Feeding More Than One Dog

This is the only time in my life that I have owned just one dog. In the past I had two toy poodles, and then a miniature and a standard. Since Bella is my only dog I have no feeding problems. Back when I had my miniature and standard, I would separate them for meals. They never actually got into a fight over food but whoever would finish first would occasionally get a muffled growl from the one still eating (in other words...."don't even think about taking anything out of MY bowl." :) ) This whole fear of having the other possibly take their food would usually make them both eat faster than they probably should have so I felt it better to separate them. Bella, since she is an "only child" (the cats don't like her food) just picks at her food through the day usually. My question is this: For those of you who have more than one dog, do you separate your dogs at feeding time? How much of a problem is food stealing at your house? I am just curious and hopefully Mugsy will weigh in here. You must have quite a balancing act at feeding time! LOL! :)

With my two, I do not separate them. I get their dishes ready and they leave them until I move them to the spot they eat at and tell them ok. I do stay with them while they eat cause sometimes whoever finishes first will try to steal from the other, but their is no fighting or anything. I only try to stop it because Cincy is on the path of being overweight and the vet has asked us to keep her weight where it is or maybe even take a few pounds off her. Sadie is the opposite and can eat whatever and not gain an ounce :) Neither of them care if the other eats from their bowl, they are perfectly happy to share!

My two eat together on the patio but on opposite sides of the sliding door. I put Kobie's dish down first (she's the alpha of the two, and also the quickest to sit for her meal), then Eli's, and practically before I've turned around and closed the door Eli's done. He learned as a puppy not to hover around Kobie while she eats--he got some serious growling directed his way!--so he knows to just leave her alone till she's done. Kobie "trained" him not to be obnoxious!

They always lick each other's dish when they're both done eating, too. No problems at all! :D

Ok Pam, you asked for it!! lol We feed our crew once a day and some are fed together and some are separated. Let's see...Daisy and Jazzy eat in the kitchen from their elevated food dishes, DeeDee eats in the small bathroom, Vonney eats in the big bathroom, Serenity eats in the back bedroom, George and Sophie eat in the computer room, and Max, Tigger, Sox, Dudley, Jessie, Billy, and Shawna all eat in our bedroom with one of us in there. Jessie and Billy eat in the big overstuffed chair, Tigger eats on the bed (don't ask), Shawna and Sox eat on the floor on my side of the bed, Max and Dudley eat on the floor on Mike's side of the bed. It's really not too bad now that we have the system worked out. It usually only takes 20 minutes from the time we start filling the bowls until we have the bowls picked up again. Does that answer your question?? lol;) :D :rolleyes:

I wish I could see that feeding session, mugsey! What a system!:eek:

Well, come up for the PT meeting and we enlist you!! lol

Mugsy since you are a teacher, I'm giving you an "A+" for organizational skills!!!!! That's quite a routine, but it sounds like you've got it all under control! ;) In my house the cats don't like Bella's food, but Bella would most certainly eat theirs! That's why they are fed in the basement where they can eat their meals without developing indigestion or worse yet not getting a morsel for themselves! :D

Hi Pam,
I'm 11 years old and I have 5 dogs. I think Its a terrific Idea that you seperate your dog/dogs while their eating time. I always seperate my dogs while they are eating. Well I don't know why your dog picks at her food, But my Dads dog Captain is a 5 year old English Cocker Spaniel and when ever I feed him he he nevr eats. You know why? I did some experenting and I decided he Hates being watched while hes eating:D Well I hope this helps you!!
Amy:cool:

True, we only have two, but I feed them seperate. They are probably only about 3-4 ft from each other, but that way Angus doesn't finish his and eat hers if she hasn't ate it yet! He is such a chow hound!

Mugsy, I'd love to see you feeding all your dogs, it must truely be a wonderful sight!

Graham and Kersey eat their food in two seperate elevated bowls, but they share an elevated water dish. Both of their bowls are 5 feet from each other, and both of them eat in the kitchen on the linolium floor.

Kersey is a chow hound. She has some labbie in her bloodline, and she certainlly has a labbie's appitite :) I have to watch because she inhales her food (it's a a raw diet of soaked grains, raw meats and veggies so little scare of bloat) and when she's done she stands real close to Graham and watches him intently. If he happens to take a breather, she may just shove her way in and finish his breakfast for him. Graham would just stand back and let her finish his breakfast so I wait until Graham's done before I walk away. Usually it's just a few minutes. I have started splitting Kersey's food up into two portions which I feed her the 2nd portion after work.

It's not a problem, but it's amazing how much Kersey eats, and how much faster I go through food!

Mugsy, I can't imagine what you go through!!! That's a LOT of dog food and a lot of dog bowls!

Quote:

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Originally posted by AdoreMyDogs
Graham would just stand back and let her finish his breakfast

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Oh Leslie, that's our sweet, sweet Graham! We love ya Graham! (We love ya too Kersey :) )

Welcome Dancer1 !!!! Hope you like it here. You sound like you are a very responsible girl. Taking care of 5 dogs is work! Thanks for your opinion.:p


Oh yes, it is nice to see someone from else from the north!

I can't even imagine feeding more than one dog!!!

Cookie is a typical Retriever. Her food bowl is finished by the time I'm back inside (she eats outside when it's not too cold). She gobbles it all up and starts to burp.
After that I need to make sure she can't get into the kitchen to grab the dishes from the cats that are on the counter. It's always very stressful around feeding time.

When we visit friends with dogs/cats, I always have to make a quick call before I enter their house to make sure they hide any food that's on tables, counters and floors. No matter what, it'll be gone within a second. Cookie has been reported to eat fishfood, hamster snacksticks, rabbit nibbles and last week she was crunching on horse food.

We don't have any problem at all feeding two, Miss Daisy and Perry. We put their bowls down at the same time and Perry goes to his and Daisy goes to hers and they eat their breakfast or dinner. Neither growls at the other, they don't try to get into each other's bowl. Actually Perry finishes first and just waits and watches Daisy, it has now become a every day occurance for Daisy to leave a few grains of food there for Perry to finish in her bowl. Neither one is possessive of their food and share willingly.
When I give them treats I always give the first to Perry and Daisy waits patiently for her turn. Food has never been a problem in our house, now if you take obedience that's another matter. lol
Jackie

Hannah and Tucker each have their own bowl with a joint water dish in between. Tucker inhales his food and Hannah eats hers more slowly. The only time it is a problem is if Hannah has a little upset tummy in the morning and she doesn't want to eat right away. I have to watch when I set her bowl down to make sure she goes to it, because if she doesn't, Tucker will have inhaled both his bowl of krunchies and hers in less than 30 seconds. If she not going to eat right away, I put her bowl up on the counter. Then when she is ready, I generally stand there as Tucker not having anything in his dish is more ready to move in on her. He is a little more ascertive then than when they both are eating at the same time, which generally goes very well. Actually I pretty much stand there when they eat anyway as it doesn't take very long.

What would definitely NOT work in my household would be a dog that wanted to eat a little bit throughout the day. I had a friend visit with her dog who ate that way and she kept its bowl of food in the guest room. Everytime she opened the door to go to the bathroom, one of my dogs would make a mad dash inside and clean up all little Cody's food.

Our alpha dog, Eli, eats his food pretty fast. Our Sassee eats her food a little slower, so we usually feed her in the bedroom with the door closed, and so her puppy will l let her eat. We put the puppy, Ginger, in a crate to eat, so the other dogs will not eat her puppy food.

Ok, you guys are all recruited!! You can help any time your little hearts desire! lol

At first, my dogs had problems eating together. They would wolf it down and kept switching dishes to try and get the most food.

I started by putting one dish in the kitchen and one around the corner. I made the dogs wait until I gave them a command to start. I made them stick to their own dishes. If one dog became protective of their food, it was taken away.

Within a couple of months, at most, they stopped competing for food, because they knew they each had some for themselves. I now put food out and leave it out. They eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full. The dish always had food in it and they know that. It is not uncommom for them to eat out of the same dish.

This may not work for every dog, but it worked for mine:)

When I am feeding them both (M-F, Smokey eats before I go to work unless he's dead tired) --
Smokey and Pork Chop usually eat together. They don't fight over food but they love to eat each other's food. I stand there and have to remind them a couple times to head back to their own bowl.
But if they get an egg or something else tasty for breakfast w/ their food I seperate them by the sliding glass door. Usually though, Smokey will eat about 2/3 of his food and P.C. will eat almost all of his and they'll walk away from their dishes. But of course, as soon as I open the door they head to the opposite one and finish it off. (Smokey only gets a munch in of P.C.'s, though, 'cause I take it away cuz P.C. is on way different food. Mean mommy.)

If they don't eat all their breakfast we leave it for them to munch on during the day, though.

I feed my dogs in the morning and at night, but they are nibblers and just eat little bits through the day. I have 2 food bowls and 2 water bowls but they each use all 4 of them. Never had a problem feeding them at the same time. Reece is the most easy going dog in the world and Lolly is generous with Reece. But if Shiloh kitty even walks in the general direction of the dogs' food bowls, Lolly will herd her off then run and start gulping down food :D