hi dog lovers, got another question if ya dont mind, thanx!?

Question

here goes.....! my new collie cross 'cassie' guards her food for hours so my lab cross doesnt get it, the lab 'jack' is castrated but my collie is not neutered! who is more dominant (me first of course!)? how do i go about feeding them? so far they feed out of diferent bowls but in the same room, both at the same time but jack wolfs down his food to try and pinch cassie's, shall i stop this or leave them to it? look at my last question for more details, thank you!

Answer 1

Hi Susie,Your female Cassie is what is known as FOOD PROUD, just be aware of it,
what she is doing is making sure no one gets her share she has never done this before because she hasn't had to
I do agree with the people that are telling you to feed in separate rooms or one inside and the other outside.

If the female is going to have seasons i suggest you have her spayed even though your male is castrated.

You sound a little flustered everything will be OK and i really cannot in anyway shape or form not think that these two dogs will not get on, you didn't say how long you have had these two because you have a male and a female they should get on two males are more likely to fight and two females are worse,

I am sure if they were going to fight they would have by now it is going to take a little time for them to settle in with each other,Most of the time it is just a lot of noise,

At the end of June this year i took on a female GSD she needed a home or ELSE,
Like yourself i brought this dog home to meet my male GSD,I had a weekend from hell they really did not like each other the new girl was food proud
.
I was so unsure it was going to work but knew that if i could not do this she was going to be put down, They had a few grumbles about who could sleep where... and this is mine... i have lived here longest, I wanted so much to keep her because she was also my dogs sister,

If you could see them now.........Why did i worry so much they really love each other and it was the best thing i have done this year.

Your Jack will soon be so glad you brought home cassie
Did you know why cassie needed a new home?
I think you are doing a wonderful job taking on another dog, keep up the good work i REALLY hope this works out for you.
with abit of luck you will let us all know in a few weeks how they are getting on ???
Take care x

Answer 2

I have two dogs also and went through a similar problem. The only answer is separate them in two rooms for feeding and dont allow them out until their food is gone. If one just leaves it there past about ten minutes, dispose of it. Chances are they will eat it right away if you do this a few times. Once they eat their own food right away, slowly you can introduce them back into eating in the same room again. Even if one of your dogs has to eat in a bathroom for a little while, you will teach the dog that it is eating time and to get it done so other things can happen, like play time. Remember to praise both dogs after they are done eating. You may also want to let the first dog stay in the other room while the second is still eating to avoid the dog who is already done from intimidating or eyeballing the slow eater.

Answer 3

You do not allow an feeding session that last for "hours". If they do not eat in 15 min, pick the food up. Feed each in a different corner of the room. When he is done, crate him or put him out and let her eat. IF she goes past the 15 min mark, she goes hungary till dinner.

Answer 4

I had the same problem.I have two golden retrievers What you need to do is sit there with them as they eat there food together, and every time that Jack tries to pinch at Cassie scold{by scolding I don't mean hitting but by letting him know that it wrong. him and he will eventually realized that he will get in trouble every time he touches her food. It worked for my 2 dogs who were also a male and female!!

Answer 5

try moving Jack to another room. And keep him in there until Cassie is finished. Once Cassie is neutered, he should slow down on the agressiveness. Goodluck!

Answer 6

its a natural thing for dogs to guard their food nuts or not probably the best thing to do is to feed them in different rooms if possible any dog will eat until its full then some more, its part of nature not knowing when the next meal will come along

Answer 7

feed then in seperate rooms and dont let the collie guard it, if she hasn't eaten it in about 10mins take it off of her, the reason she isn't eating it straight away is either she isn't that hungry or she wont eat cause the other one is unnerving her and she cant concentrate, if she guards the bowl from you as well please please dont feed her from the bowl when your in the room you will only end up getting bitten, either scatter her food in the garden and shut her out til its all gone or just hand feed her one bit at a time with the lab out of the way. food aggression is one of the few things that you will have major major problems if ever of getting over, please but dont put either yourself, anyone else or your lab in the position where one or all of you could get bitten cause it will all end in tears, rehoming or euthanisia.

Answer 8

well my guess would be try to feed them in different rooms and block the lab mix from getting into the room with your collie mix, I had the same trouble with dogs and that seemed to work for me so good luck :)

Answer 9

I used to have this problem with my two dogs. I would feed them on opposite sides of the room, and stand inbetween them. Whichever one finished first, I would have sit or lay by their bowl until the other was finished. I had to do this several weeks until they got used to only eating out of their own bowl.

Answer 10

i would feed them at different times, cassie first then remove her from the room so jack can eat in peace, allowing this behaviour to carry on could make jack a nervous eater or maybe one day jack Will retaliate and then you'll have a fight on your hands