Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I feed my food-nuts beagle in the bathroom with the door closed. I spread the other dogs's dishes around as I've learned what their habits are, and I always put the dishes down in the same order.
Even the two original brothers I got as puppies did have some knockdown dragout (brief) fights. It was very alarming to me, but they did seem to be sorting out their deal.
As I've added adopted dogs, there has been some growling and warning at each other while they sort things out.
One adoptive dog I did get I had to return after one year. After one of the original pups died, she became obsessed with injuring the other. No trainers who knew her could understand it, but I had to send her back, where she's had no aggression problems before or since.
It might be a good idea to talk to a trainer who is familiar with shelter adoptive dogs about the best way to work with them.
I believe it's recommended that young children not be left alone with any dog, any time. General principle.
Good on ya for adopting shelter pups. It should go well with your good attention. Adoption is such a kindness, and everyone should be able to win.
You've already gotten some great advice - I'll add this:
When working with you're pups, individually and together, always include voice commands when learning something new. This will hopefully allow you, later, to use just the voice command to correct behavior. Let's face it, we can't always reach our pets the instant the action begins. "Drop it" and "No" are very important, as they allow you to create at least a pause in your pets actions, allowing that split second you need to act. If you can cause just a "hiccup" in his forward movement, it can make a real difference in teaching behaviors.
Twice now I've introduced a new pet to the family. I've never put my dogs in different rooms or used a gate when feeding, but I've always done the intro period with a barrier. Usually me sitting in the middle of the room and each dog on his own side of the room. This way, I could distract the one that was trying to be too nosey or intimidating. My last two shared a set of bowls, water and food. There were no problems because the older one had alpha status over the younger and I demonstrated alpha over both during the first few months, sitting right there at feeding times. Pretty soon, only one bowl for each (water and food) was set out, constantly full and nobody felt the need to "be the boss", there was always enough for both. I don't recommend this to everyone, I am fully aware that I have probably been lucky so far that there hasn't been an arguement.
i agree that you should feed them both at the same time. you can defer to cooper's having senority by placing his bowl down first but i don't think making them watch eachother eat is the answer.
also, you need to learn what treats/toys they can share and what they can't. my zeke will guard anything like a bone/rawhide that we give him. he will snap at miya if she trys to take it. he has tried to do that with me and my ex but we correct him and then make sure he knows we are the alpha and what we say goes. i can never give them hooves or bully sticks cause it just makes him too protective of those treats.
since rudy is so young you have a lot of opportunity to work with him. teach him the "drop it" command. that way you can remove any item without fearing a bite. also, practice with rudy the drop it command, then take it and give it right back so he knows that not only are you the goddess of all that taste yummy, but you reward him when he listens.
you should also try and teach your daughter to say the drop it command. i know she's only three but the pups need to know that she ranks higher than them in the social heirarchy.
good luck!
Yes, I am working on "drop it". Cooper has that down pat. Rudy just kind of looks at me funny right now and then I have to pry it out of his mouth. Rudy is smart though. He had a habit of taking treats too aggressively at first. So I have been working with him to "take it nice". It only took a dozen or so corrections and he started being very gentle when he took the treat.
Yes, my daughter gives the dog commands. Sit, off, drop it... She actually seems to really enjoy bossing them around.
Another great command to teach that comes in handy in this type of situation is" LEAVE IT". My two eat at opposite ends of my kitchen and if one decides to go check out the other ones dish a simple" Leave it" will put an end to that. Great command if you are having a snack and have it on the coffee table and have to leave the room for a minute too. Mine will leave it, oh they will stand and look at it and drool but will not touch it as they are hoping when I return I will say "Free take it", doesn't happen!
Jazz feels everything is hers and if Dash or another dog has something she wants she can get aggressive but the minute I see her looking I tell her leave it and she does. I am also lucky as Dash is submissive and will give anything up to Jazz. My parents prior Big dog who was twice the size of Jazz then some would let Jazz charge growling with teeth bared at him them he would simply walk away and let her have what ever it was.Jazz is the queen of all and the others know it!
BTW Dash was 1 yr old when I got him and he had serious food aggression but it really did not take long to teach him that my hand coming near his bowl when he was eating was a good thing. I can take anything away from him and have no problem so food aggression towards people can be fixed. I also can hand out treats when they are all together with no problems which was not possible when I first adopted him.
Food aggression is very common with shelter pets. Most got very little if any at all in their former abused lives! When finally in a good home with good food they want it all! I have to separate some of my dogs during feeding time since they are all shelter rescues. I have one that I cannot eat any kind of food around her with another dog present. She will guard me and the food! Good luck and maybe keep them separate during chow time.
they both are young, feed the 2 dogs at the same time, and distant the two, so they do not inhale the food, and spit it up. give each a dish-food bowl, even if they eat in another room, so they have there own food. I think it is somewhat not ok to feed one dog, and have the other one watch.
I would always feed the 2 dogs at the same time, each there own food dish, and it was ok with them. However, I made sure, the, less hungry dog
was a distant so, that dog good enjoy her food at peace. Also tell, and watch your child to leave them eat in peace. She is real yound, and needs
to try to learn, they need space also, when eating.
Last edited by maggiekate; 02-24-2009 at 10:12 PM..
rnc76, it looks like you can take care of yourself so I won't bother ripping into the ignorant post made by kaylor.
But I wanted to add my 2 cents...
First, give up on the rawhide, it's not worth the trouble. The ONLY thing my dog ever gave any dog crap about is rawhide... he even tried to give me attitude over it. That's when it stopped. It doesn't provide anything nutritionally and is a "high value" item and doesn't belong in a situation with 2 off leash dogs, or children or strangers. If you really want to give your dog a rawhide try to give it to them when they are in a crate or separated somehow. I prefer to give a kong stuffed with hotdog pieces!!
Second, teach your daughter not to take things away from the dogs or out of your dogs mouths if you haven't done so already. No need to fear the animals, it's just rude. The mouth of a dog is like it's hands in some sense and it would be like your child walking up to it's sibling or friend and taking a toy from their hand while they are playing with it. It's not nice. You can teach her commands where she can ask the dog "Give." and they release the toy to her.
Third, no child should be left unattended with any dog regardless of how well trained the dog or child is. It seems like you already know this, I'm just saying it for the thread in general.
rnc76, it looks like you can take care of yourself so I won't bother ripping into the ignorant post made by kaylor.
But I wanted to add my 2 cents...
First, give up on the rawhide, it's not worth the trouble. The ONLY thing my dog ever gave any dog crap about is rawhide... he even tried to give me attitude over it. That's when it stopped. It doesn't provide anything nutritionally and is a "high value" item and doesn't belong in a situation with 2 off leash dogs, or children or strangers. If you really want to give your dog a rawhide try to give it to them when they are in a crate or separated somehow. I prefer to give a kong stuffed with hotdog pieces!!
Second, teach your daughter not to take things away from the dogs or out of your dogs mouths if you haven't done so already. No need to fear the animals, it's just rude. The mouth of a dog is like it's hands in some sense and it would be like your child walking up to it's sibling or friend and taking a toy from their hand while they are playing with it. It's not nice. You can teach her commands where she can ask the dog "Give." and they release the toy to her.
Third, no child should be left unattended with any dog regardless of how well trained the dog or child is. It seems like you already know this, I'm just saying it for the thread in general.
I hope this helped...
All good info. Thanks.
It seems like a common theme concerning rawhides. We had a chocolate lab before we got these two and she never showed aggression concerning anything, so I guess I was a little spoiled. I talked to my neighbor and she said that her otherwise well mannered mutt is the same way. Rawhides are off limits around other dogs because he will flip out if they come near him. He doesn't do that with treats or toys. I've been thinking about why that is. I wonder if it because they get so obsessed with chewing on them, it is like they go into a zone. It never seems good when dogs get so obsessed and fixated on things.
Yes, I agree she shouldn't be left alone with the dogs. I will allow myself to blink though.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
