Mine are fed side by side in the hall, like Wendy they each pick the same side everytime
I don't allow them 'in my space' while i'm filling the bowls and they'd get a telling off if they dived in for any spillages i made while pouring....but they don't try anyway tbh
They both sit and wait and are released on 'ok' but only once they are both looking at me and holding eye contact (nothing to do with pack leader business i just want their focus on me to reward rather than bowl staring).
I have a doggy guest here at the moment and i just do the same, putting the new dog in the middle of my two (not if they had known food aggression).
Belle spaniel lunged forward on meal one, when the bowl hit the floor but an 'ah ah' and me picking it back up was enough.....I think sitting inbetween my two she just sees what they do and copies and learns really
Like Wendys boys they don't try pinch but wait for each other and then lick empty bowls
they'd get a telling off if they dived in for any spillages i made while pouring....but they don't try anyway tbh
That reminds me.....I broke my leg a few years back, one day I was filling the dogs bowls and somehow managed to throw the food all over the floor instead! Being on crutches it would have been really useful if the dogs could have just cleared it all up for me, but oh no! They just sat and watched while I chased all the little brown balls across the kitchen floor!!
(I did drop the metal bowl onto the tiled floor and swear a bit at the same time, so they probably didn't *dare* leap in with all that noise going on!!)
Generally I find that the dogs are no problem - it's the *cats* who are more demanding at meal times!
my two wait patiently whilst I dish it up right in front of the them then jessie sits and waits by her bowl whilst i put murphy and his bowl in the other room then they sit and wait for about 10secs until i say 'ok'
My 2 slobber with anticipation and pounce on any dropped bits that bounce onto the floor! Neither has ever jumped up or got too over excited about food - Luna can't help but do a tap dance with her front feet while Tucker sits and looks pretty.
Sometimes I fill their bowls on the counter from the bag on the floor, sometimes I pour the food into the bowls on the floor already. Luna's bowl is always on the left, Tucker's on the right. They know that but Luna 'knows' that Tucker gets more food so does try to squeeze into his space in the hope they can swap!
Sometimes I make them wait, sometimes I give the ok for them both to go together, sometimes I use their name to send them to eat individually, sometimes I just let them eat from the moment the bowl hits the ground. They both now know they get a rawhide twist after their food so will always either look to me to be given it straight after eating or if I've put their chew next to their bowl Luna will grab it and run for the lounge to chew, Tucker will lie in the kitchen and chew. Bowl checking is competed by both dogs once chew has been finished!
When Tucker first came home I thought I'd better feed them in separate rooms just in case BUT they both spent the entire time wondering where the other dog had gone! So I moved the bowls into the same room and just stood between them while they ate either side of me and an AH-AH prevented either from trying to steal. It didn't take long before I realised I could trust them to eat from besides each other with just a waterbowl in the middle - like this:
, Thanks for the great reply's, would you believe I wrote them all down .
It may have seemed a stupid question, but it did help me, I have fostered a few girls and boys, and each time I just thought oh well see what happens, as in making them feel secure and as relaxed as possible, then carry on with our normal routine.
So feeding times on day one is probably the first thing that crops up,, I would like them to know how it works in our house of course but if they are not used to being fed on a regular basis, then the sight of a food bowl spilling over can be just too much for them to control their excitement, usually I would sort out the one's that know how it works first, then let the newbie have their dinner in the sanctuary of the kitchen, it works ok, but always wonder what others do.
Some come and don't even know what sit or wait means, and if you are trying to keep things calm, I found that it is impossible to even contemplate them doing what is asked of them, so at the beginning I expected nothing from them in the food senario, but learnt from their first reaction what I had to do to help them fit in with the others.
With Bruno who was ex-stud, it has probably been the hardest to overcome his anxiety to get his food and enhale it as fast as possible, sometimes he would bring it up and start again, or in his haste the kibble would be thrown out of the dish [that made me sad], the only way I could teach him to calm down was to not even try at dinner time, but to work on him when he was not hungry, so showing him his bed and getting him to lay down was the first step, then the wait, followed by a treat.
This took a while as he always wanted to be close, and trying to get any distance from him was at first impossible, loads of practice and him noticing that Mischa got rewarded for waiting finally helped it to click in his head, hey ho she will come back and if I sit here I will get something .
He has now got the general idea, but as I said in the beginning of this post, I can only expect a wait of 1-2 seconds, for me that is a result, he stopped bouncing sometime ago and will continue to improve I am sure.
Suzie, is different I think she has more control, but cannot stop the bum wriggling before her dinner . She can sit an wait for a treat in one room with the others while I go into kitchen and get 3 biccy's then wait her turn, so the next test will be lining her up with them for dinner.
Mischa managed the sit and wait for dinner almost from the moment she learnt the word sit so no problem there, but sometimes I have noticed if the others start showing impatience then she will try it on.
What I have taken from all of the reply's that I think will be great if we can achieve it is -
Georgina's - I love the way all the dogs know their place and eat in order of rank.
Jill and Shadybugs - Your lot sound brill, I would love to be able to say oneday our little group can sit, watch and wait for their name or ok.
Jo - Well done with Porscha, I know it won't be long for Bonnie.
And Sarah made me smile, as Charlie who would rather follow her than eat his dinner, [ he's not a lab Sarah bless him].
Mine simply have to wait - I prepare it in front of them.
Hally and Bronte will wait patiently (Hally sitting, Bronte standing) until I put their bowls down.
Dylan and Clover OTOH are trying to get into the bowls before I get near the floor (today Dilly stuck his head in the food container which had just been stacked up ) - but whilst impatient, they do wait until I put their food down - I did have a problem initially with Dylan doing a performing seal impression and trying to get into everyone else's bowls - but I managed to stop this.
Dream and Moz are usually fed on their own - I do occasionally feed them with the others, and same rules apply, they wait until they've got theirs and don't go near any other's bowl until they have finished - in fairness, like Hally and Bronte, they will wait until I put their bowls down.
it does help to be slightly more than just awake while serving up - this morning I had some pasta soaking in hot water for the chickens in one of the stainless steel dog bowls, divided up the dog mince, put the mixer on top - then realised there was a bowl of mince without any mixer on it!
The chickens enjoyed warm pasta with dog mixer today!
I tested the three dogs sitting in the next room today while I dished up the food, it was almost successful with a couple of reminders to Suzie who had to come and peep, so will try again tonight and see if we can do it without the reminder.
It did help to calm down the anticipation of food being so close.
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