Why won't my black lab let my german shepherd eat?

Question

They both have seperate food bowls but when the german shepherd starts to eat, the lab goes over and growls at him and so he goes to the other food bowl and the same thing happens. I do seperate them so the german shepherd can eat without the lab bothering him, but I want them to eat togeter so I won't have to seperate them. Other than the food situation, they get along great

Answer 1

Your lab has a dominance problem. Watch the Dog whisperer on National Geographic channel. He is really helpful of how to handle your dog.

Answer 2

Hey there. I have a 4 1/2 year old female black lab. Labs are chewing machines. Don't pepper spray anything in your yard. Stock up on rawhide bones. The big ones. Labs need alot of exercise. Daily walks. After her walk, Koko tends to be alot more even-keeled. Labs have very little, if any, discipline when it comes to eating. I buy the Purina healthy weight chicken and rice formula and give Koko the same amount at the same time every day. Labs are hyper until about 5 years. Then they settle down. That's according to my next door meighbors who also have a black lab. Sammy is pretty mellow compared to mine. But he's about three years older too. Last, but not least, show them love and attention every day. Labs are high maintenance in this area. Have fun!

Answer 3

Your Lab is dominant , He feels the shepard should not eat until he has his fill.
A couple of ways to deal with it!
Make your Lab sit at his food bowl while you eat something-then tell them both they can eat, if he makes a move towards the other dog use what ever disipline measure you use(for me it was a sharp tug on both ears and a strongly voiced NO!) you must become the dominant in this situation.
Allow the shepard to eat first-while Lab watches then allow the lab to eat-be careful about reversing dominance with the two dogs as it can cause fights-if they do fight whichever backs down is now the submissive animal and will eat last-if you break it up punish both-again you assert dominance

Your final opton is to just go with feeding seperately-a different room-one inside the outside or at different times
Good luck

Answer 4

What you want is not gonna happen.

The Lab is the dominant one - more Alpha than than the Shephard - and rules the pack.

In the pack, the Alpha eats first and does NOT share - the lower ranked dog gets whats left (and not much after a chow-hound Lab.)

Put their food on opposite sides of the room far enough apart that the Lab doesn't bother to come over.

The only way you are going to change that is to get in between them and make the Lab back off and leave the Shepard alone - you have to become more dominant and more Alpha than the Lab. (This means voice, body language etc.)

And guess what? The minute you are out of sight, the Lab is going to do it again.


My 15 year old Aussie/Chow/Keeshound/? who is about 20 inches at the shoulder and 45 lbs does that all the time to my 115 lb, 29 inches at the shoulder, herding guarding bred, Kuvasz. Of course to be fair, the cats can swat him away from his food too! She will even jsut lay near the dishes and keep him away - she doesn't want, she is just establishing that he needs her permission because she is the Alpha and he will obey her.

Answer 5

I had a similar problem with two large dogs. I tied the dominant dog at feeding so that he couldn't chase the other dog away from the food. Well, I learned that's not what it's all about. Because even though tied to the kitchen door, his growls and body language alone were enough to make my other dog shy away from his dish on the opposite side of the room.

So I then sat with the shy dog and personally stood there as he ate. They both knew I was boss and there would be no argument when I was in the picture. Never leave them alone together with food. Either separate them or place yourself between them. The dominant dog will NOT disrespect YOU.

Answer 6

I had the same problem with my dogs (black lab/pit bull mix & black lab/rottweiler mix). My female dog thinks she is the boss of everything and my male dog just goes along with whatever. She likes to dominate the food bowls. They each have their own bowls but she always gets her bowl first then he gets his. If she goes to his bowl, I just tell her no and she leaves it. When they get treats or anything food related she always gets hers first. That way she feels that she is the boss. Try that and see if it helps. I don't have a problem with mine much anymore.

Answer 7

The lab is the Alpha dog in the two dog "pack." In the wild, no one eats until the alpha dog eats.

You must take over as the "alpha dog" or you run the risk of the lab runninng the household. Contact a breeder and they can tell you how to assert yourself with the lab.

Answer 8

I have the same problem with my Yellow lab and Aussie shepard. I used to feed them in the same room and I would stand by the Aussie to make sure my lab wouldnt come over and if she did I would send her back to her food. After awhile she quit doing it and I dont have any problems at all.

Answer 9

the lab is asserting his dominance over the german shepherd. To prevent this, YOU have to be the dominant one and discipline the lab when it happens. otherwise, you'll just have to continue feeding them in separate rooms. But, as long as you allow the lab to exhibit this behavior, you will be reinforcing his dominance.

Answer 10

Looks as though you will unfortunately have to keep them separated when they eat. They get on well together otherwise, so surely it isn't any great hardship just to feed them one at a time? Sorry there doesn't seem like a lot more you can do.