Untypically Jia

Hey everyone, need some advice.

So we have two dogs. Our basset, Whiskey who is now 5 months old and our 7 year old pug, Willow.

It takes Willow a lot longer to eat because she has a short muzzle. Whiskey (as you all probably know) eats her food faster than anything. It takes Whiskey less than five minutes to eat what takes Willow about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Every morning I feed them and once Whiskey is done with her food, she jumps right over and pushes Willow out of the way and starts to eat her food too. I try to stop her but sometimes it's hard. A lot of the times they get into fights.

Everyone says I should just feed them in separate rooms or even feed Willow while she's still in her crate. But I don't want to avoid the situation, I want to put a stop to it, you know? I don't want this to happen when let's say we go on vacation and they stay with my inlaws. Or anytime we might want to give them a treat or something.

Will feeding them separately still help? Are there ways of slowing down Whiskey's eating? (Maybe even so that she tastes it? LOL) Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Esther

they gave me a slow feed bowl because i ate so fast i puked.

i still puke but not everytime i eat like before.

SacBasset

My Bassets do the same. I have a minpin and a terrier. As soon as they finish they immediately go after the other dogs food. It's a Basset thing as far as I can tell. We started feeding them in separate rooms for the time being. Its funny now to watch them immediately upon finishing their food go running looking for the other dogs food only to find a closed door.

klm42005

I am waiting for an answer to this one myself..I have a 10+yrs inherited chihauha and 5 month ole Basset Woody.....we have the same issues...I was feeding Victor (the older dog) on the couch so he was out of immediate reach....last evening though I feed them both at their respective eating areas (opposite ends of the kitchen) and waited for Woody to finish...then I stopped him about a foot from Victor..knelt down and soothed him with words and petting and letting him know that when the dish was abandoned he could inspect it...it seemed to work and calmed Woody's frantic attack of the dish..not sure if it wil work in the long run...but it eased everyone last evening...like I said, I am very interested in a solution..

Woody and Victors Mom

Mikey T

Adding something stick to the meal like pumpkin or squash and making sure the kibble is enbeded in to will slow the dog down. maybe 50% slower but it won;t gain the time you need.

The reason whiskey goes to the other bowl is because it works. Inorder to stop the behavior it 1. needs to stop working and 2. a more appropriate behavior needs to work better.

so feeding in seperate areas different rooms. in the crate. and keep in mind it does not necessarly need to be the slow eater fed in the crate feeding the fast eater in the crate is just as effective.

2 is to make it more rewarding to stay and their individual bowl. The way to do this is to first reduce the amount wiskey is fed at meal time and hold it aside. As soon as she finishes eating drop 1 or two piece in the bowl. then another and so on. Over time increase the amount of time she needs to wait. until she will wait at her bowl for I treat when the other dog finshishs. This type of training takes months a minimium with year(s) being more typical before it is reliable. Management is much faster to show results and even during training of an alternate behavior you still must practice the management to prevent the dog from being rewarded for inappropriate behavior. So the question is is the time require to train the alternte behavior worth the amount of work. No one but you can answer that question but for many it is not.

You will also find when feeding seperate the dog get accustom to the routine and glady accept their place to be fed and go to it virtually automatically.

Berkley the Basset

My situation is quite opposite, my 5 year old basset will have to whine and wait for the chihuahuas to finish eating before they will let him eat. Even if i put out separate bowls, the chihuahuas will dominate both. He is terrified of them both.

mhvonalmen8908

We feed ours in separate rooms as well. We don't have to close the door anymore because one time when Virga went to inspect Doppler's bowl while he was still eating, he growled and snapped at her. He didn't touch her and she hasn't pushed his limit again. Now she lays down a respectful distance while he's eating and inspects his bowl after he's done. And Doppler goes to check her bowl at the same time.

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Megan & Chris
-Mom & Dad to Doppler (2 year old Basset/Redbone/Golden mix) and Virga (1 year old Basset)

MollyMcFrecklesMom

Molly and Winston are fed separately for the same reason. Sometimes it works and other times they won't eat because they are looking for each other. In the week that they've been together, they do everything as a pair. Winston dominates the food and he will overeat if he has access to Molly's food. Molly eats slower and is more deliberate than he is. We're still working on getting this right too.

Berkley, I had to laugh. Molly has always been intimidated by Chihuahuas too. Isn't that crazy?

Berkley the Basset

He's afraid of everything, frogs, dogs, puppies, lawn mowers, vaccuums, even floor fans. Its hillarious to watch him hide from my cousins beagle puppies.

Kirska

Anabelle sits behind Harley while he eats and waits patiently for him to walk away before going in for whatever is leftover. It is one behavior she picked up as a stray that's actually desirable.

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Mom to Anabelle and Lila, rescued ladies and Harley, Corgi/Beagle/Basset/?? mutt

"Saving just one dog won't change the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog." - Richard C. Call