autumn doesnt really care, but if she is eating and one of the other dogs tries to take her food or dish while shes eating she gets after them but if they eat it when shes done, and I'm not watching them, she doesnt really care. All the cats have sort of their own dishes, C.P. has her own dish because she is in the house most of the time. Cassie has her own dish in my grandpa's shop, because that is the only place she goes, and Mittens eats out of the dish we have out side (we have one dish outside in the "Cat Diner" that all the cats can eat out of including a few strayes :)

[Twisterdog]

I free feed, and they share two food dispensers.

[Ginger's Mom]

Thank you for all of your responses. They are all very interesting. It gives me a lot to think about.

[animal_rescue]

Maggie has her own food and water. Marty and Alex usually share food and water, Dolly has her own bowls in her crate. In the little dogs outside kennel there is 2 food bowls and 2 water bowls, we free freed them.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Mine each have their own food bowls but they share the same water bowl. Tango hates it when Winston and Tia try to take her food.

[sammy101]

Mine have seperate bowls,and get fed twice daily,dry and canned.Mine can't share bowls,we've already had a few moments when they snap at eachother.so seperate bowls they have!They dont even try to go in eachothers food anymore.They share the same waterbowl.

[Glacier]

Everyone gets their own bowl here, with several shared water bowls around.

Feeding time is a little nutty here. Some of them have to eat alone--Deuce & Kayleigh. Heyoka gets tied up to eat. If he was loose, no one else would get any food. Hobo eats alone in the porch--he looses what little control he has at the mere sight of food. He'd get beat up if he ate with the others. Paxil, Preacher & Sleet eat different food than the rest of them. Those three eat inside, but with their own bowls. Paxil is extremely fussy and underweight so I often bribe her to eat with extra canned food or gravy.

Chase & Goldie eat in their pen, far away from each other. Goldie doesn't like Chase getting too close to her food. In Raven's pen there are usually four dogs. Deuce gets pulled out to eat into the "holding pen". Raven, Founder and Mac each get their own bowl, but they tend to switch around. Mac gets an extra bit of food hand fed to him--he needs more food than the others. Pingo eats in the main yard, but inside her dog house. It's chaos!

[Vette]

I free feed and i only have one dog. :o

but if i had other dogs i know i would have to do something different with the food. he has issues with other dogs enough as it is when hes not eating. LOL

[Ginger's Mom]

Glacier, I must admit that I am very surprised at your response. I guess I figured that the only way to manage such a large crew of big, hungry, active dogs was to have several bowls around and free feed. Wow, I cannot imagine what it must be like trying to accommodate that large crew at dinner time :). My admiration for you and what you do for those dogs continues to grow.

[lbaker]

6 dogs, 6 bowls and a "guest bowl" when we have guest dog(s). Same two always eat upstairs, others in the kitchen . One shared, large water bowl in kitchen (freshly filled whenever anyone walks through) and one constantly (by a drippy faucet) being filled water bucket outside. The 5 cats eat wherever and whenever (within reason) they want :rolleyes: :D

[lv4dogs]

They share the water dish but for food they each get their own.
This way I am preventing any aggression issues. I can also monitor their food intake.

[puppyluvs]

Seperate bowls :)

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Originally posted by finn's mom
I had multiple cats, and, never left food down for them. I would do the same with dogs. We fed our cats in seperate bowls, with a measured amount of food. I think it's the best way to do it with cats and with dogs, it cuts back on the agression, as stated, and, also helps if they need different food (already stated), but, it also helps avoid having overweight pets.

Ditto. I feed my cats twice a day, and they each get a measured amount out of their own dish.

My dogs eat once a day. I feed them each a measured amount. Nacey, Nova, and Charlie each eat in their crates. Bitsy eats in the kitchen and Buster eats in the living room.

So I have 5 dog dishes and 6 cat dishes.

[Glacier]

Originally posted by Ginger's Mom
Glacier, I must admit that I am very surprised at your response. I guess I figured that the only way to manage such a large crew of big, hungry, active dogs was to have several bowls around and free feed. Wow, I cannot imagine what it must be like trying to accommodate that large crew at dinner time :). My admiration for you and what you do for those dogs continues to grow.

Free feeding would lead to bloodshed! We haven't done that since added the third dog--and that was a long time ago! This way everyone eats without feeling threatened. Some of my dogs have been strays and been hungry or been starved by their first owners. It's important for them to have a routine to their meals and that they can eat without other dogs stealing their food. I try to feed at approximately the same time everyday. This way also gives me some control over how much food they get. Their needs vary widely. Mac & Ozzy need as much food as the malamutes, despite the fact that Heyoka's head weighs as much as Ozzy's whole body! The hound in them makes their energy needs very high. Sleet gains weight easily and needs less than she used to.

They do have some bones scattered around that they can chew on whenever they want to.

You can't hear them at feeding time? Good to know the racket doesn't carry that far! ;) I know everyone within a few miles of my house knows when I am feeding!

[cali]

lol I am trying to mmuliply the noise my 5 dogs make at feeding time by 4 or 5 lol hmm the sound of a flyball tourniment every feeding time... :eek:

[wolf_Q]

Reggie and Sydney have food in their pen in the basement where we leave them when we're gone. There's a couple of bowls, they can eat as much as they want...my mom feeds them.

Nebo is fed once a day, wherever I happen to be...usually in my room. He is fine with people around food but not other dogs, he must be fed alone.

[bckrazy]

I definitely suggest two food bowls in different rooms for almost anyone. Unless one dog is the very dominant alpha, the other dog will usually steal their food. I remember when we were dog-sitting my sisters Chi, we fed her and Gonzo from different bowls but both in the kitchen. I never really paid attention when they ate, just collected the empty bowls and washed them after 15 minutes. Then we started noticing that Gonzo was getting skinny (he was about 2 years old then), and the Chi was getting chubby :p.... so we ended up just feeding them their own seperate bowls in their crates, to avoid that.

My sister and brother-in-law, even though it annoys me, feed both of their dogs from one big bowl. They just fill it with Nutro in the morning and either give them a couple cups or 2 raw bones at night. Needless to say, Bentley (the Bulldog) is a big chubber and Mercedes (the BC) is on the skinny side. I doubt that Mercedes completely lets him have all the food though, because she is definitely alpha! She probably just eats a couple cups, then lets Ben have the rest :D